As a child we always got excited about trains; going on vacations by a train was the most exciting thing in childhood. Do you remember the fights with you siblings, cousins and friends for the window seats? Trust me, some of us still fight for it. Indian Railways completed 164 years and so, we thought of giving a small tribute for the wonderful services it has provided to our society by sharing few interesting Indian Railways facts with everyone.
Indian Railways was founded on 16th April 1853, since then it has gone a long way. It is owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. Today, it is the fourth largest railway network and eighth biggest employer in the world. It is comprises of 119,630 kilometers of total track and 92,081 km of running track over a route of 68,525 km with 7,216 stations at the end of 2015-16. IR connects 26 states and 3 union territories across India and also connects India with the neighboring countries, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It had 1.331 million employees at the end of 2015-16. (source- Wikipedia)
Tripinfi has come up with 20 amazing facts about Indian Railways
The first train in India ran on: 16th April 1853 from Bombay to Thane
Headquarters of Indian Railways: New Delhi
The mascot of Indian Railways: Bholu the Guard Elephant
The first electric train of India: Deccan Queen Express (The service started between Kalyan and Pune)
The 3 longest railway platform in the world:
- Gorakhpur Railway Station, Uttar Pradesh,1366.33m
- Kollam Junction, Kerala, 1,180.5m
- Kharagpur, West Bengal, 1,072.5m
The highest railway station in India: Ghum, West Bengal (of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway), situated at an altitude of 7,407 ft
The largest railway complex in India: Howrah Junction, West Bengal (23 platforms)
The busiest railway station in India: Howrah Junction, West Bengal
The station with the longest name in India: Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta, Andhra Pradesh
The station with the shortest name in India: Ib, Odisha and Od, Gujrat
The longest distance train in India: Dibrugarh – Kanyakumari Vivek Express (15905/15906) travels a distance of 4273km
The shortest distance train in India: Scheduled services between Nagpur and Ajni stations situated just 3km from each other
The fastest train in India: Gatimaan Express is India’s first semi high speed train that runs between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Agra cantonment (160km/hr)
The slowest train in India: Nilgiri Express (10km/hr)
The first double decker train in India: Pune-Mumbai Sinhagad express
The station having three different gauges: Siliguri, West Bengal
The junction which has the highest number of routes: Mathura Junction
World’s first hospital train: Lifeline Express or Jeevan Rekha Express
Tourists Train in India: Palace on Wheels, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Maharaja Express, Deccan Odyssey, The Golden Chariot and Mahaparinirvan Express
Mountain Railways of India: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Kalka-Shimla Railway and Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Want to know more about Mountain Railways of India? It’s coming soon.
Tripinfi’s advice: Keep travelling and do not take selfies near the train, you may risk your life or land up in jail 🙂
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