Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one

location to another.

Roadways, railways, pipelines, airways and waterways are major means of

transport. At present it is the time of information and technology. The world is
developing very fast and means of transportation play a very vital role in the
development of the world.

(i) These help to transfer goods from one country to other or from one part of
the state to other.
(ii) Means of transportation help the traders to have links with other traders
and with the market.
(iii) Means of transportation carry people from one place to another. Even they
carry skilled and unskilled workers from one place to another and maintain the
balance of demand and supply in the economy.
(iv) These play a very vital role in the defence of a country.

(v) It is the means of transportation which have shortened the distances

between various places.

(vi) They provide employment to the skilled as well as unskilled workers.

(vii) They promote industrialisation as industry gets its raw material and
transfer goods to the market through means of transport.

India has the second largest road networks in the world, aggregating to about
62.16 lakh kilometers. Though in India roads are being constructed at a very
fast pace but still density of roads is very low. "The length of roads per 100 sq.
km of area is known as density of roads. Density of road is lowest in Jammu
and Kashmir, i.e., 10 km whereas it is highest in Kerala, i.e., 375 km."
Most of the northern states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, etc., have
high density of roads due to:

• The availability of vast level land which reduces the cost of construction.
• The region has high density of population and rich agricultural resources.
• Large scale urbanisation has led to high passenger and freight traffic.

Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and States of Arunachal

Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya have low density of roads.
• Rugged topography.
• Lack of mineral and agricultural resources.
• Low density of population.

Advantages of Roads
(i) Roads require less investment as compared to railway.

(ii) These can be built at higher altitudes and at any place.

(iii) Road transportation is easy and is within the reach of common man.
Moreover, it is available for 24 hours.

(iv) Maintenance cost is also low.

(v) Extension of agriculture is possible only through road transportation.

(vi) The road transportation has the merit of offering personal service too.

(vii) The road system facilitates the transportation of perishable goods (milk,
vegetables, etc.) across different areas and thereby stimulates their
production as well as adds to the knowledge of farmers who receive useful
managerial and technical information.
Disadvantages of Roads
(i) The road network is inadequate in India as compared to demand and
volume of traffic.
(ii) The condition of most of the roads is very poor, these become muddy
during the rainy season.
(iii) They are highly congested in cities.
(iv) Most of the highways lack side amenities like telephone booths,
emergency health services, police stations, etc.
Types of Roads in India
Following are the major types of roads in India:
1. Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways :
• The Super Highways have been planned to meet the requirement of a fast
movement of traffic.
• The government has launched a major road development project linking
Delhi-KolkataChennai- Mumbai and Delhi by six-lane Super Highways.
• The North-South corridors linking Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) and
Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), and East-West Corridor connecting Silcher
(Assam) and Porbander (Gujarat) are part of this project.
• The major objective of these Super Highways is to reduce the time and
distance between the mega cities of India.
• These highway projects are being implemented by the National Highway
Authority of India (NHAI).
The Golden Quadrilateral - Mumbai-Pune Expressway : Mumbai-Pune
Expressway (official name is the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway) is India's
first six lane high speed expressway constructed under the
Golden Quadrilateral scheme. The expressway was constructed by
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). It was opened
to public in April 2002.

2. National Highways : The main roads which are constructed and

maintained by the Central Public Works Department (C.P.W.D.) are known as
National Highways. These roads connect the state capitals, big cities and
important ports.

The National Highways maintain the availability o f essential products. The

state to state trade is possible because of National highways. All the essential
products like raw material, finished products, vegetables, food- grains, etc. are
transported through these roads.

3. State Highways : These are constructed and maintained by the state

governments (State Public Works Department) and join the state capitals with
district headquarters and other important towns. The total length of state
roadways in India is around 4 lakh kilometers approximately. These also
contribute in the development of states.
4. District Roads : These roads link the district centres with the major roads.
Their total length is nearly 6 lakh kilometres. These roads are maintained by
Zila Parishads.

5. Village Roads : These connect the villages with the neighbouring towns
and cities. These play very vital role in the development of villages. These
help the farmers to take their products to cities and district headquarters.

6. Border Roads : The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was established in

1960 for the development of the roads of strategic importance in the northern
and north-eastern border areas. These roads have increased accessibility in
areas of difficult terrain and have helped in the economic development of
these area.

7. Other Roads : Rural roads, which link rural areas and villages with towns
are classified under this category. These roads received special impetus
under the "Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana". Under this scheme
special provisions are made so that every village in the country is linked to the
major town in the country by motorable road in all seasons.

Railways are the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers in
India.

• Railways also make it possible to conduct multifarious activities like

business, sightseeing, pilgrimage along with transportation of goods over
longer distances.
• Apart from an important means of transport the Indian Railways have been a
great integrating force for more than 150 years.

• Railways in India bound the economic life of the country as well as

accelerate the development of the industry and agriculture.

The Indian Railway is the largest public sector undertaking in the country. The
first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane, covering a distance of 34 km in
1853.

Distribution of Railway
The distribution pattern of the Railway network in the country has been largely
influenced by physiographic, economic and administrative factors. The
northern plains have high density of railway due to vast level land, high
population density and rich agricultural resources. However, some states like
Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh have low density of railway due to
• Large number of rivers requiring construction o f bridges across their wide
beds posed some obstacles.
• Rugged topography.
• Sandy soil of Rajasthan.
In the hilly terrains of the peninsular region, railway tracts are laid through low
hills or gaps or tunnels. The Himalayan mountaineous regions like Jammu
and Kashmir, Ladakh, Assam, Uttarakhand and other north-eastern parts of
India too are unfavourable for the construction of railway lines due to high
relief, less density of population and lack of economic opportunities. It is also
difficult to lay railway line on the sandy plain of western Rajasthan, swamps of
Gujarat, forested tracks of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and
Jharkhand. The contiguous stretch of Sahyadri could be crossed only through
gaps or passes (Ghats). In recent times, the development of the Konkan
railway along the west coast has facilitated the movement of passengers and
goods in this most important economic region of India. It also has faced a
number of problems such as sinking of track in some stretches and land
slides.

Advantages of Railway
• It facilitates long distance travel and transport of bulky goods which are not
easily transported through motor vehicles.
• It is a quick and more regular form of transport because it helps in the
transportation of goods with speed and certainty.
• It helps in the industrialisation process of a country by easy transportation of
coal and raw materials at a cheaper rate.
• It helps in the quick movement of goods from one place t o another a t the
time of emergencies like famines and scarcity.

• It encourages mobility of labour and thereby provides a great scope for

employment.
• Railway is the safest form of transport. The chances of accidents and
breakdown of railways are minimum as compared to other modes of transport.
Moreover, the traffic can be protected from the exposure to sun, rain, snow,
etc.
• The carrying capacity of the railways is extremely large. Moreover, its
capacity is elastic which can easily be increased by adding more wagons.

• It is the largest public undertaking in the country. Railways perform many

public utility services. Their charges are based on charge what the traffic can
bear principles which helps the poor. In fact, it is a national necessity.

Disadvantages of Railway
• The railway requires a large investment of capital. The cost of construction,
maintenance and overhead expenses are very high as compared to other
modes of transport. Moreover, the investments are specific and immobile. In
case, the traffic is not sufficient, the investments may mean wastage of huge
resources.
• Another disadvantages of railway transport is its inflexibility. Its routes and
timings cannot be adjusted to individual requirements.
• Rail transport cannot provide door to door service as it is tied to a particular
track. Intermediate loading or unloading involves greater cost, more wear and
tear and wastage of time. The time cost of terminal operations are a great
disadvantage of rail transport.
• Railway transport is unsuitable and uneconomical for short distances and
small traffic of goods.
• It involves much time and labour in booking and taking delivery of goods
through railways as compared to motor transport.
• Because of huge capital requirements and traffic, railways cannot be
operated economically in rural areas. Thus, large rural areas have no railway
even today. This causes much inconvenience to the people living in rural
areas.

Waterways are the cheapest and oldest means of transport.

Importance of Waterways
1. It is the most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.
2. It is a fuel-efficient and environment-friendly mode of transport.
3. The element of wear and tear is very less.
4. More than 95% of the country's trade volume is moved by the sea.
5. With the development of National Waterways it has become main source of
transportation for the natural trade.

Inland Waterways
The government has declared the following waterways as National
Waterways:
1. The Ganga river, between Prayagraj and Haldia (1620 km).
2. The Brahmaputra river, between Sadya and Dhubri (891 km).
3. The West-coast canal, between Kollam and Kottayam in Kerala (168 km).
4. The Champakara canal (14 km), and the Udyogmardal canal in Kerala (22
km).

The Godavari, Krishna, Berak Sundarbans, Buckingham canal, Brahmani,

East-west canal and Damodar Valley Corporation canal are other viable
inland waterways.

Waterways have remained underdeveloped in Southern India

• Rivers of southern India are non-perennial.
• They flow swiftly over the plateaus and highlands.
Advantages of Water Transport System

• It is the cheapest means of transport.

• The cost of developing a waterway is negligible (Capital is required to build
port) of the cost developing an equivalent railway or a four-lane expressway.
• The maintenance cost of an waterway is also negligible.
• The water transport needs less fuel as compared to road or railways.
• They are most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.
• It is an eco-friendly mode of transport.
• It promotes trade, as more than 70% of the world trade is carried through
waterways.
Disadvantages of Water Transport System
Though inland water transport system has played a very important role,
however, in recent times the importance of this mode of transport has
declined considerably with expansion of road and rail transport. In addition,
diversion of river water for irrigation has also reduced the importance of inland
water transport. The decline is also due to deforestation of hill ranges leading
to erosion, accumulation of silt in rivers and failure to modernize the fleet to
suit local conditions.
• Water transport as a whole is much slower than its road, rail or air
competitors.
• It provides access to limited areas.
• Out of the total inland water body available in the world only very low per
cent of it is potentially navigable.
• It needs perennial source of water.
• Most of the South Indian rivers are non perennial. Due to this inland water
transport is not very popular means of transport.

Airways 1s the fastest mode of transport. Though it is still the costliest mode
of transport, yet with the entry of private companies there is every possibility
that in near future it will become a cheap and main source of transportation.

Advantages of Airways
The following are some of the advantages of air transport:
• Air transport is the fastest mode of transport and therefore suitable carriage
of goods over a long distance requiring less time.
• Air transport provides comfortable, efficient and quick transport service.
• It is regarded as best mode of transport for transporting perishable goods.
• Air transport is regarded as the only means of transport in those areas which
are not easily accessible to other modes of transport. For example in north-
eastern parts of India other means of transport are not fully developed due to
topography. It is therefore accessible to all areas regardless the obstruction of
land, sea, mountains, etc.

Disadvantages of Airways
Inspite of many advantages air transport has a number of disadvantages.
These disadvantages are:
• Air transport is regarded as the costliest mode of transport.
• Air transport is the most risky form of transport because a minor accident
may put a substantial loss to the goods, passengers and the crew.
• The aircrafts have small carrying capacity and therefore, these are not
suitable for carrying bulky and cheaper goods.
• Air transport requires huge investment for construction and maintenance of
aerodromes.

1. Transport : The movement of people and goods from one location to

another.

2. Density of roads : The length of roads per 100 sq km of area.

3. Expressways : An expressway is a divided highway for high speed traffic.

4. National Highways : The roads which connect the state capitals, big cities
and ports. These are constructed and maintained by the Central Public Works
Department.

5. Golden Quadrilateral : The super highways which have been constructed

to connect Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

6. Open sky : A liberalised policy followed by Indian Aviation Ministry.