UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Unveils Eight More Structural Reforms under ‘Reform Express’ to Strengthen India's Freight Operations
Q1. The 'Reform Express' initiative, which sets a declared target of '52 reforms in 52 weeks', is being operationalised by which one of the following?
- A. Ministry of Railways
- B. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
- C. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, which houses the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan
- D. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Q2. In the context of Indian Railways, the term 'Reform Express' refers to which one of the following?
- A. A phased, time-bound reform programme of the Ministry of Railways that rolls out reforms in freight, construction, passenger services and safety towards a target of 52 reforms in 52 weeks
- B. A semi-high-speed express freight service running on the Dedicated Freight Corridors
- C. A special premium passenger train introduced to showcase modernised coaches and station redevelopment
- D. An inter-ministerial committee constituted to restructure the Railway Board's cadre and finances
Q3. With reference to the eight structural reforms unveiled on 14 July 2026 under 'Reform Express' to strengthen freight operations, consider the following:
1. A unified Pan-India Container Train Operator licence, with a licence fee of Rs 25 crore, replacing the earlier four-tier licensing system.
2. Containerised movement of fly ash from thermal power plants to cement units in place of open-wagon transport.
3. Removal of Indian Railways' exclusive ownership of petroleum tank wagons, permitting investment by private entities and oil companies.
4. Creation of the e-RCT platform for complete digitisation of the Railway Claims Tribunal.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as part of this tranche of freight reforms?
- A unified Pan-India Container Train Operator licence, with a licence fee of Rs 25 crore, replacing the earlier four-tier licensing system.
- Containerised movement of fly ash from thermal power plants to cement units in place of open-wagon transport.
- Removal of Indian Railways' exclusive ownership of petroleum tank wagons, permitting investment by private entities and oil companies.
- Creation of the e-RCT platform for complete digitisation of the Railway Claims Tribunal.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 3 and 4
Q4. 'Rail Bhoomi', announced as part of the structural reforms for faster railway project execution, is best described as which one of the following?
- A. A digital platform for railway land acquisition and land-related project clearances, intended to speed up project execution
- B. A scheme for commercial leasing of surplus railway land to develop cargo warehouses on a revenue-share basis
- C. A land-records digitisation programme run by State revenue departments for lands adjoining railway tracks
- D. A land bank of railway sidings auctioned to container train operators under the Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal Policy
Q5. With reference to the Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal (GCT) Policy and its enhancement under 'Reform Express', consider the following statements:
1. The GCT Policy was introduced in 2022.
2. The contract/agreement duration for GCTs has been extended from 35 years to 50 years.
3. The reform targets expansion from about 124 existing terminals to over 500 terminals within five years.
4. GCTs can be developed only by Indian Railways on railway land, private parties being barred from developing them.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- The GCT Policy was introduced in 2022.
- The contract/agreement duration for GCTs has been extended from 35 years to 50 years.
- The reform targets expansion from about 124 existing terminals to over 500 terminals within five years.
- GCTs can be developed only by Indian Railways on railway land, private parties being barred from developing them.
- A. 4 only
- B. 1 and 3
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 3 only
Q6. Under the enhanced Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal Policy, the expression 'cargo plus processing' hub means which one of the following?
- A. A cargo terminal that additionally permits value-adding activities such as cement grinding, grain processing and container stuffing/destuffing at the terminal itself
- B. A terminal that handles both domestic and EXIM containers under a single Freight-All-Kind tariff
- C. A terminal where customs clearance and export documentation are processed alongside cargo handling
- D. A terminal that combines freight handling with passenger coach maintenance facilities to optimise land use
Q7. Under the RailTech Policy of Indian Railways, which one of the following is the single, dedicated window through which innovators, startups, industry and institutions submit their technology proposals end-to-end?
- A. The RailTech Portal
- B. The Indian Railways e-Procurement System (IREPS)
- C. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM)
- D. The Startup India portal of DPIIT
Q8. The RailTech Policy, under which Indian Railways funds up to 50 per cent of the development cost of a viable technological solution, was announced under whose authority and in which year?
- A. Ministry of Railways, in 2026, as one of the reforms under 'Reform Express'
- B. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology jointly with DPIIT, in 2025
- C. NITI Aayog, in 2024, as part of its innovation mission for infrastructure PSUs
- D. Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), in 2023, as a technical standards circular
Q9. The Railway Claims Tribunal, whose procedures are being fully digitised under the e-RCT reform, exercises its jurisdiction under which one of the following statutes?
- A. The Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987
- B. The Railways Act, 1989
- C. The Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
- D. The Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966
Q10. Under the freight reforms permitting industry-led design of freight wagons, the approval of such wagon designs rests with which one of the following organisations, the technical adviser and standards body of the Ministry of Railways?
- A. Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO)
- B. Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR)
- C. Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL)
- D. Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)
Q11. The National Rail Plan for India – 2030, prepared under the authority of the Ministry of Railways, sets which one of the following as its principal freight objective?
- A. Raising the modal share of Railways in freight to 45 per cent by 2030, while creating capacity ahead of demand up to 2050
- B. Raising the modal share of Railways in freight to 27 per cent by 2030, with capacity planning up to 2040
- C. Raising the modal share of Railways in freight to 60 per cent by 2047, in line with the Amrit Kaal vision
- D. Raising the modal share of Railways in freight to 33 per cent by 2031, in line with the Fifteenth Finance Commission cycle
Q12. With reference to the recent Indian Railways reforms aimed at ease of doing business and faster project execution, consider the following statements:
1. Performance security is fixed at 10 per cent of the contract value at the start of the contract.
2. A contractor's litigation is capped with reference to a threshold of 50 per cent of its net worth.
3. The permissible sub-contracting limit has been reduced from 70 per cent to 40 per cent of the work.
4. All freight terminals and freight rolling stock must, without exception, be owned and operated by Indian Railways alone.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Performance security is fixed at 10 per cent of the contract value at the start of the contract.
- A contractor's litigation is capped with reference to a threshold of 50 per cent of its net worth.
- The permissible sub-contracting limit has been reduced from 70 per cent to 40 per cent of the work.
- All freight terminals and freight rolling stock must, without exception, be owned and operated by Indian Railways alone.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 4 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 2 only