railway

Indian railway system is the largest in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. It is the biggest departmental public undertaking in the country. The first train ran in India between Bombay and Thane, a stretch of 34 km. on April 16 1853. The Indian Railways celebrated its 150th anniversary on April 16, 2003. To commemorate the occasion, 16 Jan-Shatabadi inter-city express trains were announced to be inducted. The second train ran between Howrah and Hooghly in 1854. The headquarters of Indian Railway is in New Delhi. The first electric train in India was 'Deccan Queen'. It was introduced in 1929 between Bombay and Poona.

Indian Railways has the second biggest electrified system in the world after Russia. The fastest train in India is the Shatabadi Express whose maximum speed is 140 km/hr. The total route covered is approx. 63,000 km. The total number of railway stations in India is 7,100. The longest railway platform in India is at Kharagpur (W.B.). Mumbai is the destination where maximum number of trains in India head for. The longest train route is of 'Himsagar Express' from Jammu Tavi to Kanyakumari. It covers a distance of 3,726 km and passes through ten states. The first Metro Rail was introduced in Kolkata (W.Bengal) on Oct 24, 1984. The two stations connected were Dumdum and Belgachhia. The Indian Railways operate in three different gauges: Broad Gauge Railway (Distance between rails is 1.67 m) Metre Gauge Railways (Distance between rails is 1.00 m) Narrow Gauge Railways India (Distance between rails is 0.762 or 0.610 m) The broad gauge accounts for nearly 50% route followed by metre gauge (43%) and the remaining by narrow gauge. Indian railways are divided into 16 zones, headed by a General Manager who is responsible to the Railway Board, for all matters. Railway Zones Head Quarters Central Mumbai VT Eastern Kolkata Northern New Delhi North Eastern Gorakhpur North-East Frontier Maligaon-Guwahati Southern Chennai South Central Secunderabad South Eastern Kolkata Western Mumbai Churchgate East Coast Bhubaneshwar East Central Hajipur North Central Allahabad North Western Jaipur South Western Bangalore (Hubli) West Central Jabalpur South-East Central Bilaspur Northern Railway (NR) is the largest railway zone having length of 10,995 km. North-East Frontier (NEF) is the smallest railway zone having just 3,860 km route length. Konkan Railways India: It is a project to shorten the distance between Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The total route length is 786 km between Apta (Maharashtra) and Mangalore (Karnataka). Railway Manufacturing Units Chittaranjan Locomotive Works: Located in Chittaranjan (W.B) and manufactures electric engines. Diesel Locomotive Works: Located in Varanasi (U.P) and manufactures diesel engines. Integral Coach Factory in India: Located in Perambur (TN) and manufactures rail coaches. Wheel and Axle Plant: Locatedat Yalahaka (Bangalore, Karnataka) and manufactures wheels and axles. Diesel Component Works: Locatedat Patiala (Punjab) and manufactures components of diesel engines. Rail Coach Factory in India: Located at Kapurthala (Punjab) and manufactures rail coaches.