Indian Railways, which dates back to 1853 during the British rule, is one of the world’s largest railway networks. The full track length of Indian Railways can circle the equator one-and-a-half times.

It comprises 115,000 km of track length over a route of 67,312 km. Also dubbed as the lifeline of India, the railway network has grown to be the world’s third largest network.

Even more interesting is that the daily total distance covered by Indian Railways daily equals three and a half times the distance to the moon.

The first train in India ran on 16th April 1853 from Bombay to Thane during the British rule. However, the first railroad was constructed by two Indians — Jaganath Shunkerseth and Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy.

Owned by the Government of India, the Indian Railways, an autonomous organization, is the world’s 9th largest employer having more than 1.6 million employees.

Indian Railways has a daily passenger population of almost 25 million, which is more than the entire population of Australia.

The fastest train of India is New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express, an all air-conditioned superfast train that clocks a maximum speed of 150kmph on the Faridabad-Agra section. This train covers the 704 km New Delhi-Bhopal stretch in 7 hours 50 minutes.

Likewise, the slowest train is Metupalayam Ooty Nilgiri Passenger, which runs at a speed of 10km per hour because it runs in hilly region.

Meanwhile, the longest run by an Indian Railways’ train is the Vivek Express that travels from Dibrugarh of Assam to Kanyakumari in Kerela covering a distance of 4273 km, making it the longest run in terms of total time and distance.

The shortest run train is the scheduled services between Nagpur and Ajni stations situated just 3km from each other.

Another interesting aspect of the Indian Railways is that the Howrah-Amritsar Express has 115 stops, the record maximum for an express train.

Likewise, the New Delhi Main Station, having the world’s largest route relay interlocking system, has a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

While the Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh having a length of 1366.33 meters is the longest platform in the world, Lucknow Station in Uttar Pradesh is the busiest station with 64 trains running per day.

Similarly, the railway bridge built over Chenab River, which is the world’s highest railway bridge, is said to dwarf the Eiffel Tower.

(Agencies)