India is poised for a significant economic growth in the next two decades and effective mode of transport would be critical to meet the growing transport demand. Being the most energy efficient land transport, development of Railways would be one of the key facets to achieve the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of New India by 2022. There is a definite requirement for rail infrastructure to be further upgraded and enhanced within the country such as improved safety, higher speeds, efficiency and adoption of world class technology, along with industry participation.
The Background Paper states the vision of the Government in key focus areas including speedy electrification, enhancing speed and a complete overhaul of signalling and telecom for achieving zero accident mission. The Paper also covers the opportunities for industry to partner with Indian Railways to realise the stated vision. It was prepared at the backdrop of the National Conference on Rail Contact 2018 held on 19 June 2018 in New Delhi.