Competition between Intercity Rail and Road Transport in India: External and Social Costs

Prosenjit Chaudhury

Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 2006, vol. 11, issue 3, 308-330

Abstract: The paper makes some estimates of the external and social costs of intercity transport for both passenger and freight traffic in India. Eight representative sections have been chosen where the two modes are in competition and the cost implications studied of intermodal shifts of equivalent volumes of traffic. The derived accident cost per unit of traffic movement shows large regional variation for rail, but generally it is lower in comparison with road. The same result holds in the case of some preliminary estimates of health damage costs of transport emissions. In the final analysis, when external costs are integrated with financial costs to arrive at the social costs of transport, it is found that these are always lower for the rail mode. Given therefore a case for modal substitution, some policy measures are discussed for enhancing the share of the rail mode in intercity transport.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1080/13547860600764294

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