Transportation ensures movement of people as well as goods (manufactured or produced) from one place to another. So it helps in growth of trade and commerce of the country. A good transportation system is one of the pillars of industrial growth and commercial structure of the country.
Along with the growth of industry and commerce, the transportation system has helped in achieving many economic and social objectives. Modes of transportation are changing as per the needs of the time and it is keeping pace with the growth of science and technology across the world. However, the degree of sophistication in modes of transportation equipments in use varies with the level of economic condition and growth of a particular region or nation. The transition from subsistence farming to commercial farming and growth of manufacturing activities widened the scope of development of transportation modes.
In ancient times, various modes of transportation, such as human beings, camels, horses, donkeys, bullock carts, ships, were in use. An evidence of these modes is found in the histories of Roman, Greek, Persian, Harrapan and Mohanjodaro civilizations. But capacity and speed were the constraints for these modes. With the advent of industrial revolution in Europe, rapid changes occurred in the transportation system. The new system required easy transportation of workers to and from the factories and speedy movement of goods to the place of consumption.
The result was the development of four modes of transportation, that is, road, rail, air and water. Simultaneous upgradations of infrastructure took place to support the transportation modes for achieving faster movement. Even with the availability of sophisticated modes of transportation, the older modes still continued to serve the society (though on a smaller scale).
In India before independence, the transportation system mainly comprised roads and railways, which was developed for smooth administration by the then Government for communication. Major ports and cities were built keeping in view the administrative, strategic and trade imperatives of the ruling government. However, after the independence, the focus changed to the development of railways and road infrastructure for supporting the developmental needs of Indian economy and society. Then, slowly the seaports and airports were developed to facilitate industrialization in the country.
Source: Sople V.V (2013), Logistics Management, Pearson Education India; Third edition.
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