Indian Railways has made a fascinating journey and transformations spanning decades and generations, from the days of steam and coal engines to plans to run a bullet train shortly. Indian Railways, the lifeblood of our country’s transportation system, is unquestionably a massive operation with numerous branches. Railways, which has their own ministry and budget, assists a large portion of the country’s population in successfully running their daily businesses.

However, there are a few interesting facts about Indian Railways and how the entire system works that may probably be not known to you:

  • Contrary to popular belief, India does not have the world’s largest railway network. After the United States, Russia, and China, India ranks fourth with approximately 65,000 kilometres of railroad.
  • The Indian Railways (IR) transports over 23 million passengers every day, which is more than the combined population of Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania.
  • Indian Railways transports 421 billion people each year.
  • Indian Railways operates up to 19,000 trains per day.
  • Passenger trains number 12,000 and freight trains number 7,000.
  • There are ten different classes of travelling (1AC, 2AC, 3AC, 3AE, EC, CC, FC, SL, 2S, and IIUR)
  • Indian Railways have a total seating capacity of 5.06 million people. The entire population of Finland or Singapore could easily fit inside all of India’s trains.
  • Daily, India’s Railways transport nearly 2.5 million people.
  • With over 1.4 million employees, Indian Railways is the world’s eighth-largest commercial or utility employer by the number of employees. It is also the largest employer in India.
  • International trains running to and from India are:
  1. Samjhauta Express between India and Pakistan
  2. Maitree Express between India and Bangladesh
  • UNESCO has designated the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as a world heritage site.
  • India’s Gorakhpur has the world’s largest train platform.
  • Vivek Express is the longest train on the Indian Railway Network in terms of distance and time, covering 4273 kilometres.
  • On the Indian subcontinent, the Dibrugarh Kanyakumari Vivek is the longest train route.
  • Nagpur’s Diamond Crossing is a one-of-a-kind crossing in India, with trains running east, west, north, and south.
  • India’s first double-decker train is Ahmedabad Mumbai Central Double Decker Express.
  • The largest railway marshalling yard in Asia is located at Mughalsarai Junction Railway Station
  • Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta Station has the longest name of all the stations covered by India’s train systems.
  • Ghum Station is the highest railway station in the world (West Bengal).
  • Vallarpadam Bridge, India’s longest railroad bridge, is 4.62 kilometres long (Kerala)
  • PIR Panjal Railway Tunnel is India’s longest railway tunnel (in Asian seconds) (Jammu and Kashmir)
  • India has a large number of zones.
  • The fastest train in India, the Shatabdi Express, travels at a top speed of 150 kilometres per hour.
  • With a speed of 10 km/h, Mettupalayam Ooty Nilgiri passenger train is the slowest train in India. The slowness is attributed to the fact that it runs through hilly terrain.
  • With a distance of 3 kilometres, the shortest train route is between Nagpur and AJNI station.
  •  Railway stations named Ib in Odisha and Od in Gujarat are railway stations with the shortest names. 
  • The Howrah-Amritsar trains have the most stops on the route, with a total of 115.
  • The railway stations of Srirampur and Belapur are located in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Both stations are in the same location, just on the opposite side of the rail line. Station names on both sides are different. 
  • The Electric Locomotive WAG9 is the most powerful locomotive in the Indian railway fleet, and it is used to transport heavy frosting compartments.
  • Mathura, with seven routes, is the crossing with the most routes originating from it.
  • Maximum number of parallel tracks/three gauges at a single station: 7 parallel tracks between Bandra Terminus and Andheri (10 km).
  • The busiest station is Vijaywada Jn, which has 247 different trains.
  • The oldest surviving locomotive, the Fairy Queen, was built in 1855 and is still in use by the Indian Railways. It is the world’s oldest steam engine, according to the Guinness Book of Records. The International Tourism Board of Berlin awarded it the Heritage Award in March 2000.
  • Domestic production of steam locomotives ceased in 1972.
  • The first subway to open for public use was the Kolkata Metro Train, which ran between Bombay VT and Kurla stations on February 3, 1925.
  • In 1986, the first computer reservation was made in New Delhi.
  • Howrah junction in Kolkata is the busiest junction in the country, with up to 974 trains passing through on a daily basis.
  • Northern Railway has the highest absolute earnings (123.27 mn).
  • North Central Railway NCR (5.4 mn/km) has the highest earnings from passenger business per track kilometre.
  • Eastern Coastal Railway ECOR (18.1 mn/km, 20.1 mn/km) has the highest earnings from freight loading and overall business per track kilometre.
  • Andhra Pradesh* (0.1 metre/person) has the most rail route km per capita.
  • Kerala (0.03 metre/person) has the shortest rail route km per capita.
  • The Navapur Railway Station is divided into two sections, one in Maharashtra and the other in Gujarat.
  • After the Indian Railways reached the age of 50, they were provided with toilet facilities.
  • On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007, Indian Railways launched the Red Ribbon Express, a public awareness campaign train.
  • The Chenab Bridge is a railway steel and concrete arch bridge being built between Bakkal and Kauri in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district. When completed, the Chenab River bridge will span the river at a height of 359 metres (1,178 feet), making it the world’s highest rail bridge. The Chenab Bridge will be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower.
  • New Delhi station holds the record for having the world’s largest route relay interlocking system, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Conclusion

These incredible facts about indian railways show that the Indian railways is a huge entity and is essentially the lifeblood of our country.