ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the organization of railways, describes the major trends in performance, assesses the effect of regulation and ownership on railway performance, and discusses the impact of railways on the economy. One strand of the literature has focused on colonial policy and in particular the role of dividend guarantees to private British companies that built the main network. The chapter examines the trends in fares using series on real average revenue per ton mile and real average revenue per passenger mile from 1884 to 1939. A large body of literature has examined the economic effects of railways, focusing on two major themes: first, whether the introduction of railways increased market integration and price convergence, and second, whether railways increased national income. This chapter reviews the development and organization of the Indian rail network, the trends in railway performance, the effects of ownership and the impact of railways on the Indian economy.
