Transport & Communication – Complete Study Notes

Role & Significance of Transport

• Acts as the “economic artery” linking production sites with consumption centres.
• Facilitates movement of raw materials, finished goods, labour, ideas and even culture, thereby fostering national integration and reducing centrifugal forces.
• Cheap, efficient and well-knit networks lower $\text{time}$ and $\text{cost}$ of circulation, accelerate capital turnover and underpin industrial location decisions.

Classification of Indian Transport

• Land: railways, roads, pipelines.
• Water: inland waterways, coastal shipping, oceanic routes.
• Air: national and international aviation corridors.

Rail Transport

Historical Evolution

• First train: Mumbai – Thane, $\text{34 km}$, \text{1853}.
• Rapid expansion after $\text{1857}$; today second largest network in Asia.

Current Statistics (2018-19)

• Route length: $\approx 67\,368\,\text{km}$.
• Electrified route: $29.40\,\text{thousand km}$ (up from $0.388\,\text{thousand km}$ in $1950$-$51$).
• Daily movement: > 110\,\text{lakh} passengers & $8\,\text{lakh t}$ freight over $14\,\text{lakh km}$ train-km.

Gauges in Use

• Broad $\left(1.676\,\text{m}\right)$, Metre $\left(1.000\,\text{m}\right)$, Narrow $\left(0.762\,\text{m}\;\&\;0.610\,\text{m}\right)$; narrow gauge only $\approx 5\%$ of total.

Special Projects

• Kashmir Valley line: $66\,\text{km}$ Anantnag–Nowgam operational; Udhampur–Baramula section under construction.
• Konkan Railway: $760\,\text{km}$ Roha–Mangaluru, $91$ tunnels (longest $6.5\,\text{km}$), $\approx 2000$ bridges.
• Bullet Train (Mumbai–Ahmedabad): $509\,\text{km}$, top speed $350\,\text{km h}^{-1}$, completion target $15\,\text{Aug}\,2022$, project cost $\text{₹}\,1.08\,\text{lakh crore}$ ( $81\%$ via Japanese $0.1\%$ loan).
• Diamond Quadrilateral (proposed): high-speed grid linking Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata & major nodes.

National Highways Development Project (Railway Parallels)

• Golden Quadrilateral (NHDP Phase I): Delhi–Mumbai–Chennai–Kolkata–Delhi, $5\,846\,\text{km}$, six-lane.
• North–South & East–West corridors (Phase II): $\text{NS} = 4\,000\,\text{km}$, $\text{EW} = 3\,300\,\text{km}$.

Railway Zones (16 + Metro)

• Examples: Western (Mumbai CST), Northern (New Delhi), North East Frontier (Guwahati).

Factors Controlling Railway Pattern

• Physical: relief, drainage (bridges over Himalayan rivers cost-intensive), coastal Ghats barrier.
• Economic: density of population, industrial belts (Delhi–Kanpur–Kolkata), ports.
• Political/Colonial legacy: “suction lines” from interior to ports for export of raw materials.

Spatial Pattern

• Dense lattice in North Indian Plain (Amritsar–Howrah belt).
• Sparse in Peninsular plateau; trunk lines Mumbai–Chennai, Chennai–Hyderabad.
• Negligible in Himalaya; only narrow-gauge hill lines (Kalka–Shimla, Siliguri–Darjeeling, Pathankot–Kangra).

Road Transport

Classification & Length (2017)

• National Hwys $1.14\times10^{5}\,\text{km}$ ($1.94\%$ of total, carries $40\%$ traffic).
• State Hwys $1.75\times10^{5}\,\text{km}$.
• District $5.86\times10^{5}\,\text{km}$.
• Rural $4.17\times10^{6}\,\text{km}$ (largest share, $70.65\%$).

Density

• National mean $96.5\,\text{km per}\,100\,\text{km}^{2}$ (2013).
• Extremes: Jammu & Kashmir $10.0$; Kerala $526.9$.

Flagship Schemes

• Bharatmala Pariyojana (2015): $26\,000\,\text{km}$ economic corridors + integration with GQ & NS-EW.
• Setu Bharatam (2016): $208$ ROB/RUB + $1,500$ bridge upgrades to eliminate level crossings.

Advantages vs. Disadvantages

• Pros: door-to-door, flexibility, feeder to rail, negotiates gradients.
• Cons: unsuitable long-haul bulk, higher accident rate, pollution, costlier per unit-ton-km than rail.

Water Transport

Inland Waterways

• Navigable length: $14\,500\,\text{km}$ (rivers, canals, backwaters); share merely $1\%$ of national freight.
• Canals navigable by mechanised craft: $900\,\text{km}$ of $43\,000\,\text{km}$ total.
• Seasonal navigability: South Indian rivers; Godavari navigable $300\,\text{km}$ from mouth.

National Waterways (select)

Factors Hindering Development

• Irregular discharge, waterfalls/cataracts, silting, irrigation diversions, weak demand.

Oceanic & Coastal Shipping

• Coastline $7,516\,\text{km}$; EEZ >2\,\text{million km}^{2}.
• $13$ major + $200$ minor/intermediate ports; $95\%$ overseas trade by sea.

Pipeline Transport

Evolution & Network

• First Assam line: Naharkatia – Nunmati (crude) $\text{1962}$; extended to Barauni $1,167\,\text{km}$, later Kanpur.
• Salaya – Mathura $1,256\,\text{km}$, onward to Panipat & Jalandhar.
• HBJ Gas line: Hazira – Bijapur – Jagdishpur $1,750\,\text{km}$ (GAIL); feeds fertilizer and power plants.
• Nationwide total (mid-$1980$s): >6,500\,\text{km}; continually expanding (e.g., Kandla/Jamnagar – Loni LPG $1,246\,\text{km}$).

Pros & Cons

• Pros: low energy, eco-friendly, safe bulk flow, negotiates terrain/sea beds.
• Cons: rigid, capacity fixed, security & leak detection challenging, high initial capital.

Air Transport

Milestones

• $1911$: First flight Allahabad – Naini.
• $1953$: Nationalisation; Air India International (intl.) & Indian Airlines (domestic) formed.
• $1995$: Airports Authority of India (AAI) constituted.
• Open Sky Policy $1982$: allows foreign freighters to boost exports.

Sectoral Structure

• Air India: $27$ aircraft, $16,714$ employees, $35$ direct & $12$ code-share destinations; handles foreign passengers & cargo.
• Indian (ex-Indian Airlines): $63$ domestic, $17$ intl. stations; Alliance Air feeder service.
• Private scheduled airlines + $38$ non-scheduled operators now carry $\approx 52.8\%$ of domestic traffic.

Infrastructure

• AAI controls $11$ international + $112$ domestic airports; manages $30$ intl. facilities after recent up-gradations.
• Four primary international hubs: Indira Gandhi (Delhi), Sahar/Chhatrapati Shivaji (Mumbai), Netaji Subhash (Kolkata), Menambakkam (Chennai).

Ports & Harbours

Concepts

• Harbour: natural/partly enclosed shelter for ships; Port: harbour + docks/wharves for cargo interchange.
• Natural harbours along indented coasts; artificial require dredging & breakwaters.

Major Ports (13)

West Coast

1. Mumbai – natural harbour; handles $\approx 20\%$ of India’s trade, gateway for western/European routes; hinterland: Maharashtra, M.P., Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi belt.
2. Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva) – $10\,\text{km}$ east of Mumbai; capacity >4.5\,\text{Mt}; India’s leading container hub.
3. Deendayal (Kandla) – tidal, Gulf of Kachchh; built $1950$ to replace Karachi; hinterland reaches Punjab–Haryana.
4. Marmagao – Goa; exports iron ore; natural mole-protected.
5. New Mangaluru – Karnataka; exports Kudremukh ore, coffee; imports crude, fertilizers.
6. Kochi – Kerala backwater port; handles crude for Kochi refinery, exports tea, spices; also shipbuilding.

East Coast

7. Kolkata – Hugli riverine, $128\,\text{km}$ inland; issues: silting, bars/bends/bores; relies on Farakka barrage water.
8. Haldia – Hugli-Haldi confluence $105\,\text{km}$ seaward of Kolkata; decongests Kolkata, hosts petro-chem complex.
9. Paradwip – Odisha; specialises in iron-ore export to Japan; smaller hinterland.
10. Visakhapatnam – deepest land-locked port; dual harbours, steel plant & shipyard; exports Bailadila ore.
11. Chennai – oldest artificial ( $1875$ ); cyclonic risk; exports rice, leather; imports coal, oil.
12. V.O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin) – Gulf of Mannar; traffic with Sri Lanka; handles coal, salt, edible oils.
13. Kamarajar (Ennore) – $2001$; dedicated coal port $25\,\text{km}$ N of Chennai; PPP model.

• Minor/Intermediate ports: Gujarat $40$, Maharashtra $53$, Andaman & Nicobar $23$, etc.

Communication

Postal Services

• Network: $1.54965\,\text{lakh}$ post offices ( $89.74\%$ rural ).
• Average P.O. serves $21.56\,\text{km}^{2}$ & $7,753$ people.
• Innovations: PIN code, Speed Post, Quick Mail Service, VSAT-based money-order network.

Telecommunication

• Subscribers (Sept $2017$): $1,207.04\,\text{million}$ (rural $501.99\,\text{million}$, urban $705.05\,\text{million}$).
• Wireless share $98.04\%$; overall teledensity $93.42\%$ (rural $56.78\%$, urban $172.86\%$).
• National Telecom Policy $1999$ categories: Access providers, NLD, ILD, VSAT, GMPCS, etc.
• New Telecom Policy $2018$ themes: 5G, IoT, QoS, universal connectivity.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

• Defined by USGS as integrated tools for capture → storage → manipulation → analysis → modelling → display of spatially referenced data; supports planning & management.

Mass Communication

Prasar Bharati Mandate

• Uphold unity, promote education, safeguard information rights, focus on women, youth, rural dev., sports, R&D in broadcast tech.

Radio (AIR)

• Started $1923$ (Bombay Radio Club); now $225$ stations, coverage $91.42\%$ area, $24$ languages, $146$ dialects.
• Five services: Primary, National, Vividh Bharti, FM, External.

Doordarshan (DD)

• First telecast $15\,Sept\,1959$; colour since $1982$ Asian Games.
• Three-tier: National, Regional, Local; $30$ channels inc. DD Bharati.

Cinema

• First talkie Alam Ara $1931$; India world’s largest producer; regulated by CBFC.

Satellites & ICT

• INSAT multipurpose constellation (telecom + meteorology); IRS for remote sensing; PSLV launch capability.
• Computers: speed, accuracy, storage enable e-governance, education, digital communication.

Infrastructure & Industrial Development

• Example: TISCO Jamshedpur sources iron ore (Singhbhum), coal (Jharia), manganese (Keonjhar) via road/rail – impossible without transport.
• Colonial ports (Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai) became early industrial foci due to rail-road radial networks.

Ethical / Practical Implications

• Transport modernisation (e.g., Bharatmala) must balance displacement, ecology.
• Open Sky & private airlines improve consumer choice but raise issues of market regulation & sustainability.
• Pipeline leaks pose environmental hazards, need surveillance tech.

Formulae & Key Definitions (Quick Reference)

• Road Density $= \dfrac{\text{Length of roads (km)}}{\text{Surface area (100 km}^{2}\text{)}}$.
• Teledensity $= \dfrac{\text{Telephone connections}}{\text{Population}} \times 100$.
• Harbour vs Port:
  • Harbour ⇒ shelter
  • Port ⇒ harbour + cargo handling infra.