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GREETINGS FROM ALL INDIA RAIL SAFETY COUNCIL
The volunteers are essential to preserving our railroad heritage. There are no paid employees.
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Volunteers make a difference every day in Guelph. It’s what makes us a caring community. When you invest your time, skills and enthusiasm in volunteering, you help make our city a vibrant and rewarding place to live, work and play. The All india rail safety council offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities for students, adults and seniors.
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Why it matters
It’s vital for strong, inclusive, and resilient communities
It assists organizations in reaching their goals
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It’s fundamental to a healthy and democratic society in india
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ALL INDIA RAIL SAFETY COUNCIL
Indian Railways is one of the largest rail networks in the world and consists of goods, passengers, tourists, suburban trains, toy trains, and luxury trains. IR has 4,337 train stations operating in a network of several meters, widths, and gauges. Railways in India are divided into 16 zones and the locomotives are made up of electric and diesel locomotives.
Here are 51 Interesting and Must Know facts about the Railways of India:
Indian Railways is the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second-largest.
1. The First train on Indian soil ran between Bombay and Thane on the 16th of April 1853.
2. The New Delhi Railway Station has secured a place in the Guinness Book of Records for having the world’s largest Route Relay Interlocking System.
3. Indian Railways transports almost 2.5 crore passengers daily.
4. Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest employers with over 1.4 million people.
5. Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India, operates between New Delhi and Bhopal Junction.
6. Dibrugarh Kanyakumari Vivek Express the longest train route in the Indian Subcontinent.
7. Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta railway station has the longest name among all stations on the Indian Railway system.
8. Mughalsarai Junction railway station contains the largest railway marshaling yard in Asia.
9. The Rajdhani Express trains get the highest priority on the Indian railway network.
10. Gorakhpur Junction railway station has the world’s longest railway platform with a length of 1,366.33 m.
11. The Slowest train in India is the Mettupalayam Ooty Nilgiri passenger train.
12. Kolkata Metro zone of Indian Railways will run 1,500 ft underwater metro in India under the Hooghly River between Mahakaran and Howrah station.
13. The Fairy Queen between New Delhi and Alwar in Rajasthan is the oldest functioning steam engine in the world.
14. Trivandrum HNizamuddin Rajdhani Express covers a distance of 528 km without a single stop.
15. Nilgiri Mountain Railway a single track and only rack and pinion rail systems operate in India.
16. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is considered to be the most beautiful train station in India.
17. The Maharaja Express is the most expensive luxury train in India.
18. Howrah is the busiest railway station in the nation train frequency of 974.
19. Ghum Railway station of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is the highest railway station in India.
20. Chenab Bridge will be the world’s tallest railway bridge under construction in Jammu and Kashmir.
21. Vembanad Rail Bridge of Kerala is the longest rail bridge in India with a total length of 4.62 km.
22. Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel is India’s longest railway tunnel with a length of 11.215 km in the middle Himalayas.
23. Ib Railway station of Odisha has the shortest name of all stations on the Indian Railways system.
24. Konkan Railway Train Route is the most beautiful train route of Indian Railways.
25. The Kashmir Railway is the most difficult railway line project of Indian Railways.
26. Mumbai Suburban Railway is the oldest railway system in Asia.
27. The Delhi Metro is India’s first modern metro and facilities with the most advanced technologies.
28. Calcutta Metro is the first underground metro railway system in India.
29. The Rail Museum in Delhi is the largest in Asia.
30. The New Delhi Railway Station has the world’s largest Route Relay Interlocking System.
31. Ernakulam H.Nizamudin Duronto is the longest-running Duronto express in Indian Railways.
32. Loco-pilots are paid more than an average software engineer in India.
33. If the tracks of Indian railways were to be laid out, they would circle the earth almost 1.5 times.
34. Indian Railways is a massively successful organization running 11,000 trains in a day.
35. Mathura junction has the maximum number of routes emerging from it.
36. The Diamond crossing in Nagpur is one-of-its-kind in India, from where trains go East, West, North, and South.
37. Howrah-Amritsar Express has 115 stops, the record maximum for an Express train.
38. The Guwahati Thiruvananthapuram Express holds the record for being the most unreliable long-distance train on the Indian Railways network.
39. The IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation) website gets close to 12 lakh hits per minute.
40. The Railway station of Navapur is built in 2 states; one half of it is in Maharashtra and the other half is in Gujarat.
41. Train services between Nagpur and Ajni, situated just 3km apart, form the shortest route.
42. The Trains got toilets after Indian Railways completed about 50 years.
43. Indian Railways has a mascot – Bholu, the Guard Elephant.
44. Indian Railways launched an awareness campaign train on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007, called the Red Ribbon Express.
45. Indian Railways has 16 zones over a route of 65,808 km with 7,112 stations.
46. The Famed Darjeeling toy train, which is still running on its indigenous steam engine, was built by India’s British colonial master in 1881.
47. World Heritage sites 4 Indian Railways sites and 5 Mountain Railways.
48. World Heritage sites 4 Indian Railways sites and 5 Mountain Railways.
49. Samjhuata Express was the first international border train in India.
50. Red Ribbon Express is an AIDS/HIV awareness campaign train by the Indian Railways, launched in India on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007.
51. Ahmedabad Mumbai Central Double Decker Express is India’s first double Decker train.
Source: www.indianrail.gov.in
It was a historic day India got independence. We certainly wanted the Britishers to go away. But we have to be thankful to them for a few things that changed the course of many things in the pre and post-independent India.
Apart from introducing well organized postal service in the country, the Britishers also introduced railways for the first time in India. The first train ran between Bombay and Thane in 1853 on 16th April. Ever since then the Indian Railways have grown its network leaps and bounds across the country making almost all the places in the country accessible and reachable.
Even though most of the people are quite aware of the basic things related to railways like making reservations and so on, there are some unknown facts that really make the Indian Railways a giant establishment.
Here are some such astounding and unknown facts about our railways that really will surprise you as well as make you proud:
1. Highest Bridge In The World
India is building the highest railway bridge in the world in Kashmir. The bridge will have a height of 359 meters and is being constructed over the Chenab river. As a part of the megaplan of the Indian Railways, the bridge will connect Kashmir Valley with Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Line.
2. Use Of Blast-Proof Steel
Another interesting thing about this highest bridge over Chenab is that it is being constructed using blast-proof steel. Since Kashmir Valley constantly faces terrorist attacks, the railway administration has taken this decision to ensure that the bridge will not be affected by any blast.
Bogibeel Is Second Longest In Asia
The second longest rail-cum-road bridge of Bogibeel in Assam was thrown open recently. With a serviceable period of around 120 years, the bridge is 4.9 km long and is the only fully welded Indian bridge. For constructing this bridge on river Brahmaputra, the Indian Railways for the first time applied European welding standards and codes.
4. World’s Eighth Largest Employer
Indian Railways employees around 1.4 million employees and is the eighth largest employer in the world.
5. New Delhi Has Largest Rail Museum In Asia
India has around eight Railway Museums in Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Mysore, Chennai, Kanpur, Tiruchirappalli, and Ghum. The National Railway Museum in the capital city of India is the largest rail museum in Asia.
6. Fairy Queen Is Oldest Steam Locomotive In World
With normal vehicles becoming kaput after a decade or so it is really astounding to know that Fairy Queen built in 1855 is still in operations. Although it retired in 1909, the Indian Railways relaunched it in 1997.
Today it runs as a tourist train in between Delhi and Alwar traveling at a speed of 40km/hour. It is the oldest working steam locomotive in the world.
It has been included in the Guinness Book of Records and also was awarded the Heritage Award by the International Tourist Bureau in Berlin.
7. Rail Network Longer Than Equator
The entire track length of the Indian Railways is longer than the equator. Rather it can circle the equator one and a half times which really makes it very long. Also, the entire distance that the railways in India cover daily is three and a half times of the distance to the moon.
8. Carries Passengers Almost Equal To Australia’s Population
The railway network of India carries more than 23 million passengers daily which is almost equal to the entire population of Australia.
9. Largest Network In Asia, Second-Largest In World
The Indian Railways is the second largest in the world and the largest rail network in entire Asia. It is the largest network to be operated by a single government covering 115,000 of tracks and route of 65,000 km.
10. Longest Railway Platform In World
The longest railway platform in the world is currently the Gorakhpur Station in India that spans an area of 4,430 feet. Earlier the record was held by the Kharagpur station with a length of 2,733 feet.
11. Included In UNESCO World Heritage Site List
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Indian Mountain Railways are the two historical railway elements that are a part of the UNESCO World Heritage site list. The Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai has been included for its classic blend of Indian and Gothic art architecture.
The Indian Mountain Railways includes Nilgiri Mountain Railways, Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, and Kalka Shimla Railway. All these 3 trains have been operational for around a century.
12. Slowest Train In India
The Mettupalayam Ooty Nilgiri Passenger train is the slowest Indian train running at a speed of 10km/hour.
13. Largest Route Relay Interlocking System
The New Delhi Main Station has the largest route relay interlocking system in the world. The station has been included in the Guinness Book of Records.
14. Five Luxury Trains
The Indian Railways run five luxury trains including Palace on Wheels and Royal Rajasthan on Wheels in Rajasthan, The Golden Chariot in Karnataka and Goa, The Deccan Odyssey starting from Maharashtra and The Maharajas’ Express that begins in New Delhi. These are some of the best luxury trains in the world and are the pride of the country.
15. Shortest And Longest Run
The shortest route taken by the Indian train is services between Nagpur and Ajni which is of 3 km. The Vivek Express that runs from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari covers a distance of 4273 km and is the longest running railways.
So, these were a few facts about Indian Railways. We hope that you found this post informative.
Interesting facts about Indian Railways you should know
Railways are the lifeline of transportation in India. The foundation of the railways in India was laid by the Britishers in the 19th century. Indian Railways is currently the world’s fourth largest railway network in the world with evidently huge setup and numerous branches. It has its own dedicated ministry and budget. Bullet trains will be introduced in India in August 2022.
To know more about some interesting facts about the Indian Railways, read on –
1. Railways are the lifeline of India and operate electric-locomotive, diesel-locomotive and passenger-coaches. Indian Railways network consists of freight passengers, suburban railway systems, tourist trains, luxury trains, and toy trains.
2. Indian Railways has its own mascot named “Bholu”, the guard elephant, which was designed by the National Institute of Design. It was broadcasted on April 16, 2002.
3. The first train in India ran from Mumbai (Bombay) to Thane on April 16, 1853. The first railroad was constructed by two Indians named Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Jagnath Shunkerseth.
4. Indian Railways is one of the largest employers in the world with over 1.4 million employees.
5. The Railways carries more than 25 million passengers every day, which is more than the entire population of Australia.
6. The New Delhi Railway Station has secured a place in the Guinness Book of Records for being the largest route relay interlocking system in the world.
7. Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh has the longest platform in the world with a length of 1366.33 metres.
8. Currently, there are total 7, 349 stations in India. Also, there are 16 zones over a route of 65,808 km with 7,112 stations.
9. India has five luxury trains namely – Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Palace on Wheels, The Golden Chariot, The Deccan Odyssey, and the Maharaja Express. Palace on Wheels is the oldest one and the Maharaja Express is the most expensive. These luxury hold an eminent position amongst the luxury trains in the world.
10. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Indian Mountain Railways (which consists of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway in Tamil Nadu, the Kalka-Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge railway in West Bengal and a narrow gauge railway in the Shivalik mountains in Himachal Pradesh) are the two historical railway elements which have been considered as the UNESCO world heritage site.
11. The railways have a 94% operating ratio which means it spends 94 paise on every rupee it earns.
12. The first underground railway station was built in Kolkata in 1984.
13. The first passenger train in India ran on 15th August 1854 from Howrah to Hoogly.
14. The computerised passenger reservation system was introduced in India in 1986.
15. The longest train journey covered by any Indian train is of 4233 kilometres by the Vivek Express. With a total running time of 80 hours and 15 minutes with nearly 55 scheduled stops, the Vivek Express covers the longest train journey in India. It passes through 8 states of the country.
16. Indian Railways is a monopoly and is owned by the Government of India.
17. Mamata Banerjee was the first female to become a Railway Minister in 2000. Also, in 2002 she became the first female minister to present the Railway Budget.
18. The fastest train on the Indian railways network is the New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi which reaches the maximum speed of 150 kmph on the Faridabad-Agra section.
19. The slowest train is the Mettupalayam-Ooty Nilgiri Passenger train which runs from Mettupalayam to Ooty at an average speed of 10 kmph.
20. Indian Railways is currently constructing a bridge which will be the highest railway bridge. It will be five times the height of Qutub Minar and 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower of Paris. The bridge will be made 359 metres over Chenab.
21. The longest Railway tunnel in the country is 11.2 km long which is Pir Panjal bridge that links Kashmir Valley with Banihal in Jammu.
22. Toilets in the trains of Indian Railways were first introduced in 1909, around fifty years after the establishment of Railways.
23. The station with the shortest name is “Ib” in Odisha and the station with the longest name is Venkatanarasimharajuvariipeta which is sometimes spelled with “Sri” prefix.
24. “The Fairy Queen” is that the oldest operate external-combustion engine within the world plying between national capital and Alwar in Rajasthan. The engine has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. Also, it has received the Heritage Award from the International Tourist Bureau of Berlin.
25. There are total 6 Rail Museums in India. They are – Chennai Rail Museum, Chennai Joshi’s Museum of Miniature Railway, Pune National Rail Museum, New Delhi Railway Heritage Centre, Tiruchirappalli Railway Museum, Mysore Rewari Railway Heritage Museum
26. The Rail Museum in Delhi is the largest in India and also in Asia which has both working and non-working models.
27. Most of the Indians prefer Rajdhani Express for travelling i,e it gets the highest priority in the Railway network.
28. Howrah junction is the busiest railway station in India which has the train frequency of 974.
29. There is a diamond crossing in Nagpur from where trains can go North, East, West, and South. The crossing is one of its kind.
30. The maximum number of routes emerge from the Mathura Junction.
31. The highest Railway Station in India is the Ghum Railway Station of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
