Topics in the Chapter
• Introduction
• Transport
→ Roadways
→ Railways
→ Pipelines
→ Waterways
→ Airways
• Communication
• International Trade
• Tourism as Trade

Introduction
• The pace of development of a country depends upon the production of goods and services as well as their movement over space.
• Movement of goods and services can be over three important domains of our earth:
→  Land,
→ Water
→ Air
• There are five transport systems in India:
→ Roadways

→ Railways
→ Airways
→ Waterways
→ Pipelines
• With the development in science and technology, the area of influence of trade and transport increased.

Transport
Roadways
• India has one of the largest road networks in the world, totaling to about 2.3 million km at present.
• Advantages of roadways over railways:
→ Construction cost of roads is much lower than that of railway lines,
→ Roads can traverse comparatively more dissected and undulating topography
→ Roads can negotiate higher gradients of slopes and as such can traverse mountains such as the
Himalayas.
→ Road transport is economical in transportation of few persons and relatively smaller amount of goods over short distances.
→ It also provides door-to-door service, thus the cost of loading and unloading is much lower,
→ Road transport is also used as a feeder to other modes of transport such as they provide a link between railway stations, air and sea ports.
• Roads are categorised into six classes:
→ Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways: The project was launched by the government to link Delhi-Kolkata- Chennai-Mumbai and Delhi by six-lane Super Highways. The major objective of these Super Highways is to reduce the time and distance between the mega cities of India. These highway
projects are being implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
→ National Highways: These are the primary road systems and are laid and maintained by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
→ State Highways: Roads linking a state capital with different district headquarters are known as State Highways. These are constructed and maintained by the State Public Works Department (PWD) in State and Union Territories.
→ District Roads: These roads connect the district headquarters with other places of the district. These roads are maintained by the Zila Parishad.
→ Other Roads: Rural roads, which link rural areas and villages with towns, are classified under this category.
→ Border Roads: Border Roads Organisation constructs and maintains roads in the bordering areas of the country. This organisation was established in 1960 for the development of the roads of strategic
importance in the northern and north- eastern border areas.
• Classification of Roads on the basis of the type of material used for their construction:
→ Metalled roads: These roads may be made of cement, concrete or even bitumen of coal.
→ Unmetalled roads: Roads made up of mud and gravel which are generally found in the rural areas.

Road Density
• The length of road per 100 sq. km of area is known as Road Density.
• Density of all roads varies from only 10.04 km in Jammu and Kashmir to 532.27 km in Uttar Pradesh.
• The national average of 125.02 km.
• Problems of Road Transportation:
→ About half of the roads are unmetalled which limits their usage during the rainy season.
→ The National Highways are inadequate too.
→ The roadways are highly congested in cities.
→ Most of the bridges and culverts are old and narrow.

Railways
• Railways are the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers in India.
• It makes possible to conduct multifarious activities like business, sightseeing, pilgrimage along with transportation of goods over longer distances.
• The Indian Railway have a network of 7,133 stations spread over a route length of 64,460 km with a fleet of 9,213 locomotives, 53,220 passenger service vehicles, 6,493 other coach vehicles and 2,29,381 wagons as on March 2011.
• The Indian Railway is now reorganised into 16 zones.
• The distribution pattern of the Railway network in the country has been largely influenced by physiographic, economic and administrative factors.
• The railways have become more important in our national economy than all other means of transport put together.
• Problems in Railway Transportation:
→ Many passengers travel without tickets.
→ Thefts and damaging of railway property has not yet stopped completely.
→ People stop the trains, pull the chain unnecessarily and this causes heavy damage to the railway.

• These are used for transporting crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas from oil and natural gas fields to refineries, fertilizer factories and big thermal power plants.