Urban development

In January 2014, a broad majority in the Danish parliament adopted a proposed agreement regarding the railway foundation “Togfonden DK”, the largest infrastructure deal since the Great Belt Bridge connecting Zealand and Funen. The deal is worth approximately EUR 4 billion and is to bring the Danish railway system into the 21st century. The investment is one of the largest ever made in the Danish public transportation system. Cornerstones in the project are electrifying the majority of the railroads in order to allow for faster trains emitting less CO2, and ensuring a travel time of no more than one hour between each of the four largest Danish cities. The majority of the railway modernization is to be financed through income from oil extraction in the North Sea.

The railway sector in India runs 22,300 train carrying over 23 million passengers daily and connecting more than 7137 stations. Indian Railways runs more than 9202 freight trains, carrying about 3 million tons of freight every day. The sector total track length is 117,996 Km. It also comprises 68,558 coaches, more than 2,54,006 wagons and 1.3 million employees. Increasing urbanization coupled with rising incomes (both urban and rural) is driving growth in the passenger segment. Growing industrialization across the country has increased freight traffic over the last decade.

The long-term strategic plan of the Ministry of Railways is to construct six high-capacity, high-speed dedicated freight corridors along the Golden Quadrilateral and its diagonals. Indian Railways envisages a prospective investment of USD 130.76 billion in the next five years. The sector aims to boost passenger amenities by involving Public Private Partnership (PPP) investments in provision of foot-over bridges, escalators and lifts at all major stations.

Private investment in railway logistics is to be encouraged. Indian Railways proposes to modernize its logistics operations by setting up logistic parks that provide for warehousing, packaging, labelling, distribution, door-to-door delivery and consignment tracking to achieve better efficiency; mechanization of loading and unloading will be given top priority.

100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the railway infrastructure segment has been allowed recently which has opened up opportunities for participation in infrastructure projects such as high-speed railways, railway lines to and from coal mines and ports, projects relating to electrification, high-speed tracks and suburban corridors. 85% Indians are solely dependent on public transport. 70 million passengers use State Road Transport Undertaking buses on a daily basis.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) aims to expand the National Highway network to 0.2 million kms’ over the next 4-5 years. USD 650 Billion investments in urban infrastructure is estimated over next 20 years. 100 Smart Cities and 500 AMRUT Cities will invite investment of 2 Trillion Rupees in the next five years

Rail tourism is on the anvil, with emphasis on the introduction of eco-tourism and education tourism in the North-eastern states, the identification of special pilgrim circuits such as the Devi Circuit, the Jyotirling Circuit, the Jain Circuit, the Christian Circuit, the Sufi Circuit, the Sikh Circuit, the Buddhist Circuit and the Temple Circuit. Specially packaged trains for these circuits have been proposed and private participation will be encouraged.