Transport and Communication 

There are four transport system in India .They are -

Railway Transport 

India's Railway network is the fifth largest(62,658 km) in the world and second largest in Asia .The United States has the largest Railay system in the world(about 240,000km connecting 48 continental states)Russia(154000),China (86000) and Canada (72,961 km) come after .




It is the biggest public undertaking in the country also the largest employer in the world .(1.60 million employes).On 16 th April 1853,the first train in India ran between Mumbai and /thane ,a distance of 34 km.The second train steamed off from Howrah to Hoogly in 1854 .In 1929 ,the first electric train Deccan queen ran between Bombay and pune .The electrified system of Indian Railways is the second largest in the world next to Russia.The fastest train in India till now  is "Bhopal Shatabdi Express " which runs at the speed of 140 km/hour .The total Number of railway stations in India is about 8,000.The longest railway platform in India is in Kahragpur (West Bengal).The longest train root is Jammu Tavi to Kanyakumari ,a distance of 3726 kms.which stretches across 10 states .The Himsagar express runs on this route .The highest number of trains terminate in Mumbai.First Metro  train started in Kolkata on 24 October 1984,commuting between Dumdum and Balgachhiya .
Nothern Railways is the largest railway zone and accounts for 10,995 km.North East Frontier is the smallest railway zone and accounts for 3,860 km.Fisrt hospital on wheel started in Mumbai on 16 July 1991.known as Jeevan Rekha or Life Line Express .It caters to the medical needs of people in rural areas .

Road Transport 

India has a vast road network of about 3.34 million km ,which includes National highways ,State highways major district roads and rural roads .National Highways and orders are controlled by Central Government ,State highways by state governments and district roads and rural roads by respective district administratives .Roads carry about 50 percent of the road traffic and about 80 percent of the total passenger traffic in the country .National highways carry about 40 percent road traffic in the country .Maharashtra has the maximum length of roads in India .NH-7 is the longest road in India .

National Highways of India 

Work on golden Quadrilateral Project will connect the four metropolitan cities :Mumbai,Chennai ,Kolkata and Delhi and will cover a distance of 5,952 km is still going on .

Air Transport 

History

Jahangir Ratan ji Dadabhoy Tata was the first person to make a flight from Mumbai to Karachi in 1931 .Tata Airlines started its operation between Mumbai and Thiruvanantpuram in 1935 and between Mumbai and Delhi in 1937.

Developments -

In 1953,private airlines were nationalized and Indian Airlines and Air India were formed .Ministry of Civil aviation is responsible for

formulation of national policies and programmes for development and regulation of civil aviation.
devising and implementing schemes for orderly growth and expansion of civil air transport .

Overseeing the provision of airport facilities ,air traffic services and carriage of passangers and goods by air .

Public Sector Undertakings under Ministry of Civil Aviation

Airports Authority of India (AAI)
Indian Airlines and its subsidiary
The AAI was formed on 1 April 1995 by merging the National Airports Authority.(NAA) and the International Airports Authority of India (IAAI).The corporate headquarters (CHQ) is at New Delhi.
Air India manages international operations ,while Indian Airlines manages domestic operations .
AAI manages and operates 127 airports ,including 12 international airports ,90 domestic airports and 26  civil enclaves at Defence airfields.
AAI controls and manages  the entire Indian airspace of 2.80 million Nautical Miles an land,1.75 nautical miles of ocean space and restricted land area of 0.37 million nautical miles square .
AAI has Civil Aviation Centre in Fursatgarh,near Allahabad,toprovide ground training to the pilots along with other services .
Pawan Hans Limited operates helicopter services to oil sector.hill stations and remote areas.
A number of private airlines also operate in India .Jet airways ,King fisher Airlines ,Indigo Airlines ,etc.
There are about 370 fleets operating in India presently and it is expected to reach 500-550 by the end of 2010.
India ranks third in the world ,only next to China and the United States,in terms of number of flights .
The number of air travellers is about 0.80 percent of the total population .

International Airports In India 

Amritsar International Airport (Rajasansi Airport) - Amritsar.
Bangalore International Airport  -Bangalore
Chennai International Airport (Meenambakkam airport) - Chennai
Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport -Mumbai
Chochin International Airport -Kochi
Goa Airport - Vasco Da Gama
Hyderabad international Airport - Hyderabad
Indira Gandhi International Airport -New Delhi
Lokpriya Gopinath Bordolio International Airport -Guwahati
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose  International Airport - Kolkata
Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel International Airport - Ahmedabad
Trivendram International Airport -Thiruvanantpuram

Water Transport 

India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways ,which comprise rives,canals,back waters and creeks,out of which 3,700 km is navigable by boats .
About 44 million tonnes of cargo is moved annually throug the water ways .Inland water authority of India (IWAI) came into existence in 27 october 1986 .The objective of IWAI is to develop and regulate the inland waterways for shipping and navigation. Its head office is in Noida .Its regional offices are located in Patna ,Kolkata ,Guwahati and Kochi.Sub offices are in Allahabad ,Varanasi,Bhagalpur,Farakka and Kollam .

Three waterways has been declared as national waterways (NW).They are -
1) NW-1:Allahabad -Haldia stretch(1,620) of Ganga ,Bhagirathi and Hoogly river system.
2)NW-2:Sadiya - Dhubri stretch (819 km) of Brahmaputra River .
3)MW-3: Kuttopuram -Kollam stretch(205 km) of west coast canal along with Champakara and Udyogmandal canal.

Ports in India 

India with a coast line of about 7,617 km has 12 major ports,the minor and intermediate ports are administered by the relevant departments or ministries in the nine coastal states of West Bengal,Odisha,Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,Kerela,Karnataka ,Goa,Maharashtra and Gujrat .India has 28 shipyards ,out of which 7 shipyards are under the control of the central government,2 shipyards are controlled by state governments and 19 are privately owned shipyards .
About 95 percent of the India's foreign trades by volume and 70 percent by value moves through ports .

Sea Ports in India