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Disadvantages And Impacts Of The Railways In India

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EARLY IMPRESSIONS:

Undeterred by oddities and abhorrence generated from within and outside, the railways has steamed ahead ceremoniously since its inception in 1853. It has completed a glorious 162 years, enjoyed the best and worst times during its long history starting with the British Colonoial Raj to the present. Through history, the railways have been deemed a ‘calamity’ and a ‘boon’. Romesh Chandra Dutta, critic of the British Raj in Indian, described the railways as ‘wasteful expenditure’ and a ‘hazardous and dangerous venture’. Karl Marx wrote: “I known that the English sultocracy intends to endow India with the railways with the exclusive view of extracting at diminished expense the cotton and other raw materials for their manufacturers.” However, the railways were also regarded as a preventive measure against famines and the only affordable means of transport available for the masses. Lord Dalhousie fully supported the railway project and suggested that any loss incurred would be cheerfully borne by the British government. …show more content…

One might disagree about the extent of its initial contribution to the developing economy, but nobody can deny the fact that the railways assumed the status of a lifeline for the national economy much before the dawn of Independence in India. The railways probably went out of fashion for a decade or two in the second-half of the 20th century in Europe because of its over-burdened programmes and expenditure and tough competition. But within India, the railways are regarded as the cheapest and most convenient mode of transport and is used by citizens through the length and breadth of the

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