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The significance of railways in India:

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

(ii)Railways also make it possible to conduct multifarious activities like business, sightseeing, pilgrimage along with transportation of goods over longer distances.

(iii)Apart from an important means of transport the Indian Railways have been a great integrating force for more than 150 years.

(iv)Railways in India bind the economic life of the country as well as accelerate the development of the industry and agriculture.

(v)The Indian Railway have a network of 7,133 stations spread over a route length of 64,460 km with a fleet of 9,213 locomotives, 53,220 passenger service vehicles, 6,493 other coach vehicles and 2,29,381 wagons.

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Tourism in India has grown substantially over the last three decades.

(i)More than 15 million people are directly engaged in the tourism industry. Tourism also promotes national integration, provides support to local handicrafts and cultural pursuits.

(ii)It also helps in the development of international understanding about our culture and heritage.

(iii)Foreign tourists visit India for heritage tourism, eco tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, medical tourism and business tourism. 

(iv)Rajasthan, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and temple towns of south India are important destination of foreign tourists in India.

(v)There is a vast potential for development of tourism in the north-eastern states and the interior parts of Himalayas, but to strategic reasons these have not been encouraged so far. 

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The length of road per 100 sq. km of area is known as density of roads.

Road transportation in India faces the following problems:

(i)Keeping in view the volume of traffic and passengers, the road network is inadequate.

(ii)About half of the roads are unmetalled and this limits their usage during the rainy season.

(iii)The National Highways are inadequate too.

(iv)Moreover, the roadways are highly congested in cities and most of the bridges and culverts are old and narrow.

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The distribution pattern of the Railway network in the country has been largely influenced by physiographic, economic and administrative factors:

(i)The northern plains with their vast level land, high population density and rich agricultural resources provided the most favourable condition for their growth.

(ii)However, a large number of rivers requiring construction of bridges across their wide beds posed some obstacles.

(iii)In the hilly terrains of the peninsular region, railway tracts are laid through low hills, gaps or tunnels.

(iv)The Himalayan mountainous regions too are unfavourable for the construction of railway lines due to high relief, sparse population and lack of economic opportunities.

(v)Likewise, it was difficult to lay railway lines on the sandy plain of western Rajasthan, swamps of Gujarat, forested tracks of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

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Current Railway Zones	Headquarters	Current Railway Zones	Headquarters
1. Northern Railway 2. North Central Railway 3. North East Railway 4. Eastern Central Railway 5. North East Frontier Railway 6. Eastern Railways 7. South East Railway 8. South East Central Railway	Delhi Allahabad Gorakhpur Hazipur Guwahati Kolkata Kolkata Bilaspur	9. East Coast Railway 10. Southern Railway 11. South Central Railway 12. South West Railway 13. Central Railway 14. Western Railway 15. West Central Railway 16. North West Railway	Bhubaneshwar Chennai Secunderabad Hubli Mumbai Mumbai Jabalpur Jaipur