A Corridor Pilot for Better Track-Time Governance in Indian Railways [Policy Brief]

Shukla, Utsav

doi:10.17610/T61K6H

i

A Corridor Pilot for Better Track-Time Governance in Indian Railways [Policy Brief]

2026-07-01
By Shukla, Utsav

File Language:

English

Details

Creators:

Shukla, Utsav
Corporate Creators:

University of California, Los Angeles. Institute of Transportation Studies
Subject/TRT Terms:

Alternatives Analysis Freight Service Maintenance Passengers Pilot Studies Railroads Railroad Tracks Transportation Corridors
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17610/T61K6H
Resource Type:

Brief
Geographical Coverage:

India ; Japan ; England ; United States
Edition:

Policy Brief
Corporate Publisher:

University of California, Los Angeles. Institute of Transportation Studies
Abstract:

This study analyzes track allocation as a practical problem of how a busy railway shares limited time on the same track. First, Indian Railways' rules for planning maintenance blocks were reviewed, including the rolling block system and the way line capacity is calculated. This is helpful in understanding how the system is supposed to work on paper. This study next tested how the system performs in practice by studying six heavily used railway corridors. These corridors were selected because they face high traffic pressure and therefore show the conflict between train movement and maintenance most clearly. For each corridor, the study looked at six simple indicators: passenger punctuality, freight speed, maintenance blocks granted compared with blocks demanded, productivity of maintenance blocks, block overruns, and track-related failures. This study also compared Indian Railways with three other examples: Britain, Japan, and India's Dedicated Freight Corridor. These comparisons helped identify what other systems do differently, such as making disruptions more visible, protecting maintenance time more firmly, or separating freight movement from mixed traffic.
Format:

PDF
Collection(s):

US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:7c304b7d05d346bc0e96fb59d0a6314aa9f711bcd5779779040227a5afa015e9a52037926032282bcb0419af3924cf44d1d18fbdab344dc9f116c867a4811506
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/92706/dot_92706_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 577.55 KB ]

File Language:

English

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