All about Indian Railways - Important Facts and Figures
Transportation
is the major part of Indian economy. Indian Railways started its service
164 years ago on 16 April 1853. The first train was run over a stretch of 33
kilometers from Mumbai to Thane. The Indian transportation system is very
important in UPSC IAS Exam also. Here we are giving some interesting facts
about Indian Railways.
- The
Fairy Queen is the oldest functioning steam engine in the world. It is
plying between New Delhi and Alwar in Rajasthan.
- Four
sites of Indian Railways have been declared as “World Heritage
sites” by the UNESCO. They are Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri
Mountain, Mumbai CST, and Kalka-Shimla Railways.
- Indian
Railways was nationalized in 1951
- Toilets
were introduced on Indian Railways in 1909.
- Indian
Railways started computerized reservation in New Delhi in 1986.
- Indian
Railways is the world’s second largest network operated under a
single administration and the largest rail network in Asia.
- The
railway runs more than 7,421 cargo trains carrying 3 million tons of
freight daily.
- Indian
Railway has gone into a select club of railways that includes China,
Russia, and the USA in carrying more than one billion tons of cargo
yearly.
- According
to the Acworth Committee in 1920-21, the railway finances of India were
separated from the general government finances in 1924.
- In
1994, the first live telecast of railway budget took place.
- Recently
Railway and General Budget has merged.
- India’s
fastest train has successfully completed a trial run at 160 km per hour on
the route between Delhi and Agra in just 90 minutes.
- In
2000, Mamata Banerjee was the first woman to become Railway Minister.
- She
holds the record of being the only woman who introduced the railway budget
for two different governments in the Parliament (UPA and NDA).
- The
Gatimaan Express (New Delhi- Agra) is currently the fastest train.
- The
Mettupalayam-Ooty Nilgiri Passenger train is the slowest train which runs
at an average speed of 10 kmph.
- The
New Delhi Railway Station has the world’s largest Route Relay Interlocking
System.
- Indian
Railways is the world’s seventh largest employer with over 1.4
million employees on its rolls.
- The
renewed platform at Gorakhpur Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh has become
the world’s longest, measuring 1,366 meters.
- Indian
Railways is building the world’s highest railway bridge five times
the height of Qutub Minar and 35 meters taller than Eiffel Tower.
- Station
with the shortest name is Ib in Odisha.
- Venkatanarasimharajuvariipeta
is the station with the longest name.
- The
longest platform in the world now is in Gorakhpur (4482 ft) overtaking
Kharagpur (2733 ft).
- The
longest rail journey is between Dibrugarh and Kanniya Kumari (4286 km)
performed by Vivek Express, introduced in 2011. Prior to this, Himsagar
Express covered the longest distance from Jammu Tawi to Kanniya Kumari
(3751 km).
- The
longest rail journey by Rajdhani Express is between Hazrat Nizamuddin and
Thiruvananthapuram covering 3149 km.
- Vembanad
Railway Bridge connecting Edappally and Vallarpadam with a length of 4.62
km is the longest rly bridge in India.
- The
longest railway tunnel, the Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (between Qazigund
and Banihal) has a length of 10.96 km. The work on the tunnel was
completed in October 2011. Prior to this the longest railway tunnel was
the Karbude Tunnel of length 6.5 km in Maharashtra and a part of the
Konkan railways.
Railway Manufacturing Units
- Chittaranjan
Locomotive Works (CLW) – It is situated in Chittaranjan (W.B). It
manufactures electric engines.
- Diesel
Locomotive Works (DLW) – It is Situated at Varanasi and Manufactures
Diesel Engines.
- Integral
Coach Factory – Situated at Perambur (Chennai) and manufactures Rail
Coaches.
- Wheel
and Axel Plant – Situated at Yalahka (Bangalore) and manufactures wheel
and axels.
- Diesel
Component Works – Situated at Patiala(Punjab) and manufactures components
of diesel engines.
- Rail
Coach Factory – Situated at Kapurthala (Punjab) and manufactures Railway
Coaches.
- Konkan
Rail Project (Konkan Railway) – This is the joint venture of the
government of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka and Kerala. Under this
Project a Railway Lines joining Mumbai and Mangalore(Karnataka) has been
laid down.
Railway
Zones
For
better administrative control of Indian Railway, The whole railway network of
the country has been divided into 17 Railway Zones and 70 Divisions. The Divisional Headquarter is controlled by
Divisional Railway Manager(DRM).
