Transport — Part 2: Railways, airways and waterways: visual lesson, ICSE Class 10 Geography (H.C.G. Paper 2)

Lesson

Rails, wings and water

Part 2 — Indian Railways is one of the largest railway systems in the world under a single management. Airways shrink great distances, and waterways — rivers, canals, backwaters and the coast — carry heavy loads cheaply. Each mode has its own geography.

In this lesson you will

Explain why the rail network is dense in the northern plains and sparse in hilly and desert areas
Explain why air transport is important for remote and hilly areas despite its high cost
Compare inland and coastal waterways and state their advantages and limitations
Compare modes using freight cost and time

Table of railways, airways and waterways with best use and main limitation
Mode	Best for	Main limitation
Railways	Bulky goods, long distances	Fixed routes; costly in hills
Airways	Speed; remote areas	Very high cost
Waterways	Heavy, bulky, cheap cargo	Slow; navigable routes only

Concept

Where railways are dense, and why

The rail network is densest in the northern plains (Punjab to West Bengal): flat land, fertile soil, dense population, many towns, farms and industries generating traffic, and low building costs. It is sparse in the Himalayas and the north-east hills (steep slopes, landslides, heavy rain, need for tunnels and bridges), in the Thar desert (shifting sand dunes, sparse population, little water) and in thick forests and swampy deltas. The Konkan Railway (1998) along the Western Ghats coast needed many tunnels and bridges, showing the cost of difficult terrain.

Table of regions with dense or sparse rail networks and reasons
Region	Network	Reasons
Northern plains	Dense	Flat, populous, productive
Himalayas, north-east	Sparse	Steep, landslides, heavy rain
Thar desert	Sparse	Shifting sand, few people
Western Ghats coast	Costly	Tunnels and bridges needed

Diagram

Railway gauges

The gauge is the distance between the two rails. Broad gauge (1.676 m) carries the heaviest, fastest traffic and is now the main gauge; metre gauge (1 m) and narrow gauge (0.762 m or 0.610 m) survive mainly on hill and branch lines such as Kalka–Shimla. Under Project Unigauge, most lines have been converted to broad gauge so that trains need not stop and transfer goods where gauges change.

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