India’s Transport System Under Stress

• 11 Dec 2025

For Prelims: PM Gati Shakti – National Master Plan, National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management, Kavach 5.0 

For Mains: Reasons for recurring transport disruptions in India and policy implications, Role of public investment vs. market-led models in urban and intercity mobility, Accessibility in urban transport.

Source:TH 

Why in News?

In 2025, India witnessed significant disruptions in its transportation sector, from overcrowded trains during peak seasons to widespread flight cancellations; these events revealed the challenges of balancing demand with limited supply.  

• These disruptions underscore the growing strain on India’s transport system amid neoliberal policies and underinvestment. 

What are the Challenges Hindering India’s Transport System? 

• Infrastructure Deficiencies: Major urban centers like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata experience severe road congestion. The lack of efficient public transport systems exacerbates traffic bottlenecks. 
  • Railways in urban areas face severe overcrowding due to limited trains, delays and inadequate capacity during peak and festive periods.  
  • Much of India’s rail and road infrastructure is outdated, causing slow travel, frequent breakdowns and heightened safety risks. 
• Neo-Liberal Constraints: India’s economic model limits the state’s ability to invest, while encouraging private-sector expansion with minimal oversight. 
  • This creates a dual problem:  
    • Public services remain cheap but under-funded, causing overcrowding, breakdowns, and chronic shortages. 
    • While privatization and deregulation were expected to foster efficiency, they often lead to monopolies or oligopolies, where a few dominant players, like IndiGo in aviation, have undue market control, limiting competition and inflating prices. 
  • The result is a system where neither public nor private transport reliably protects consumer welfare. 
• Safety and Security Concerns: India has one of the highest rates of road accidents globally. 
  • Vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, and  cyclists are particularly at risk due to a lack of safety features in infrastructure. 
  • In railways, despite improvements, accidents and derailments still occur, leading to loss of lives and significant public outcry. 
  • The 2025 Air India crash in Ahmedabad, which killed more than 200 people, has further amplified concerns about safety gaps across India’s transport systems. 
• Environmental Sustainability: The transport sector is a major contributor to air pollution in India, it contributes 14% to India's energy-related CO₂ emissions. 
  • There is a slow shift toward sustainable options like electric vehicles (EVs). 
  • Extreme weather events, such as floods and storms, increasingly threaten transport infrastructure, highlighting the need for climate-resilient infrastructure. 
• Lack of Data-Driven Decision Making: While there have been improvements in digitization, the transportation sector still lacks comprehensive data-driven strategies to manage traffic, reduce congestion, and optimize logistics.  
  • Innovations like smart traffic lights, GPS-enabled buses, and digital ticketing are still in their nascent stages in many parts of the country. 
• Challenges in Logistics and Freight Movement: The logistics sector faces inefficient warehousing, outdated transport systems and customs delays, which raise costs, reduce competitiveness and increase carbon emissions. 
  • Corruption at various levels of administration often leads to poor execution of projects, delays, and budget overruns. For instance, tendering and contract-awarding processes sometimes lack transparency, leading to inefficient project implementation. 
• Social Equity and Accessibility: While low fares for public transport ensure affordability, they often do not translate into better access to services.  
  • Public transport systems in many cities are overcrowded, unreliable, and difficult to access for vulnerable sections, including the elderly, women, and people with disabilities. 

What is the Importance of India's Transport Sector? 

• The Transport Sector serves as the backbone of national mobility, enabling large-scale movement of people and goods across India’s road, rail and aviation networks. 
• It reduces logistics costs and enhances market efficiency, supporting India’s aim to become a global manufacturing and export hub. 
• Strengthens national integration by connecting remote, rural, border and tribal regions with urban and economic centres. 
• Supports key economic sectors such as agriculture, MSMEs, tourism, trade, and industry through dependable multi-modal connectivity. 
• Enhances social inclusion by improving access to healthcare, education, public services and job opportunities for millions. 
• Boosts disaster response and supply-chain resilience, ensuring essential movement during crises and emergencies.

What are India's Initiatives for Transport Sector Development? 

Initiative	Purpose
PM Gati Shakti – National Master Plan	Integrate infrastructure planning across road, rail, air, and ports to reduce logistics costs.
National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)	Provide long-term funding for major transport and connectivity projects.
Bharatmala Pariyojana	Improve national highways, build economic corridors, and enhance freight movement.
Sagarmala Programme	Modernise ports, expand coastal shipping, and boost port-led development.
Metro Rail Policy 2017	Guide metro expansion, PPP participation, and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD).
UDAN Scheme	Expand regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable.
PM e-Bus Sewa and FAME-II Scheme	Deploy electric buses in cities to improve public transport and reduce emissions and promote adoption of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Policy 2022	Enable smart traffic management and real-time mobility data systems.
Amrit Bharat & Vande Bharat Initiatives:	Modernise railway stations with upgraded facilities and infrastructure.
Smart Cities Mission	Improve urban mobility through NMT, smart traffic systems, and integrated transit solutions.

 

What Measures can Strengthen India’s Transport System? 

• Modernise Public Transport: Use frameworks like the NIP and Gati Shakti National Master Plan to prioritise urban mobility, rail upgrades, and integrated logistics parks. 
  • The N.K. Singh Review Committee (2016) recommended a more flexible Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) framework, allowing targeted relaxation of fiscal limits so the government can step up public investment in core infrastructure.  
    • This flexibility creates space to modernise India’s transport system 
• Build Safer Transport Systems: Align urban transport with the National Road Safety Policy (2010) and the Safe System Approach recommended by the WHO Global Road Safety Report. 
  • Accelerate deployment of Kavach 5.0, India’s indigenous automatic train protection system, across all high-density routes. 
  • Make urban safety audits compulsory under MoHUA’s Urban Transport Policy (NUTP 2006). 
• Promote Sustainable, Low-Carbon Mobility: Leverage the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) to shift urban trips from private vehicles to EV-based public transport. 
  • Use the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and the National Mission on Sustainable Habitat to build climate-resilient infrastructure capable of withstanding floods, heatwaves, and storms. 
  • Expand (NMT through schemes like Streets for People Challenge, Cycles4Change, and smart-city pedestrianisation models. 
• Accelerate Data-Driven Mobility Governance: Enhance the monitoring under the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Policy (2022) for real-time data, predictive analytics, and digital traffic management. 
• Strengthen Social Equity and Universal Accessibility: Enforce accessibility mandates under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, ensuring ramps, tactile paths, low-floor buses, and accessible metros. 
  • Improve women’s safety through Nirbhaya Fund-supported CCTV networks, panic buttons, last-mile shuttles, and lit pedestrian paths.

Conclusion 

India’s transport crises show a system struggling with rising demand and weak investment. Strengthening safety, capacity, and sustainable mobility is now urgent. A resilient transport network will depend on restoring public investment and ensuring fair, efficient services for all. 

Drishti Mains Question:

Examine the causes and consequences of the transport disruptions in India. How do these events reflect the strengths and limitations of a neo-liberal policy model?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Q. Why do Indian cities face chronic road congestion? 
Rapid urbanisation, outdated road networks, weak public transport, and poor last-mile connectivity create persistent traffic bottlenecks in major metros. 

Q. What is PM Gati Shakti and why is it important for transport? 
PM Gati Shakti is a National Master Plan for multimodal infrastructure integration; it reduces logistics cost and synchronises road, rail, port and airport projects for faster, coordinated delivery. 

Q. Which measures improve transport safety and accessibility for vulnerable users? 
Enforcing the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act provisions, mandatory urban safety audits, KAVACH for trains, and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act compliance ensure safer, accessible transport for all. 

Summary 

• India’s 2025 transport disruptions exposed deep structural issues including overcrowded railways, outdated infrastructure, and aviation monopolies. 
• Neo-liberal fiscal limits have constrained public investment, while deregulation has enabled private dominance, weakening consumer welfare. 
• Safety risks, high pollution, climate vulnerabilities, poor logistics efficiency, and limited data-driven governance continue to strain the system. 
• Strengthening public investment, enforcing safety standards, promoting sustainable mobility, and improving accessibility are essential for a resilient and equitable transport network. 

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question (PYQ)  

Mains

Q. The Gati-Shakti Yojana needs meticulous coordination between the government and the private sector to achieve the goal of connectivity. Discuss. (2022)