Indian Transport Corporation

Having Passed through various phases since its introduction on April 16, 1853, railways in India entered a new era in 1947 when the country attained Independence. The country inherited a shattered railway system which had become the brunt of the Depression of the 1930s and the on slaught of World war II which, though it filled the railway coffers due to the demand for its services, left a major part of its assets obsolete, overused and requiring replacement. Further, the partition of the country had led to division of assets and manpower and dislocated the railway services. Nearly 83,000 railway workers opted to serve in Pakistan while 126,000 stayed on in India. The division led to the problem of fitting them into their proper places. After Partition, nearly 53,500 route kilometers remained in India.
In the wake of Partition, the railways transport a large number of from India to Pakistan and vice versa- During the first month after Independence, despite great operational and other handicaps, it transported nearly 7,00,000 migrants and another 40,00,000 migrants during the following Year. This feat has no parallel in the annals of world railways. After partition, the pattern and direction of rail traffic underwent a sea change, particularly in northern, western and northeastern parts had no link to with the rest of the country. The Assam Railway in the northeastern parts had no link with the rest of the country. Work on the 227 kilometer long Assam Rail line project was started in January 1948 and the fine was completed and formally inaugurated on January 26, 1950.

The loss of the port of Karachi and Lahore, an important centre of trade, jeopardized the traffic from Jammu and Kashmir through Pathankot which had to be diverted to Bombay via Delhi. It necessitated immediate construction of Pathankot - Mukerian railway line to connect Pathankot with Delhi. The work on the 44 km long Pathankot - Mukerian line began in November 1949 and it was formally opened to traffic on April 7, 1952.

The diversion of traffic put severe pressure on the Delhi-Bombay route and also on the port of Bombay. It necessitated the development of another port on the west coast of the country and the obvious choice was Kandla in the Kutch region. Work on the meter gauge line connecting Kandla and Deesa started in January 1950 and the 274 km long line was opened to traffic in October 1952.