Page 52 - SST Class 05

Many European cities like London, Paris and Moscow have a fine system of
underground railways, called tube train .
Railways in India : The railway in India is operated by the Indian Railways. There is

an extensive network of railways in our country. It is difficult to lay railway in hills
and deserts, but in India, we have connected several of hilly and desert towns. The
total length of railway in India is about 69,182 kilometres. The length of electrified
railway in India is over 11,000 kilometres, second only to Russia, in the world.

So far as passenger trains are
concerned, India operates both slow
passenger trains to fast mail and
express trains. The fastest trains in
India include the Gatiman Express
(160 kmph), Bhopal Shatabdi (140
kmph), Mumbai Rajdhani (140 kmph)
and Vande Bharat Express (130 Metro Rail in Delhi Monorail in Mumbai

kmph), among others.
India is expanding its Metro Rail network to many cities. It is already operational in

many cities including Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow and
other cities.
The Monorail is operational in Mumbai.

To carry goods, India has a large network of goods trains. Now, it is building a
dedicated freight corridor to carry goods exclusively.

2. Means of Water Transport

Thousands of years ago, man found that wood can float on water. This led to making
rafts and boats. These wooden boats were used for international trade between distant
lands. When the steam engine was invented, it was also fitted on boats, which made
water transport quite convenient and quick.

A large variety of ships and boats are used for different purposes at present. Very big
boats and ships are used for sea travel and cargo. They carry a huge amount of goods
(cargo) from one country to another. Passenger traffic is also sizeable in ships, it being
the cheapest mode of transport. Many types of ships are used today. Refrigerated ships
carry perishable products like meat, milk, fruits and flowers. Tankers are used for
carrying oil. Cruise ships are used by people for sightseeing and picnic on the sea and

coastal areas. Ports and harbours are built where ships can load, unload and store
goods. Ships are built in shipyards .
The means of water transport can be divided into two types : inland waterways and
sea routes .

52 Contemporary Social Science-5