Indian Railway is a backbone of transportation in India. Numerous citizens depend on this railway network for transportation, livelihood and much more.
Read on to learn more about this giant network of trains:
- Indian railways are the largest network in the world that is operated by one government. In general, it is the third largest network in the world.
- Indian railways hold the longest platform in the world. At the length of 4430 feet, the Gorakhpur station is the world’s longest platform.
- Indian mountain railways and Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus are tagged as world heritage site by UNESCO. Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, Kalka Shimla Railways, and Nilgiri Mountain Railways are the three heritage site trains and all the three trains are running for more than 100 years.
- Indian railways manage five different luxury trains with the varying itinerary. The oldest one of all is the Palace on Wheels.
- The longest route in Indian railways is the Vivek Express, which runs from Didrugarh to Kanyakumari. It spans 4273 km. The shortest route is covered between Ajni and Nagpur, which is just three km.
- To allow people to have a comfortable sleep, the resonance of the trains are kept at 1.2 Hz. This frequency is very comfortable for human beings as it is the frequency of a normal heart rate.
- Indian railways are not a profit-oriented organization. The department spends 94 paisa on every rupee it makes.
- The highest rail bridge of Indian railways is located in Chenab at the height of 1315 m above sea level. The bridge was completed in 2016.
- The longest tunnel of Indian railways is located in Jammu and Kashmir. The Pir Panjal railway tunnel is around 11.25 km long.
- The busiest railway station is Howrah junction of Kolkata. Averagely, 974 trains stop at this station, every day.
- To avoid people stealing the electrical appliances of the train like fan, lights and others, the appliances are made to run at 110 volts instead of the standard 220 volts.
- The mascot of the Indian railways is an elephant in station master uniform with a lantern in hand.
- The oldest train that is still in use is the Fairy Queen, a steam-powered engine. The train was used from 1855 to 1909. After being unused until 1997, it is now used as a tourist train that runs between Alwar and Delhi at a speed of just 40 km per hour.
- Computerized reservation of tickets started only in 1986.
- There are eight different railway museums in the country – Delhi, Kanpur, Kolkata, Chennai, Mysore, Tiruchirappalli, Pune, and Ghum. Among these, the one in Delhi is the largest rail museum of the continent.
- Although the Indian railway is the butt of numerous jokes about crowded trains, it is an important part of the culture of the land. If you wish to stay close to the locals and enjoy their lifestyle, you ought to take an India tour in the local trains in any major metro cities.