steam locomotives helped express trains reach speeds of in 1947. The history of the Indian Railway began in 1832 with the proposal to construct the first railway line in India at
Madras. In 1837, the first train ran on Red Hill railway
line between
Red Hills and
Chintadripet in Madras and was hauled by a
rotary steam engine imported from
England. In 1853, the first passenger train ran between
Bombay and
Thane which covered a distance of in 57 minutes, averaging a speed of . Earlier trains ran using
steam locomotives, where barely reached speeds of . With the introduction of
WP class locomotives in 1947, speeds of were operated commercially. While the first
electric train ran in Bombay in 1925 on
DC traction,
WCP-1 class electric locomotives were introduced in 1928, capable of hauling trains at speeds of up to , though trains operated at lower speed. On 1 April 1929,
Grand Trunk Express commenced operations between
Peshawar in the
North Western Railway and
Mangalore with two coaches detached and connected to Madras further. The
Frontier Mail made its inaugural run between Bombay and
Peshawar in 1928. Technical advancements led to automatic colour light signals become operational between Bombay and Byculla in 1928. In the subsequent years, the route from Bombay to
Poona was electrified and in June 1930, the first deluxe train,
Deccan Queen began running, hauled by a
WCP-1 locomotives with seven coaches along the route. The Grand Trunk express commenced operating as a dedicated daily train between Madras and Delhi from 1 September 1930.
WDM-1, the first
diesel locomotive introduced in 1957 was capable of speeds of up to . In 1957, Indian Railways adopted
25 kV 50 Hz AC traction with the first runs beginning in December 1959 with the
WAM-1 locomotives, capable of reaching speeds of up to . In 1960, the
Railway Board of India commissioned a study to increase the speed of its trains, which was restricted to on the existent
broad gauge lines. A target of with an intermediate stage of was set for passenger trains.
Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) started work on the same in 1962 with field trials commencing in 1967. On 1 March 1969, the first
Rajdhani Express was flagged off from
New Delhi to
Howrah, which reached a maximum speed of and completed the trip in 17 hours 20 minutes at an average speed of . In 1980, the
WAP-1 electric locomotives capable of reaching speeds of were introduced to haul express trains.
Shatabdi Express introduced in 1988, were capable of running at a maximum speed of .
WAP-5 class locomotives, initially imported from
ABB in 1995 and later manufactured at
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in India, reached in trials and later set an Indian speed record by hauling an express train between Delhi and Agra at a speed of in 2014. is the fastest express train in India. In December 2009, the
Ministry of Railways of
Government of India envisaged the implementation of regional high-speed rail projects to provide services at , and planning for corridors connecting commercial, tourist, and pilgrimage hubs. On 25 July 2013, Government of India established the
High Speed Rail Corporation for the implementation of high-speed rail corridor projects and in 2014, the
Diamond Quadrilateral high speed rail project was approved by the government. In April 2016, the WAP-5 hauled
Gatimaan Express became the fastest commercial train in India, with a maximum operational speed of . In 2018, Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, rolled out a
semi-high-speed EMU train-set, capable of reaching . In 2019, the first
Vande Bharat Express entered commercial service with a maximum operational speed of . The actual operating speed was much lower due to track restrictions and congestion with top speeds restricted to for most trains. In December 2023, two modified WAP-5 locomotives were used to haul the
Amrit Bharat train-set in a push-pull configuration, capable of reaching speeds of up to . == Definition ==