Rail transport is inherently superior to road transport due to
~ Much lesser energy/fuel requirement,
~ Much lesser space requirement for transporting same quantum traffic,
~ economical with very low costing per km per T/pax,
~...
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Safer & very less accident prone, -one dimensional movement along rail line, with signalling, safety interlocking
~ cause mush lesser environmental pollution-Electrification
~ Very high transport capacity
~ Very high speed potential
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Rail and Road infrastructure must complement each other in such a way that Rly play dominant role to the extent possible on the high traffic routes and Roadways play dominant role in low traffic demand routes. This can ensure minimisation of logistics cost borne by India and a few lac crore Rs. can be saved per annum, in addition to giving a much needed boost to National Economy (agriculture/ industries/ exports etc).
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But this is not happening as the Rail and Surface transport ministries work on their own agenda instead of working in unison. Various kinds of lobbies and other vested interests just make the matter worse. Much inefficient road transport is comparatively getting more funding than Indian Rly, a monopolistic govt. organisation, which had managed very inefficiently since 7 decades of independence.
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Very high population, vastness geographical area and high population density of India, all lead to very high traffic density with long leads which go very much in favour of Rly Transport, but ironically more and more expansion as well as traffic shifting is happening in favour of inefficient Roadways.