Rail transport in India is an important mode of conveyance for
people
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
and
goods
In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants
and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not tran ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
(IR) is the primary operator of rail operations throughout the country. IR is a state-owned organisation of the
Ministry of Railways
A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...
, which historically had its own
government budget
A government budget is a document prepared by the government and/or other political entity presenting its anticipated tax revenues (Inheritance tax, income tax, corporation tax, import taxes) and proposed spending/expenditure (Healthcare, Educa ...
. Between 2019 and 2020, 22.15 million passengers used the Indian Railways network daily. In the same period, 3.32 million metric tons of freight was also shipped daily on the IR network.
Other locally owned public corporations operate various
suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
and
urban rail
Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories ...
ways throughout the country, such as
Chennai Metro
The Chennai Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 4th longest metro system In india. The system commenced service in 2015 after partially opening the first phase of the project. The network c ...
and the
trams in Kolkata
The tram system in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) after Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was dissolved, is the oldest existing tram network operating in India, and oldest opera ...
. Private sector operations currently exist only for freight trains and railroads, exclusively for non-passenger usage, but there were renewed efforts in 2020 to encourage private sector involvement in the running of passenger trains.
In March 2020, the national rail network comprised of track
over a route of and 7,325 stations.
India's national rail network is the
fourth-largest in the world (after those of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
). 36.83% of routes are double or multi-tracked.
As of April 2022, or 80% of the broad-gauge routes have been electrified with
25 KV AC
Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The d ...
electric traction.
It is one of the busiest networks in the world, transporting 8.086 billion passengers and 1.208 billion tonnes of
freight
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...
annually.
IR is the world's eighth largest employer, with more than 1.254 million employees as of March 2020.
As of March 2020, IR's
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
consisted of 293,077
freight wagons, 76,608
passenger coaches
A passenger railroad car or passenger car ( United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach ( United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie ( India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry pas ...
and 12,729
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s.
Successive administrations of the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
have worked on improving the railways. Projects include the electrification of the entire IR network by 2023, new trains that can operate on existing rail infrastructure at 200 km/h, and new
high-speed railways that can operate at speeds in excess of 300 km/h.
India has also played a supporting role in the improvement of rail infrastructure overseas. , India has invested over $1 billion towards upgrading
railways and trains in Sri Lanka using '
Make in India
Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products made in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The policy approach was to creat ...
' technology. As of 2020, only three rail connections to foreign countries were functioning,
two to Nepal and three to
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, though an
18 km railway link to Bhutan is also under construction and there have been efforts to reinstate the historic
Boat Mail
The Rameswaram (Boat Mail) Express, previously known as Boat Mail or Indo-Ceylon Express, is an express train that connects Rameswaram with the state capital Chennai via Devakottai. During 1900's it was a combined train and steamer ferry ser ...
train to Sri Lanka.
History
1832–1852: Industrial railways
The first proposals for railways in India were made in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in 1832.
The first train in India ran from
Red Hills to
Chintadripet
Chintadripet ('originally Chinna Thari Pettai) is a locality in Chennai, in India. Located on the southern banks of the Cooum River, it is a residential-cum-commercial area surrounded by Chepauk, Island Grounds, Pudupet, Egmore and Anna Salai ...
bridge in 1836–1837.
It was called the
Red Hill Railway and used a rotary
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
manufactured by William Avery. The railway was built by Sir
Arthur Cotton
General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton (15 May 1803 – 24 July 1899) was a British general and irrigation engineer.
Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout British India. He helped many people by b ...
and was mainly used for transporting
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
stones for road-building work in Madras.
In 1845, Cotton built the
Godavari Dam Construction Railway at
Dowleswaram
Dowleswaram is a part of Greater Rajamahendravaram Municipal Corporation (GRMC). It also forms a part of Godavari Urban Development Authority.
Landmarks
Sir Arthur Cotton built the Dowleswaram Barrage across the Godavari
The Godavari ...
in
Rajahmundry
Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Rajah ...
, used to supply stone for construction of a dam on the
Godavari
The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...
River.
On 8 May 1845, the
Madras Railway
The Madras Railway (full name Madras Railway Company) played a pioneering role in developing railways in southern India and was merged in 1908 with Southern Mahratta Railway to form Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway.
The Madras Railway was ...
was incorporated, and the
East Indian Railway Company
The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...
(EIR) was incorporated the same year. On 1 August 1849, the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...
(GIPR) was incorporated by an Act of Parliament. A "guarantee system" providing free land and guaranteeing five-percent rates of return to private English companies building railways was finalised on 17 August 1849. In 1851, the Solani Aqueduct Railway was built in
Roorkee; freight was hauled by a steam locomotive called ''Thomason'', after a British officer. It was used for transporting construction materials for an
aqueduct over the Solani river.
In 1852, the
Madras Guaranteed Railway Company was incorporated.
1853–1924: Passenger railways and expansion
The first passenger train in India ran between
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
(
Bori Bunder
Bori Bunder (also known as Bori Bandar) is an area along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India.
Background
This place was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. In the local language, 'Bori' mean sack and 'Bandar' ...
) and
Thane
Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...
on 16 April 1853. The 14-carriage train was hauled by three steam locomotives''Sahib'', ''Sindh'' and ''Sultan''; it carried 400 people and ran on a line of built and operated by the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...
. This line was built in
broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
, which became the standard for railways in the country. In May 1854, the Bombay–Thane line was extended to
Kalyan
Kalyan (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) ...
by India's first
railway bridge
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whic ...
s, the
Thane viaducts, over
Thane Creek
Thane Creek (or Thana Creek) is an inlet in the shoreline of the Arabian Sea that isolates the city of Mumbai (Bombay) from the Konkan region of the Indian mainland. It comprises the area between Mumbra Retibunder and the Mankhurd-Vashi Bridg ...
. In Eastern India, the first passenger railway train ran from
Howrah
Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...
(near
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
) to
Hoogly on 15 August 1854. The line was built and operated by EIR. In August 1855, the EIR Express and
Fairy Queen
In folklore and literature, the Fairy Queen or Queen of the Fairies is a female ruler of the fairies, sometimes but not always paired with a king. Depending on the work, she may be named or unnamed; Titania and Mab are two frequently used name ...
steam locomotives started hauling trains. The first passenger train in South India ran from
Royapuram
Royapuram is a locality in the northern part of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is best known for its beach, and for Royapuram Railway Station. The station is the first railway station of south India, opening in 1856, and is today ...
and
Veyasarapady to
Wallajah Road on 1 July 1856 on a line built and operated by Madras Railway.
On 24 February 1873, the first
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way, a
horse-drawn tramway
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
, opened in Calcutta between
Sealdah
Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Etymology
Jackals (''sheal'' in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata w ...
and Armenian Ghat Street. On 9 May 1874 a horse-drawn tramway began operation in Bombay between
Colaba and
Parel
Parel (ISO: Paraḷ, pronunciation: əɾəɭ is a neighbourhood of Mumbai. Parel used to have a number of textile mills, but these have been replaced by commercial office space development.
History
Originally, Parel was a separate island, ...
. In 1880
Calcutta Tramways Company
Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was a state-run company that operated trams and buses in and around Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) in West Bengal, India. The Kolkata tram is the only operating tramway in India and is the oldest electric t ...
was incorporated.
GIPR started its first workshops in
Byculla
Byculla (ISO: Bhāykhaḷā; pronunciation: ʱaːjkʰəɭaː is an area of South Mumbai.
Location
Byculla is neighboured by Nagpada and Mumbai Central and Mahalaxmi on the west; Agripada, Jacob Circle on the north-west: Chinchpokli to the nor ...
in 1854 and Madras Railway set up their first workshop at
Perambur
Perambur is a neighbourhood located in the northern region of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Etymology
In Tamil, ''pirambu (பிரம்பு)'' means bamboo and ''ur (ஊர்)'' means city or place. Before British rule, this place was wid ...
in 1856. The railway boom continued with the incorporation of the
Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway (BB&CI) in 1855, Eastern Bengal Railway in 1858, and the
East Coast State Railway
The East Coast State Railway was a railway company operating in India. It was a guaranteed company formed in 1890. It had a brief existence. The southern part of the East Coast State Railway (from Waltair to Vijayawada) was taken over by Madras ...
in 1890. The
Great Southern of India Railway
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
(GSIR) and the
Carnatic Railway Carnatic most often refers to:
*Carnatic region, Southern India
*Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India
Carnatic may also refer to:
*Carnatic Wars, a series of military conflicts in India during the 18th century
*, a ''Bangor''-class ...
merged in 1874 to form the
South Indian Railway
The South Indian Railway Company operated a number of gauge lines in South India from 1874 to 1951.
History
The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established with its headquarters in England in 1853. The Carnatic Railway Company w ...
.
In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced by many railway companies. In 1902, the
Jodhpur Railway became the first to introduce
electric light
An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...
s as standard fixtures. In 1920,
electric lighting of signals was introduced between
Dadar
Dadar ( ̪aːd̪əɾ is a densely populated residential and shopping neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also a prominent railway and bus service hub with local and national connectivity.
Dadar holds the distinction of being Mumbai’s first planne ...
and
Currey Road
Currey Road (station code: CRD) is a railway station that serves the Lower Parel neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is on the Central line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway serving the areas of Lalbaug and Parel.
Currey Road is situated in central Mu ...
in Bombay.
1925–1951: Electrification and further expansion
The first
railway budget
Railway budget of India was the Annual Financial Statement of the state-owned Indian Railways, which handles rail transport in India. It was presented every year by the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Railways, in the Parliam ...
was presented in 1924. The
Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway
Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway was an extensive railway network in the North India, mostly north of the Ganges, starting from Benares and subsequently up to Delhi.
History
The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway was formed in 1872 with the assets of ...
was merged with the
East Indian Railway Company
The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...
(EIR) in the same year. In 1930, the route of the
Grand Trunk Express
The 12615 / 12616 Grand Trunk Express (commonly called G.T. or G.T. Express) is a daily Superfast Express train on Indian Railways, running between and Chennai Central. It is a historic train and is one of the oldest trains starting services ...
was changed to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
–Madras.
On 3 February 1925, India's first
electric passenger train ran between
Victoria Terminus (VT) and
Kurla on
1500 V DC overhead traction
with locomotives provided by the
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
and
Waggonfabrik Uerdingen companies. Later that year the VT–
Bandra
Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...
section was electrified with an
elevated platform at
Sandhurst Road
Sandhurst Road (station code: SNRD) is a railway station serving Dongri area of South Mumbai, India, on the Central and Harbour Lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It is the third stop from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.
Named after ...
.
Kurla–Kalyan and lines to
Poona
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
and
Igatpuri
Igatpuri (Pronunciation: ɡət̪puɾiː formerly known as Egutpoora) is a town and a Hill Station. It is also a municipal council in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Western Ghats. Igatpuri railway stati ...
were electrified in 1926
and the Bandra–
Virar
Virar (Pronunciation: iɾaɾ is a coastal city in taluka Vasai and district of Palghar, India. It is clubbed into Vasai-Virar city, administered by Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. It lies in south part of Palghar District in Vasai Taluka ...
section was electrified by January 1928. On 1 June 1930, the
Deccan Queen
The 12123 / 12124 Deccan Queen is a daily Indian passenger train service operated by the Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways connecting the cities of Mumbai and Pune. Introduced on June 1, 1930, the Deccan Queen was India's "first sup ...
began running, hauled by a WCP-1 ( 20024, old No. EA/1 4006) with seven coaches, on the GIPR's electrified route from Bombay VT to Poona.
The Frontier Mail made its inaugural run between Bombay VT and
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
in 1928. In 1929, the Grand Trunk Express began running between Peshawar and
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...
and the Punjab Limited Express began running between Bombay and
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
. Technical advancements led to automatic colour-light signals become operational on GIPR's lines between Bombay VT and Byculla in 1928. This was extended to the Byculla–Kurla section in the following year.
1951–1983: Zonal re-organisation and further developments
India's railways were re-organised into regional zones beginning in 1951 with the creation of the
Southern Railway on 14 April and the
Central Railway and
Western Railways
The Western Railway (abbreviated WR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways and is among the busiest railway networks in India, headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Rail ...
on 5 November.
The post of
Chief Commissioner of Railways was abolished and the
Railway Board
The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the country's rail transport. The ministry operates the statutory body Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport and is h ...
adopted the practice of making its senior-most member chairman.
In the same year, the government of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
entered into an agreement with Calcutta Tramways Co. to take over its administrative functions. On 14 April 1952, the
Northern Railway, the
Eastern Railway and the North-Eastern Railway were created.
On 1 August 1955 the
South-Eastern Railway was split from the Eastern Railway, and, the following year, divisional systems of administration were set up for the various regional zones. In 1958, the North-Eastern Railway split to form a new
Northeast Frontier Railway
The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the Zones and divisions of Indian Railways, 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and e ...
.
In 1952, fans and lights were mandated for all compartments in
passenger accommodation and
sleeping accommodation was introduced in coaches. In 1956 the first fully air-conditioned train was introduced between Howrah and Delhi. In 1966 the first
containerised
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pr ...
freight services began, between Bombay and
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
.
In 1957 India Railways decided to adopt
25 kV AC electrification and chose the
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
(French National Railway) as its technical consultant.
The Main Line Electrification Project was established in the same year. Raj Kharswan–Dongoposi became the first section to be electrified with 25 kV AC traction,
with the first train running on 11 August 1960.
In 1966 electrification of several suburban tracks around Delhi, Madras and Calcutta was completed with the 25 kV AC system. In 1979 the Main Line Electrification Project was reconstituted into the
Central Organisation for Railway Electrification
The Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE) is an organizational unit of Indian Railways responsible for railway electrification of the Indian Railways network. The organisation, founded in 1979, is headquartered in Prayagraj, ...
(CORE).
1984–present: Rapid transit and later developments
![Rajendra B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Rajendra_B.Aklekar.jpg)
The
Calcutta Metro became the first
metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
in the country with the 24 October 1984 line between
Esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
and
Bhowanipore
Bhowanipore (also Bhowanipur; bn, ভবানীপুর) is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata in Kolkata district of West Bengal, India.
History
In 1717, the East India Company obtained the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their s ...
. In 1988 the first
Shatabdi Express
Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect important metro cities. Shatabdi Express are day-trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains were first introdu ...
was introduced between New Delhi and
Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative hea ...
(later extended to
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...
), and was the fastest train in India at the time. In 1993, air-conditioned third-tier coaches were introduced as well as a sleeper class separate from second class. In 1999, the South East Central Railway zone was established. On 6 July 2002, the
East Coast
East Coast may refer to:
Entertainment
* East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
* East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
* East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
* East Coast FM, a ra ...
,
South Western,
South East Central,
North Central, and
West Central zones were created. On 5 April 2016,
Gatimaan Express
The 12049 / 12050 Gatimaan Express is India's first semi-high speed train that runs between Delhi and Jhansi. It takes 265 minutes (around 4.5 hours) to cover the journey from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Virangana Lakshmibai Junction railway st ...
, then India's fastest train with a maximum speed of , made its first run from Delhi to
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
.
India's first computerised ticketing and reservation was introduced in New Delhi in 1986. In 1990, the first self-printing ticket machine (SPTM) was introduced. In September 1996, the CONCERT computerised reservation system was fully deployed at New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The project was completed nationwide on 18 April 1999. In 1998, coupon validating machines (CVMs) were introduced at
Mumbai CST
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST ( suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
The terminus was ...
. Credit cards could be used to book tickets and reservations starting in 1999, and in February 2000, the Indian Railways launched its web site and began taking online train reservations and ticketing on 3 August 2002, which was extended to many cities in December. On 26 September 2013, the
Tatkal system of ticketing extended to ordinary trains.
On 16 January 1995, the first regularly scheduled services using the
2 × 25 kV system of traction started on
Bina–
Katni
Katni officially Murwara is a city on the banks of the Katni River
Katni River is a river that flows through the Katni District in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Located in the northeastern part of India.
The river was named after Kate ...
. On 5 February 2012, Western Railway switched completely to 25 kV AC traction, ending its use of 1.5 kV DC traction. On 11 April 2016, Central Railway completed switching to 25 kV AC traction, ending the use of DC traction on the country's main-line rail network. Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the entire rail network would be electrified by 2022.
Historical railway length
This table shows the length of the railway over time.
Route km : The distance between two points on the railway irrespective of the number of lines connecting them, whether single line or multiple line.
Running track km: The length of all running tracks excluding tracks in sidings, yards and crossings.
Total track km: The length of all running tracks and tracks including tracks in sidings, yards and crossings.
Rolling stock
Locomotives
![BRC WAP-7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/BRC_WAP-7.jpg)
Locomotives in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
largely consist of
electric
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
and
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s. The world's first
compressed natural gas (CNG) locomotives are also used. Steam locomotives are used only in
heritage trains.
In India, locomotives are classified according to their gauge, motive power, the work they are suited for and their power or model number. The class name, composed of four or five letters, encodes this information. The first letter denotes the track gauge; the second denotes their motive power, diesel or alternating current (electric); the third letter denotes the type of traffic for which they are suited (goods, passenger, multi or shunting). The fourth letter used to denote the chronological model number, but from 2002 it denotes the
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
range for diesel locomotives. Electric locomotives are not covered by this scheme and not all diesels are covered; for these, the fourth letter denotes their chronological model number.
A locomotive may have a fifth letter in its class name which denotes a technical variant, subclass or subtype, indicating a variation in the basic model or series, possibly different motors or a different manufacturer. With the modern scheme for classifying diesel locomotives the fifth letter further refines the horsepower indication in increments: 'A' for 100 hp, 'B' for 200 hp, 'C' for 300 hp, etc.
Under this scheme, a 'WDM-3A', for example, refers to a wide-gauge diesel multi-use 3100 hp locomotive, while a 'WDM-3D' would be a 3400 hp locomotive and 'WDM-3F' would be 3600 hp locomotive.
[This classification system does not apply to heritage steam locomotives which retain their historical class names such as M class or WP class.']
Diesel locomotives are fitted with auxiliary power units which save nearly 88% of fuel while idling.
Goods wagons
![Goods (Wagon) Train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Goods_%28Wagon%29_Train.JPG)
A new wagon numbering system was adopted by Indian Railways in 2003.
Wagons are allocated 11 digits,
making identification easier and allowing for computerisation of a wagon's information. The first two digits indicate the type of wagon, the third and fourth digits indicate the owning railway, the fifth and sixth digits indicate the year of manufacture, the seventh through tenth digits indicate the ''Individual Wagon Number,'' and the last digit is a ''check digit.''
IR's bulk requirement of wagons is met by wagon manufacturing units both in public and private sectors as well as other
public sector units under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways.
Passenger coaches
![LHB SL coaches](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/LHB_SL_coaches.jpg)
On long-distance routes and also on some shorter routes, IR uses two primary types of coach design types.
ICF coach
The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coach was a conventional passenger coach used on the majority of main-line trains in India. The design of the coach was developed by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai, India in collaboration with the Sw ...
, in production from 1955 until January 2018, constitute the bulk of the current stock. These coaches, considered to have inadequate safety features, are slowly being phased out. , around 40,000 coaches are still in operation. These coaches are being replaced with
LHB coach
Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach is a passenger coach of Indian Railways that is developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the takeover by Alstom and now known as Alstom Transport Deutschland) and mostly ...
. Introduced in mid '90s, these coaches are lighter, safer and are capable of speeds up to .
IR has introduced new
electric multiple unit (EMU) train sets for long-distance routes. One such,
Train-18 is under operation and another,
Train-20 is expected to run from 2020. These train sets are expected to replace locomotive-hauled trains on long-distance routes.
On regional short-distance routes, IR runs
Mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) or
Diesel electrical multiple unit (DEMU) trains, depending on the traction available. These train sets are self-propelled with capability for faster acceleration or deceleration and are expected to reduce congestion on dense routes. Passenger locomotive-hauled trains, having frequent stops, are slowly being replaced with train sets across India.
On suburban commuter routes around large urban centers, IR runs trains with normal electric multiple unit (EMU) coaches. These are popularly called "local trains" or simply "locals".
EMUs are also used in metros. All train sets used in metros are air-conditioned. Kolkata trams almost always consist of a single motor coach. A new twin coach tram was introduced in Kolkata in 2019.
Manufacturing
The
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) is an electric locomotive manufacturer based in India. The works are located at Chittaranjan in the Asansol Sadar subdivision of West Bengal, with an ancillary unit in Dankuni. The main unit is 32 km f ...
in Chittaranjan and
Banaras Locomotive Works
The Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) (formerly Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW)) in Varanasi, India, is a production unit of Indian Railways. DLW stopped manufacturing diesel locomotives in March 2019 and was renamed BLW in Oct 2020.
History
Founde ...
in
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
make electric locomotives. The
Integral Coach Factory
Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of ICF coach, rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of ...
in Perambur,
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, makes integral coaches. These have a
monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
construction, and the floor is an integral unit with the undercarriage. The
Rail Coach Factory
Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala is a coach manufacturing unit of the Indian Railways in the state of Punjab. It is located on the Jalandhar-Firozpur railway line.
History
Established in 1985, RCF is a coach manufacturing unit of Indian Railw ...
in
Kapurthala
Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent build ...
also makes coaches. The
Titagarh Wagons
Titagarh Wagons Limited is an Indian shipbuilder, defense, railway wagon manufacturer headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. The company manufactures coaches for the Indian Railways, bailey bridges, and mining equipment. A subsidiary, Titagarh M ...
builds freight wagons. The
Rail Wheel Factory
Rail Wheel Factory, Yelahanka (RWF) (also known as Wheel and Axle Plant) is a manufacturing unit of Indian Railways, producing wheels, axles and wheel sets of railroad wagons, coaches and locomotives for the use of Indian Railways and overseas c ...
at
Yelahanka
Yelahanka is now a suburb of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka and one of the zones of BBMP. It is the oldest part of present Municipal Bengaluru (Bangalore) city and is in the north of the city. It is Nadaprabhu Kempegowda I, of the Yelaha ...
,
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, and the
Rail Wheel Plant, Bela
Rail Wheel Plant, Bela (Hindi: रेल पहिया कारखाना, बेला) is an independent Production Unit of Indian Railways. It is situated in Bela Gram Panchayat, Dariapur Block, Parsa in Saran district of Bihar. It wa ...
, in
Chhapra
Chhapra is a city and headquarters of the Saran district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated near the junction of the Ghaghara River and the Ganges River.
Chhapra grew in importance as a river-based market in the 18th century when th ...
, Bihar, manufactures wheels and axles.
Diesel-Loco Modernisation Works
Patiala Locomotive Works (PLW), (formerly Diesel-Loco Modernization Works (DLMW)), is located in Patiala in the Indian state of Punjab. It was set up in 1981 to extend the service life of diesel Locomotives of the Indian Railways and raise the ...
,
Patiala
Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...
upgrades the diesel locomotives. Some electric locomotives have been supplied by
BHEL, Jhansi and Palakkad, and locomotive components are manufactured in several other plants around the country.
Network
Tracks
As of 31 March 2020, IR network spans of track length, while the route length is .
Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from , though the maximum speed attained by passenger trains is 180 km/h (110 mph) during trial runs. Almost the entire broad-gauge network is equipped with
long-welded, high-tensile strength
52 kg/60 kg 90 UTS rails and
pre-stressed concrete (PSC) sleepers with elastic fastenings.
broad gauge is the predominant
gauge
Gauge ( or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...
used by IR and spans of route (94.10% of total route network),
It is the broadest gauge in use across the world for regular passenger movement.
Broad gauge generated 100% of the freight output (net tonne-kilometres) and more than 99% of the passenger output (passenger kilometres) in the fiscal year 2019–20.
The tracks and and
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
tracks are present on fewer routes. All of these routes, except the heritage routes, are being converted to broad gauge. The metre gauge tracks were (4.21% of total route network) and narrow gauges tracks were (2.50% of total route network)
Urban rail transit
Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, ...
systems in India mostly use
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
tracks. These systems are operated by metro/tram rail corporations which are independent of Indian Railways.
Trams in Kolkata
The tram system in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) after Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was dissolved, is the oldest existing tram network operating in India, and oldest opera ...
, the only remaining tram service in the country, uses standard gauge tracks. Line 1 of the
Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four o ...
and
Delhi Metro
The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colour-cod ...
use the same broad gauge tracks as main-line railways. All other metro linesconstructed, under construction and futureuse standard gauge tracks. Metro trains operate in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Bengaluru
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
,
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
,
Jaipur
Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...
,
Kochi
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...
,
Nagpur
Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...
,
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
and
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
.
Gurgaon
Gurgaon (pronunciation: ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...
has a Metro system operated by a private organisation. Metro tracks are being constructed or planned in all million-plus cities in the country.
Electrification
, IR has electrified 80% or of the total broad-gauge route. India uses
25 kV 50 Hz AC
Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The dev ...
traction on all its electrified tracks.
Railway electrification in India began with the first electric train, between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and
Kurla on the Harbour Line, on 3 February 1925 on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) at 1500 V DC. Heavy gradients in the
Western Ghats necessitated the introduction of electric traction on the GIPR to Igatpuri on the North East line and Pune on the South East line. On 5 January 1928, 1500 V DC traction was introduced on the suburban section of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway between Colaba and
Borivili, and between Madras Beach and
Tambaram
Tambaram is a southern suburb of Chennai, India. Located in the Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu, it is governed by Tambaram City Municipal Corporation and is a part of the Chennai Metropolitan Area.
Etymology
Tambaram is an ancient town ...
of the
Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway.
Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in Ma ...
on 11 May 1931, to meet growing traffic needs.
The 3000 V DC electrification of the Howrah-
Burdwan
Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...
section of the
Eastern Railway was completed in 1958. The first 3000 V DC EMU service began on the Howrah-
Sheoraphuli
Sheoraphuli (also called Seoraphuli) is a neighbourhood of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is on West side of river hooghly. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
Geogra ...
section on 14 December 1957.
Research and trials in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, particularly on French Railways (SNCF), indicated that 25 kV AC was an economical electrification system. Indian Railways decided in 1957 to adopt 25 kV AC as its standard, with SNCF their consultant in the early stages. The first 25 kV AC section was Raj Kharswan–Dongoaposi on the
South Eastern Railway in 1960. The first 25 kV AC
EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
, for
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
suburban service, began service in September 1962. For continuity, the Howrah–Burdwan section of the Eastern Railway and the Madras Beach–Tambaram section of the Southern Railway were converted to 25 kV AC by 1968. Because of limitations in the DC traction system, a decision was made to convert the electric traction system of the Mumbai suburban rail network of WR and CR from 1.5kV DC to 25 kV AC in 1996–97. The conversion from DC to AC traction was completed in 2012 by the Western Railway, and in 2016 by the Central Railway. Since then, the entire electrified mainline rail network in India uses 25 kV AC, and DC traction is used only for metros and trams.
Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the country's entire rail network would be electrified by 2022.
Though not a new concept, the electrification in India has now been committed to with an investment of to electrify the entire network and eliminate the cost of fuel for transportation, which will amount to a savings of overall. These savings will allow the government channel funds to invest in the modernisation of the railway infrastructure. Close to 30 billion units of electricity will be required for railway electrification on an annual basis by 2022, which will lead to opportunities for IPPs of conventional power.
All metro routes, as well as the Kolkata tram, are electrified with
DC traction. Many metro routes employ the
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
method for electric traction.
Signaling and telecommunication
![Railway Signal Post at Safilguda](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Railway_Signal_Post_at_Safilguda.jpg)
IR uses a range of signalling technologies and methods to manage its train operations based on traffic density and safety requirements.
, around of the route uses
automatic block signalling
Automatic block signaling (ABS), spelled automatic block signalling or called track circuit block (TCB ) in the UK, is a railroad communications system that consists of a series of signals that divide a railway line into a series of sections ...
for train operations – concentrated in high density routes, large cities and junctions.
Remaining routes are based on
absolute block signalling
Absolute block signalling is a British signalling scheme designed to ensure the safe operation of a railway by allowing only one train to occupy a defined section of track (block) at a time. This system is used on double or multiple lines where ...
with trains manually controlled by signalmen from the signal boxes typically located at stations. Few low density routes still use
manual block signalling methods with communication on track clearance based on physical exchange of tokens. In a few sections, intermediate block signalling is provided to further enhance line capacity with minimal investment. , 602 block sections have intermediate block signals on IR.
IR primarily uses
coloured signal lights, which replaced
semaphores and disc-based signalling (dependent on position or colour).
IR uses two-aspect, three-aspect and four (or multiple) aspect colour signalling across its network.
Signals at most stations are interlocked using
panel interlocking,
route-relay interlocking or
electronic interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...
methods, which eliminate human error. IR uses
track circuit
A track circuit is an electrical device used to prove the absence of a train on rail tracks to signallers and control relevant signals. An alternative to track circuits are axle counters.
Principles and operation
The basic principle behind t ...
ing, and block proving
axle counter
An axle counter is a system used in railway signalling to detect the clear or occupied status of a section of track between two points. The system generally consists of a wheel sensor (one for each end of the section) and an evaluation unit for c ...
s for train detection. , 5,886 stations across IR have interlocked stations and multi-aspect signalling. Around 99% of key routes (A, B, C and D) have track circuitry or block proving axle counters for automated train detection. IR has about 59,105 route kilometers of
optical fiber cable
A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable, but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with ...
network across India, that is used for train control, voice and data communication. Around of the route is covered by
GSM-R
GSM-R, Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway or GSM-Railway is an international wireless communications standard for railway communication and applications.
A sub-system of European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), it is us ...
based Mobile Train Radio Communication.
In December 2017, IR announced that it will implement
ETCS Level 2
The European Train Control System (ETCS) is the signalling and control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). It is a replacement for legacy train protection systems and designed to replace the many incompatible sa ...
system for signalling and control on key routes with an investment of . Currently IR uses
Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) on the busy Ghaziabad – Kanpur route and real-time train monitoring systems on
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
suburban routes.
International connections
Rail links between India and neighbouring countries are not well developed.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
is connected by the biweekly
Maitree Express
The Maitree Express train ( bn, মৈত্রী এক্সপ্রেস), pronounced ''Moitree Express'' is the first modern day, fully air conditioned, international, express train service connecting Dhaka in Bangladesh to Kolkata in th ...
, which runs from
Kolkata railway station
Kolkata railway station (formerly known as Chitpur station) is the newest of the five intercity railway stations serving Howrah and Kolkata, India; the others are Sealdah station in Kolkata and Howrah station, Shalimar station and in Howrah. ...
to
Dhaka Cantonment
Dhaka Cantonment ( bn, ঢাকা সেনানিবাস) is a cantonment located in the northern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The headquarters of the Bangladesh Army, and Bangladesh Air Force, Air Force are situated within the cantonment w ...
, the
Bandhan Express
The Bandhan Express train ( bn, বন্ধন এক্সপ্রেস) is an international express rail service which runs between the Indian city Kolkata and the Bangladeshi city Khulna every week. It is the second modern day, fully air ...
, which began running commercial trips between
Kolkata railway station
Kolkata railway station (formerly known as Chitpur station) is the newest of the five intercity railway stations serving Howrah and Kolkata, India; the others are Sealdah station in Kolkata and Howrah station, Shalimar station and in Howrah. ...
and
Khulna railway station
Khulna Railway Station is a railway station in Khulna, Bangladesh. The railway station is the main station of the city, and links to rest of the country via the Darshana-Jessore-Khulna Line
Intercity Trains From Khulna
Mail Trains From Kh ...
and
Mitali Express
The Mitali Express (13131/13132) train ( bn, মিতালী এক্সপ্রেস) is an international express rail service which connects the Indian city of Siliguri with the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka every week. It is the third modern ...
connecting
New Jalpaiguri railway station
New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station (station code NJP) established in 1960, is an A1 category broad gauge and narrow-gauge railway station under Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is the largest as well as the ...
with
Dhaka Cantonment railway station
Dhaka Cantonment railway station is a railway station located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is notable as one of the termini of the Bangladesh-India Maitree Express international passenger train service.
The station is located in its namesake Dhak ...
which started commercial services from 1 June 2022.
Indian and
Bangladeshi
Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
governments planned to start work by January 2015 on a new rail link to ease surface transport. India will build a railway linking
Tripura
Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...
's capital
Agartala
Agartala () is the capital city of the Indian state of Tripura, and is one of the largest cities in northeast India. The city is governed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The city is the seat of the Government of Tripura. It is located on ...
with Bangladesh's southeastern city of
Akhaura, an important railway junction connected to
Chittagong port
The Chittagong Port ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বন্দর) is the main seaport of Bangladesh. Located in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong and on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the port handles over 90 percent of Bangladesh' ...
, resource-rich
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
and Dhaka. An agreement to implement the railway project was signed between India's former Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...
and Bangladeshi Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister ...
during her visit to India in January 2010. The total cost of the proposed project is estimated at 252 crore (2.5 billion). The Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) would lay the new railway tracks on both sides of the border. Of the rail line, of tracks fall in Indian territory.
The
Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) is laying tracks to connect Tripura's southernmost border town,
Sabroom
Sabroom ( bn, সাব্রুম) is a town and a Nagar Panchayat on South Tripura district in the Indian state of Tripura. It is located on the banks of the Feni River, which separates India and Bangladesh. Most of the people speak Noakhail ...
, south of here. From
Sabroom
Sabroom ( bn, সাব্রুম) is a town and a Nagar Panchayat on South Tripura district in the Indian state of Tripura. It is located on the banks of the Feni River, which separates India and Bangladesh. Most of the people speak Noakhail ...
, the
Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
international sea port is .
Bhutan
An railway link with
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
is being constructed from
Hasimara
Hasimara is a town in Alipurduar district of West Bengal state, India near the border with Bhutan. It is located at 26° 45' N latitude and 89° 21' E longitude at an altitude of 109 metres above sea level and has a population of about 40,000 (20 ...
in
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
to
Toribari
Madhumalla-3, Toribari is a village located in madhumalla morang of Koshi Zone. It is located 10 km north of Urlabari
Urlabari is a city and municipality in Morang District in the Koshi Zone of south-eastern Nepal. It is considered to be ...
in Bhutan.
Myanmar
No rail link exists with
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
but a railway line is to be built from
Jiribam
Jiribam ( Meitei pronunciation:/jee-ree-baam/) is a municipal council in the Jiribam district of the state of Manipur, India. It is one of the fastest-growing towns in Manipur.
The town is located on the state's westernmost boundary, adjoining ...
(in Manipur) to
Tamu
Tamu may refer to:
* Texas A&M University or TAMU
* Tamu, Myanmar
** Tamu District, Myanmar
** Tamu Township
* Ta'mu, rice cooked in woven coconut leaves from the Philippines
* Tamu Massif, an inactive underwater volcano in the Pacific
* '' Helio ...
through
Imphal
Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...
and
Moreh
Givat HaMoreh (Hebrew: גבעת המוֹרֶה), in Arabic: Jebel ed-Duhy, is a hill in northern Israel on the northeast side of the Jezreel Valley. The highest peak reaches an altitude of , while the bottom of the Jezreel Valley is situated at ...
.
The construction of this missing link, as per the feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs through
RITES
Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, abbreviated as RITES Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India. It is an engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field ...
Ltd, is estimated to cost .
Nepal
Two rail links to
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
exist: A passenger service between
Jainagar and
Janakpur
Janakpurdham or Janakpur ( ne, जनकपुर, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in Dhanusha District, Province No. 2, Madhesh Province, Nepal. The city is a hub for religious and cultural tourism. A headquarter of Dhanusha District, Dhanusha dist ...
which is run and operated by Nepal Railways and freight services between
Raxaul
Raxaul is a sub-divisional town in the East Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated at the India-Nepal border with Birgunj city (Nepal). Raxaul is a major railway junction.
The Indian border town of Raxaul has become on ...
and
Birganj
Birgunj ( ne, वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhesh Province of southern Nepal. It lies south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul in the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entry ...
.
Pakistan
Two trains were operated to
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
: the
Samjhauta Express
The Samjhauta Express () was a bi-weekly train — Thursday and Monday — that runs between Delhi and Attari in India and Lahore in Pakistan. The word ''Samjhauta'' means "agreement", "accord" and "compromise" in both Hindi and Urdu.
Unti ...
between
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
, and the
Thar Express
The ''Thar Express'' ( hi, थार एक्सप्रेस, ur, , Sindhi: ٿر ايڪسپريس) was an international passenger train that ran between the a suburban area of Jodhpur in the Indian State of Rajasthan and of Karachi in t ...
between
Jodhpur
Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...
and
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
. Since 2019, both services have been shut down.
Services
Passenger service
Station categories
From December 2017, stations are categorised into the Non-Suburban Group NSG1 to NSG6, the Suburban Group SG1 to SG3, and the Halt Group HG1 to HG3 based on the earnings, passenger footfall and strategic importance.
[
Before December 2017, stations were classified into A1, A, B, C, D, E and F categories, based only on the passenger earnings from the sales of platform tickets, thus limiting the ability of IR to better focus its investments in passenger amenities.][Railways revise station categories to improve services]
, Economic Times, 28 Dec 2017.
Travel classes
IR has several classes of travelwith or without air conditioning; a train may include just one or several of these. Slow passenger trains have only unreserved seating class whereas Rajdhani, Duronto, Shatabdi, Garib Rath and Yuva trains only have air-conditioned classes. The fares are different for each class, with unreserved seating class being the cheapest. The fare of Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains includes food served in the train, but for other trains food has to be bought separately. In September 2016, the IR introduced dynamic fares for all accommodation classes for Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains (except 1AC and EC classes) to shore up revenue. In long-distance trains a pantry car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that d ...
is usually included and the food is served at the berth or seat itself. Luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels have separate dining cars but fares are comparable to a five-star hotel.
A standard passenger train has four unreserved (also called "general") coaches, two at the front and two at the end, of which one may be exclusively for women. The number of other coaches varies according to the demand and route. A luggage coach may be included at the front or end. In some mail trains, a separate mail coach is attached. Lavatories are communal and feature both the Indian style as well as the Western style.
The following table lists the classes in operation. A train may not include all of these classes.
At the rear of the train is a special compartment known as the guard's cabin. It is fitted with a transceiver
In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...
and is where the guard usually gives the all-clear signal before the train departs.
Train types
Trains are sorted into categories which dictate the number of stops on a route, their priority on the network and their fare structure. Each express train is identified by a five-digit number. If the first digit is one or two, they are long-distance express trains. If the first digit is zero, the train is a special train which will operate for a limited period of time with a different fare structure. A first digit of five denotes a passenger train.
The second digit indicates the zone operating the train. However, for high-speed trains, the second digit is either zero or two (the first remains one or two).[ The third digit denotes the division within the zone which is responsible for maintenance and cleanliness, and the last two digits are the train's serial number.] The train numbering system was changed from four digits from December 2010, to accommodate an increasing number of trains.
Trains traveling in opposite directions along the same route are usually labelled with consecutive numbers. However, there is considerable variation in train numbers; some zones, such as the Central Railway, have a less-systematic method of numbering trains.
Trains are classified by average speed. A faster train has fewer stops (halts) than a slower one, and is usually used for long-distance travel. Most express trains have special names to identify them easily. The names of the trains usually denote the regions they connect; the routes they traverse; a famous person; or a tourist spot connected with the train.
Tourism
There are several train services which run for tourists:
* The ''Palace on Wheels
The ''Palace on Wheels'' is a luxury tourist train. It was launched by the Indian Railways in association with Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation to promote tourism in Rajasthan. It is now known as Heritage Palace on Wheels.
The trai ...
'' is a luxury-train service, frequently hauled by a steam locomotive, to promote tourism in Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
. The train has a seven-night, eight-day itinerary on a round trip from New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
via Jaipur
Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...
, Sawai Madhopur
Sawai Madhopur is a city and Municipal Council (Nagar Parishad) in the Sawai Madhopur District in Rajasthan state, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sawai Madhopur District of Rajasthan. Ranthambore National Park which is 7 ...
and Chittaurgarh
Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghold ...
, Udaipur
Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...
, Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...
, Jodhpur
Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...
, Bharatpur and Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
.
* The ''Royal Rajasthan on Wheels
The ''Royal Rajasthan on Wheels'' is a luxury tourist train run by Indian Railways. It is modelled on the Palace on Wheels, and follows a similar route through Rajasthan. Tourists are taken to several important tourist, wildlife and heritage s ...
'' covers a number of tourist destinations in Rajasthan. The seven-day, eight-night tour is a round trip from New Delhi's Safdarjung station via Jodhpur, Udaipur and Chittaurgarh, Ranthambore National Park
Ranthambore National Park is a national park in Rajasthan, India, with an area of . It is bounded to the north by the Banas River and to the south by the Chambal River. It is named after the historic Ranthambore Fort, which lies within the park ...
and Jaipur, Khajuraho, Varanasi and Sarnath
Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...
, and Agra.
* The ''Maharajas' Express
The ''Maharajas' Express'' is a luxury tourist train owned and operated by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). It serves four routes across North-West and Central India, mainly centered on Rajasthan between the months of ...
'', a luxury train operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is an Indian public sector undertaking that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the Indian Railways. It was initially wholly owned by the Government of India and operated ...
(IRCTC), runs on five routes to about 12 destinations across north-West and central India (centered around Rajasthan) from October to April.
* The ''Deccan Odyssey
The ''Deccan Odyssey'' is an Indian luxury train modeled on the '' Palace on Wheels'' and put into service to boost tourism on the Maharashtra route of the Indian Railways. The train, owned by travel company Cox & Kings since 2014, takes vis ...
'' covers tourist destinations in Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
and Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
. Its seven-night, eight-day tour begins in Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and stops at Jaigad Fort
Jaigad Fort ( mr, जयगड किल्ला, ) (Also transliterated as Zyghur in old British records.) is a coastal fortification that is located at the tip of a peninsula in Ratnagiri District at a distance of 14 km from the temple ...
, Ganapatipule and Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...
, Sindhudurg
Sindhudurg Fort (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡ is a historical fort that occupies an island in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Maharashtra in Western India. The fort was built by Shivaji Maharaj.The fortress lies on the sh ...
, Tarkarli
Tarkarli is a village in Malvan taluka in Sindhudurg district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a beach destination and remote place in southern Maharashtra. Few years ago, Tarkarli beach is declared as a Queen Beach of Konkan region ...
and Sawantwadi
Sawantwadi an aesthetic land of artists, is an integral part of the Konkan region which is in the mid-western coast of India.
The western coast of India since 1510 A.D. has assumed great importance in Indian history and history of internationa ...
, Goa, Kolhapur
Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'.
Kolhapur is kn ...
and Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
(Day 5), Aurangabad
Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...
and Ellora Caves
Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut Hindu temple cave complexes in the world, with artwork dating from the period 600–1000 CE., Quote: "These 34 m ...
, and Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves are approximately thirty rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures des ...
and Nashik
Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...
. The ''Golden Chariot
The ''Golden Chariot'' is a luxury tourist train that connects the important tourist spots in the Indian states of Karnataka, Goa, Kerala & Tamil Nadu as well as Pondicherry, depending on the selected itinerary. It is named after the Stone Ch ...
'' runs on two tours: Pride of the South and Splendor of the South.
* The ''Golden Chariot
The ''Golden Chariot'' is a luxury tourist train that connects the important tourist spots in the Indian states of Karnataka, Goa, Kerala & Tamil Nadu as well as Pondicherry, depending on the selected itinerary. It is named after the Stone Ch ...
'' is a luxury train service which connects tourist destinations in Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
, Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
& Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
.
* The ''Mahaparinirvan Express
The ''Mahaparinirvan Express'' is a tourist train which was launched by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on 28 March 2007, to attract Buddhist pilgrims. The train takes passengers on an eight-day, seven-night spiritua ...
'', an air-conditioned service also known as the Buddhist Circuit Train, is run by the IRCTC for Buddhist pilgrims. Its seven-night, eight-day tour begins in New Delhi and visits Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, ...
, Rajgir
Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...
and Nalanda
Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.[Sarnath
Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...]
, Kushinagar
Kushinagar ( Hindustani: or ; Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained ''parinirvana''.
Etym ...
and Lumbini
Lumbinī ( ne, लुम्बिनी, IPA=ˈlumbini , "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth ...
, Sravasti
Shravasti ( sa, श्रावस्ती, translit=Śrāvastī; pi, 𑀲𑀸𑀯𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀻, translit=Sāvatthī) is a city and district headquarter of Shravasti district in Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the an ...
and the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
.
* The ''Fairy Queen
In folklore and literature, the Fairy Queen or Queen of the Fairies is a female ruler of the fairies, sometimes but not always paired with a king. Depending on the work, she may be named or unnamed; Titania and Mab are two frequently used name ...
'', a tourist attraction as the world's oldest operating steam engine, hauls a luxury train from Delhi to Alwar
Alwar (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar district, Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. ...
.
Ticketing
India has some of the lowest train fares in the world. Basic passenger traffic is heavily subsidised by more-expensive higher-class fares. Until the late 1980s, Indian Railways ticket reservations were done manually. In 1987 the Railways started using a computerised ticketing system. The entire ticketing system went online in 1995 to provide up-to-date information on status and availability. The ticketing network is computerised to a large extent, with the exception of some remote places. Computerised tickets can be booked for any two points in the country, through the Internet and via mobile phones, though this method carries an additional surcharge.
Discounted tickets are available for senior citizen
Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...
s (above 60 years) and some other categories of passengers including the disabled, students, athletes, persons affected by serious diseases, or persons appearing for competitive examinations. One compartment of the lowest class of accommodation is reserved for women in every passenger-carrying train. Some berths or seats in sleeper class and second class are also reserved for women. Season tickets permitting unlimited travel on specific sections or specific trains for a specific time period may also be available. Foreign tourists can buy an Indrail Pass
An Indrail Pass was a special railway pass available to foreign nationals created along the lines of the Eurail Pass for unlimited travel without reservation of a ticket on the Indian Railways network. This ticket was available for a special time p ...
, which is modelled on the Eurail Pass
The Eurail Pass, introduced in 1959 and formerly known as Europass or Eurorail Pass, is a rail pass which permits travel through 33 European countries on nearly all railroads and several shipping lines. The Eurail Group, based in Utrecht, is re ...
, permitting unlimited travel in India for a specific time period.
For long-distance travel, reservation of a berth can be made up to 120 days before departure.[ Details such as name, age and concession (if eligible) are required and are recorded on the ticket. The ticket price usually includes the base fare, which depends on the classification of the train (example: super-fast surcharge if the train is classified as super-fast), the class in which one wishes to travel and the reservation charge for overnight journeys.
If a seat is not available then the ticket is given a waitlist number; otherwise the ticket is confirmed and a berth number is printed on the ticket. A person receiving a wait-listed ticket may be able to obtain a confirmed ticket if there are sufficient cancellations.][ Some of the tickets are assigned to the ]Reservation against Cancellation
A Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) is a type of ticket that can be sold for travel on the Indian Railways. Although it ensures certainty of travel, it does not guarantee a berth. A berth will be allocated to the ticket who reserves an RAC t ...
(RAC), which is between the waiting list and the confirmed list.[ These allow the ticket holder to board the train and obtain an allotted seat decided by a ticket collector, after the ticket collector has ascertained that a seat is vacant.
Reserved railway tickets can be booked through the website of ]Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is an Indian public sector undertaking that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the Indian Railways. It was initially wholly owned by the Government of India and operated ...
(IRCTC) and also through mobile phones via SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
. Tickets booked through this site are categorised into iTickets and eTickets. iTickets are booked by a passenger and then printed and delivered to the passenger. eTickets are printed by the passenger and carried while travelling. While travelling on an eTicket, one must carry an authorised valid photo identity card. Cancellation of eTickets is done online, without the requirement for the passenger to go to any counter. Unreserved tickets are available for purchase on the platform at any time before departure. An unreserved-ticket holder may only board the general-compartment class. All suburban networks issue unreserved tickets valid for a limited time. For frequent commuters, a season pass (monthly or quarterly) guarantees unlimited travel between two stops.
Freight service
In the freight segment, IR ferries various commodities and fuels in industrial, consumer, and agricultural segments across India. IR has historically subsidised the passenger segment with income from the freight business. As a result, freight services are unable to compete with other modes of transport on both cost and speed of delivery, leading to continuous erosion of market share. To counter this downward trend, IR has started new initiatives in freight segments including the upgrade of existing goods sheds, attracting private capital to build multi-commodity multi-modal logistics terminals, changing container sizes, operating time-tabled freight trains, and tweaking with the freight pricing/product mix. Also, end-to-end integrated transport solutions such as roll-on, roll-off (RORO) service, a road-rail system pioneered by Konkan Railway Corporation in 1999 to carry trucks on flatbed trailers, is now being extended to other routes across India.
A potential game-changer for IR in the freight segment are the new dedicated freight corridors that are expected to be completed by 2020. When fully implemented, the new corridors, spanning around , could support hauling of trains up to 1.5 km in length with 32.5 ton axle-load at speeds of . They will also free-up capacity on dense passenger routes and allow IR to run more trains at higher speeds. Additional corridors are being planned to augment the freight infrastructure in the country.
Urban rail
Metro systems
India currently has 13 metro systems. The first modern rapid transit in India is the Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four o ...
, which started operations in 1984 as the 17th Zone of Indian Railways. The Delhi Metro
The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colour-cod ...
which started in 2002, is the largest metro system which connects to few other nearby cities in the National Capital Region
A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
. As of January 2021, India has of operational metro lines and 540 stations across 13 systems. A further 578.34 km of lines are under construction. Metro rail lines in India are composed of mainly standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
. Projects like the Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four o ...
and Delhi Metro
The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colour-cod ...
used broad gauge for their earliest lines but all new projects in India are on standard gauge as rolling stock is of standard gauge.
List of operational metro systems in India
Suburban rail
The Mumbai Suburban Railway is India's first commuter rail system and transports 7.5 million passengers daily, the highest passenger-density in the world. The Kolkata Suburban Railway
The Kolkata Suburban Railway is a suburban rail system serving the Kolkata metropolitan area and its surroundings in India. It is the largest suburban railway network in the country with the highest number of stations. It is also the 7th larg ...
was established in Kolkata in 1854.
The operational suburban rail systems in India are: the Mumbai Suburban Railway
The Mumbai Suburban Railway ( Marathi: मुंबई उपनगरीय रेल्वे) (colloquially called local trains or simply locals) consists of exclusive inner suburban railway lines augmented by commuter rail on main lines ser ...
, the Kolkata Suburban Railway
The Kolkata Suburban Railway is a suburban rail system serving the Kolkata metropolitan area and its surroundings in India. It is the largest suburban railway network in the country with the highest number of stations. It is also the 7th larg ...
, the Chennai Suburban Railway
The Chennai Suburban Railway is a commuter rail system in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, operated by the Southern Railways branch of Indian Railways. It is the second largest suburban rail network in terms of route length and the third ...
, the Lucknow–Kanpur Suburban Railway
Lucknow–Kanpur Suburban Railway System is a commuter rail service operated by Northern Railways, North Central Railway and North Eastern Railway to connect administrative capital Lucknow with the economic and industrial capital Kanpur of ...
, the Delhi Suburban Railway
Delhi Suburban Railway is a suburban rail service operated by Northern Railway for the National Capital Region (NCR). This railway service covers Delhi, along with the adjoining districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Sonipat and other a ...
, the Pune Suburban Railway
Pune Suburban Railway, (Marathi language, Marathi: पुणे उपनगरीय रेल्वे) also known as ''Pune Local'', is a suburban rail system connecting Pune to its suburbs and neighboring villages in Pune District, Maharash ...
, the Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System
The Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System, commonly abbreviated MMTS, is a suburban rail system in Hyderabad, India. A joint venture of the government of Telangana and the South Central Railway, it is operated by the latter. The system operat ...
, the Barabanki–Lucknow Suburban Railway
and the Pernem–Karwar Suburban Railway.
Other planned systems are Bengaluru Commuter Rail, Nagpur broad-gauge Metro Nagpur broad-gauge Metro ( Marathi: नागपूर ब्रॉड-गेज मेट्रो) is a commuter rail project planned for the city of Nagpur and extending up to adjacent areas of Wardha, Yavatmal, Narkhed, Ramtek, Bhandara, Amrav ...
, Ahmedabad Suburban Railway and Coimbatore Suburban Railway.
List of operational suburban railway systems in India
Regional rail
Regional Rapid Transit systems in India are passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
rail
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
services that operate beyond the limits of urban area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
s, and either connect similarly sized cities, or metropolitan cities and surrounding towns/cities, outside at the outer rim of a suburban belt. The following list excludes Passenger Train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...
services provided by Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
.
List of operational Suburban Railway Systems in India
Monorail
Monorail is generally considered a feeder system for the metro trains in India. The Mumbai Monorail
MMRDA Mumbai Monorail is an monorail system in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, built as part of a major expansion of public transport in Mumbai, public transport in the city. The project was implemented and is currently operated by the ...
, which started in 2014, was the first operational monorail
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...
network in India (excluding the Skybus Metro
The Skybus Metro was a prototype suspended railway system by Indian technologist B. Rajaram with the Konkan Railway. The system consisted of an elevated track with the cars suspended below, similar to the Wuppertal Schwebebahn or H-Bahn syste ...
) since Patiala State Monorail Trainways closed in 1927.
Other planned systems are: the Chennai Monorail
Chennai Monorail was a proposal for a number of lines as part of mass transit system for the Indian city of Chennai. Originally the city planned to use monorail on all lines but many were subsequently changed to railways as part of the Chenna ...
, the Kolkata Monorail
Kolkata Monorail was a rail-based transit project planned for the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. This was the first proposed monorail in the country.
History
2004 & 2008
The initial plan regarding the monorail was floated in 2004. In ...
, the Allahabad Monorail, the Bengaluru Monorail, the Delhi Monorail
Delhi has significant reliance on its transport infrastructure. The city has developed a highly efficient public transport system with the introduction of the Delhi Metro, which is undergoing a rapid modernization and expansion since 2006. T ...
, the Indore Monorail, the Kanpur Monorail, the Navi Mumbai Monorail
The Navi Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit system under construction in the Indian city of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. The planning and construction of the Navi Mumbai Metro is being overseen by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CID ...
, the Patna Monorail, the Pune Monorail, the Ahmedabad Monorail, the Aizawl Monorail, the Bhubaneswar Monorail, the Jodhpur Monorail, the Kota Monorail, the Nagpur Monorail and the Nashik Monorail.
Light rail
Like monorail, light rail is also considered a feeder for the metro systems. The planned systems are Kolkata Light Rail Transit and Delhi Light Rail Transit.
Tram
In addition to trains, trams were introduced in many cities in the late 19th century, though almost all of these were phased out. The trams in Kolkata
The tram system in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) after Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was dissolved, is the oldest existing tram network operating in India, and oldest opera ...
are currently the only tram system in the country. Trams in Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
(formerly Calcutta), West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
are operated by the West Bengal Transport Corporation
West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) is a West Bengal state government undertaken corporation. It plies buses, trams and ferries in the state. It was formed by merging existing state transport agencies, namely the Calcutta State Transpo ...
(WBTC). It is the only operating tram network in India and the oldest operating electric tram in Asia, running since 1902. There are 257 trams in total, of which 125 used to run daily on the Kolkata streets, but now only 35 trams run daily. The single-deck articulated cars can carry 200 passengers (60 seated).
Private railways
Though state-owned companies like Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
and the various metro companies enjoy a near monopoly in India, a few private railways do exist. These private railway lines are used exclusively for freight.
There are railway lines owned and operated by companies including plantations, sugar mills, collieries and other mines, dams, harbours and ports. Private railways are operated by the Mumbai Port Trust
Mumbai Port Trust (also known as the Bombay Port Trust) is a port which lies midway on the West coast of India, on the natural deep-water harbour of Mumbai (Bombay) in Maharashtra.The harbour spread over is protected by the mainland of Konkan t ...
, the Chennai Port Trust
Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest container port of India, behind Mumbai's Nhava Sheva. The port is the largest one in the Bay of Bengal. It is the third-oldest port among the 13 major ports of India with offici ...
, the Kolkata Port Trust
Port of Kolkata or Kolkata Port, officially known as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust (formerly Kolkata Port Trust), is the only riverine major port of India, located in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, around from the sea. It is the olde ...
, the Visakhapatnam Port Trust and the Bhilai Steel Plant
The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), located in Bhilai, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, is India's first and main producer of steel rails, as well as a major producer of wide steel plates and other steel products. The plant also produces steel and ...
.[ The ]Tata Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
operate funicular railway
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...
s at Bhira and at Bhivpuri Road (as well as the Kamshet–Shirawta Dam railway line). The Pipavav Rail Corporation holds a 33-year concession for building and operating a railway line from Pipavav to Surendranagar.[ The Kutch Railway Company, a joint venture of the Gujarat state government and private parties, is involved (alongside the Kandla Port Trust and the ]Gujarat Adani Port
Gujarat (, ) is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
) to build the Gandhidham
Gandhidham, initially known as Sardarganj, is the largest and most populous city in Kutch District, Gujarat, India. It was created in the early 1950s for the resettlement of Sindhi Hindu refugees from Sindh (now in Pakistan) in the aftermath ...
–Palanpur
Palanpur is a city and a municipality of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the administrative headquarters of Banaskantha district. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants.
Ety ...
line.[
]
UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Indo-Saracenic structures
There are two UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s on Indian Railways, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST ( suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
The terminus was ...
and the Mountain Railways of India
The Mountain railways of India are the railway lines that were built in the mountainous regions of India. The term mainly includes the narrow-gauge railways in these regions but may also include some broad-gauge railways.
Three of the narrow gau ...
. The latter consists of three separate railway lines located in different parts of India: the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a narrow-gauge, gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It c ...
, a narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
in Lesser Himalayas in the state of West Bengal, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a railway in Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908. The railway is operated by the Southern Railway and is the only rack railway in India.
The railway relies on its fleet of s ...
, a rack railway
A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with th ...
in the Nilgiri Hills
The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...
in the state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
and the Kalka–Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
in the Siwalik Hills
The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the India ...
in the state of Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
.
Future
IR's Research Design and Standards Organisation
The Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) is an ISO 9001 R&D, research and development organisation under the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of government of India, which functions as a technical adviser and consulta ...
(RDSO) undertakes research, design and standardisation. The railway has undertaken several initiatives to upgrade its ageing infrastructure and improve its quality of service. The Indian government plans to invest to upgrade IR by 2020.
Infrastructure modernisation projects include high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
, with the first Ahmedabad-Mumbai train in operation for 2022; the redevelopment of 400 stations by monetizing of spare railway land under a plan;[Railways appoints IRSDC as nodal agency for station redevelopment]
, Livemint, 5 December 2017. doubling tracks to reduce congestion and delays while improving safety;[ the refurbishing of 12- to 15-year-old coaches at the Carriage Rehabilitation Workshop in Bhopal to enhance passenger amenities and fire safety; use of ]Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
(GPS)-enabled tracking of trains to improve safety and service; Digital India
Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in order to ensure that the Government's services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or making ...
-driven digitalisation of the railway to improve efficiency and reduce cost;[ ]rainwater harvesting
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir w ...
, with 1885 systems installed by December 2016;[Rain Water Harvesting System In Indian Railway]
, 7 December 2016. and reforestation
Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting.
Management
A debate ...
of railway land and along the tracks.[India Plants 50 Million Trees in One Day, Smashing World Record]
, National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
, July 2016.
All routes will be electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
to save on imported-fuel costs.[Indian Railways orders conversion to Broad Gauge]
, Rail Digest, 12 April 2017. Off-the-grid
Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical gr ...
solar-powered trains are planned with the installation of one gigawatt of solar and 130 megawatts of wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
between 2017 and 2022; India introduced the world's first solar-powered train and 50 coaches with rooftop solar farms in June 2017.[India's new solar-powered train is the first in the world]
, June 2017 Initial assessments of this experiment have been positive. Rooftop solar electricity is planned at stations to reduce long-term fuel costs and protect the environment. and Sustainable
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
lighting at all the stations was completed by March 2018 which saves Rs 500 million per annum in electricity bills. Locomotive factories have been modernised, including two new factories in Bihar: an electric locomotive factory in Madhepura
Madhepura is a municipality in Madhepura district in the Indian state of Bihar. It stands at the centre of Kosi ravine, It was called ''Madhyapura-'' a place centrally situated which was subsequently transformed as Madhipura into present Madhep ...
and a diesel locomotive factory in Marhaura, and 2,285 bio-toilets were introduced from April to July 2014. A partnership with Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
to supply 800 electric locomotives from 2018 to 2028 was announced.
All the unmanned level crossings were eliminated by January 2019, and manned level crossings are being progressively replaced by overbridges and underbridges.[All unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge (BG) have been eliminated on 31st Jan 2019.]
, 12 May 2016.[ Other safety projects include the extension of an automated ]fire alarm system
A fire alarm system warns people when smoke, fire, carbon monoxide or other fire-related or general notification emergency, emergencies are detected. These alarms may be activated automatically from smoke detectors and heat detectors or may also ...
, first introduced on Rajdhani Express trains in 2013, to all air-conditioned coaches; and 6,095 GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System railway signalling
Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...
devices (replacing the practice of placing firecrackers on tracks to alert train drivers) installed in 2017 in four zones: Northern, North Central, North Eastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and North Western; and replacing ICF coach with LHB coach.
See also
; Rail transport
* List of railway stations in India
This is a list of railway stations in India. The railway operations are managed by Indian Railways (IR) in the country.
A
B
{, class="wikitable sortable"
! Station name , , Station code , , State , , Railway zone , , Elevation , ...
* List of high-speed railway lines in India
India currently does not have any High-speed rail lines operational, but have several lines planned and one of which is currently under construction. The following article lists all the lines in various stages of completion.
Overview
Ne ...
* Dedicated freight corridors in India The Dedicated freight corridors in India are a network of broad gauge freight railway lines that solely serve freight trains, thus making the freight service in India faster and more efficient. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India i ...
* List of countries by rail transport network size
This list of countries by rail transport network size based on International Union of Railways data ranks countries by length of rail lines worked at end of year updated with other reliable sources. These figures also include urban/suburban mass- ...
* Urban rail transit in India
Urban rail transit in India plays an important role in intracity transportation in the major cities which are highly populated. It consists of rapid transit, suburban rail, monorail and tram systems. According to a report published in 2021, a ...
* High-speed rail in India
Indian Railways is currently improving their existing conventional lines to handle speeds of up to , and with certain improved corridors seeing speeds of more than . Also, a total of twelve corridors are planned and one of the corridors which ...
; Other
* Air transport in India
Transport in India consists of transport by land, water and air. Road transport is the primary mode of transport for most Indian citizens, and India's road transport systems are among the most heavily used in the world.
India's road network i ...
* Aerial lift in India The Aerial tramway, also known as Aerial lift or Aerial ropeway and cable car popularly known as ropeway in India, is a public transportation system where cabins, gondolas or open chairs are hauled above the ground with the help of cables. They are ...
* Bharatmala
The Bharatmala Pariyojna ( 'India garland project') is an ecosystem of road development which includes development of tunnels, bridges, elevated corridors, flyovers, overpass, interchanges, bypasses, ring roads etc. to provide shortest, jam f ...
* Expressways of India
Expressways are the highest class of roads in India. As of December 2022, India has a total length of of expressways. These are controlled-access highways where entrance and exits are controlled by the use of ramps or interchange or trump ...
* Indian Human Spaceflight Programme
The Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (IHSP) was initiated in 2007 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop the technology needed to launch crewed orbital spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The first uncrewed flight, named Ga ...
* Transport in India
Transport in India consists of transport by land, water and air. Road transport is the primary mode of transport for most Indian citizens, and India's road transport systems are among the most heavily used in the world.
India's road network ...
* UDAN
''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' (Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN'' (Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivi ...
, national airport transport connectivity scheme
* Water transport in India
''Water transport in India'' has played a significant role in the country's economy and is indispensable to foreign trade. India is endowed with an extensive network of waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks and a long co ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Aguiar, Marian. ''Tracking Modernity: India's Railway and the Culture of Mobility'' (University of Minnesota Press; 2011) 226 pages; draws on literature, film, and other realms to explore the role of the railway in the Indian imagination
excerpt and text search
* Bear, Linda. ''Lines of the Nation: Indian Railway Workers, Bureaucracy, and the Intimate Historical Self'' (2007)
excerpt and text search
* Kerr, Ian J. ''Railways in Modern India'' (2001
excerpt and text search
* Kerr, Ian J. ''Engines of Change: The Railroads That Made India'' (2006)
* Kumar, Sudhir, and Shagun Mehrotra. ''Bankruptcy to Billions: How the Indian Railways Transformed Itself'' (2009)
*
*
*
External links
Indian Railways
– official website
Glossary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport In India