Indian Railways

1832–1899 In 1832 the proposal to construct the first railway line in India at Madras was made. In 1835, a railway track was constructed between Red Hills and Chintadripet in Madras and became operational in 1837. It was hauled by a rotary steam engine imported from England and was used for ferrying granite. The Madras Railway was established in 1845 and the Great Indian Peninsular Railway was incorporated in 1849. In 1853, the first passenger train on broad gauge ran for between Bombay and Thane which had 14-carriages carrying 400 people, hauled by three steam locomotives: the Sahib, Sindh and Sultan. This day is considered to be the formation date of the Indian Railways and is marked annually as Indian Railways Day. The Thane viaducts, the first railway bridges, were built over the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May 1854. Eastern India's first passenger train ran from Howrah, near Kolkata, to Hoogly on 15 August 1854. On 24 February 1873, a horse-drawn tram opened in Calcutta between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat street. In 1875, a railway line was opened between Mokama and Darbhanga by the local ruler Lakshmeshwar Singh through Tirhut Railway. On 9 May 1874, a horse-drawn tramway began operation in Bombay between Colaba and Parel. In 1879, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was established which built railway lines across the then Hyderabad State from Kachiguda. In 1877, Ajmer built "F1" class metre-gauge steam locomotive no. 734 became the first indigenously built locomotive in India. In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced by Jodhpur Railway, the first to introduce electric lighting as a standard fixture. In 1925, the first Electric Multiple Units (EMU) were introduced in Bombay with 1500 V DC units imported from Cammell Laird and Uerdingenwagonfabrik. Chennai suburban railway started operating in 1931 with a single metre-gauge line from Chennai Beach to Tambaram. In 1950, there were about 42 different railway companies operating about tracks across the country. In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways approved the plan for re-organizing Indian Railways into six regional zones with the Southern (14 April 1951), Central (5 November 1951), and Western (5 November 1951) zones being the first to be created. used by the Indian Railways till the late 1990s The first locomotive manufacturing unit at Chittaranjan was commissioned in 1950. The first rail coaches were manufactured in India from 1956 when the Integral Coach Factory was established at Madras. In 1956, the first air-conditioned train plied between Howrah and New Delhi. In 1957, Indian Railways adopted 25 kV AC traction with the first runs beginning in December 1959 with the WAM-1 locomotives. In 1974, Indian Railways endured a 20-day strike. The first metro rail was introduced in Calcutta on 24 October 1984. In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced. In 1988, the first Shatabdi Express was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi. In 1993, air-conditioned three-tier and sleeper were introduced. Centralized computer reservation system was deployed in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in September 1996, coupon validating machines (CVMs) were introduced at Mumbai CSMT in 1998 and the nationwide concierge system began operation on 18 April 1999. In 2015, the first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered trains were rolled out. Since 1925, the Railway budget was presented before the Union budget till 2016. The central government approved the merger of the Rail and General budgets from 2017. On 31 March 2017, Indian Railways announced a target of electrifying the entire rail network would be electrified by 2023. In March 2020, Indian Railways announced a nationwide shutdown of passenger service to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in India with the freight operations continuing to transport essential goods. The railways resumed passenger services in a phased manner in May 2020. operating on a train-set built by ICF, is the fastest train in India Starting in the 2010s, various infrastructure modernization projects have been undertaken including high-speed rail, redevelopment of 400 stations, doubling tracks to reduce congestion, refurbishing of coaches, Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled tracking of trains and modernization of locomotives. In 2018, a semi-high speed self-propelled train-set capable of reaching speeds of over was rolled out from ICF and the Vande Bharat Express was launched in 2019. Indian Railways announced plans to become a net-zero carbon emission railway by 2030 and has implemented rainwater harvesting at stations, reforestation along the tracks, introduction of solar-powered trains, installation of solar and wind power generation facilities, and sustainable LED lighting at all the stations. Indian railways removed all unstaffed level crossings by 2019 with staffed level crossings being replaced by bridges. Other safety projects include the extension of an automated fire alarm system to all air-conditioned coaches and GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System railway signalling devices. In 2020, Indian Railways allowed the operation of private passenger trains for the first time with the first train flagged off from Coimbatore in June 2022. == Organisation ==

Structure Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India. It is governed by a Railway Board, which acts on behalf of the Ministry of Railways. The five member Railway board is headed by a chairman cum chief executive officer, and consists of members responsible for infrastructure, traction & rolling stock, operations & business development, and finance. Additionally, officers on special duty include those overseeing human resources, Railway Protection Force, health and safety. Indian Railways is divided into 18 administrative zones (17 operational), headed by general managers which are further subdivided into 68 operating divisions, headed by divisional railway managers (DRM). , Groups A & B constitute 1.4% of the total workforce, while Group C (into which Group D merged before 2020) accounts for 98.6%. Group B employees are recruited by departmental promotional exams of Group C employees. Recruitment of Group C employees are through exams conducted by the Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB) and Group D staffs are recruited by zonal Railway Recruitment Cells (RRC). Indian Railways operates seven centralized training institutes and 295 training centers. It also provides housing, healthcare and education facilities for staff. Subsidiaries Indian Railways has various public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other organisations under its purview: Indian Railways also has multiple bodies and undertakings under its purview such as: • Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) • Central Railside Warehouse Company Limited (CRWCL) • Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) • Central Organisation for Modernisation of Workshops (COMW) • Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE) • Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS) • Passenger Amenities Committee • Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) • Railway Protection Force (RPF) • Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB) • Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) • Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) == Infrastructure and operations ==

Rolling stock Locomotives (W), Diesel (D), Mixed use (M), 3100 HP (3A) locomotive The first trains in the 1800s were hauled by imported steam locomotives. The locomotives may be Longer Hood Front (LHF), where the driver cabin is behind the hood of the engine or Short Hood Front (SHF), where the cabin is located towards the front. , 37% of the trains were operated by diesel locomotives and rest mostly by electric locomotives. , Indian Railways had 10,675 electric, 4,397 diesel, and 16 steam locomotives in its inventory. From the late 1990s, the ICF coaches were replaced by safer and newer LHB coaches designed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany. In the late 2010s, Indian railways started upgrading the coaches of select trains from LHB to Tejas coaches with enhanced features and the introduction of trainsets with specialised coaches such as Vande Bharat. , Indian Railways had 91,948 passenger coaches, including 65,016 conventional, 12,229 EMU and 1,681 DMU coaches. In 2018, the numbering system was changed with the first two digits indicating the year of manufacture and the last four digits indicating the sequence number. Multiple units In the 1960s, electric multiple units (EMU) were developed for short-haul and suburban rail transit. On regional short-distance routes, mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) and diesel electrical multiple unit (DEMU) trains are run. These train sets run in formation of 6, 9, 12 or 15 coaches and a three-car set is typified by a motor coaches and two passenger coaches. These train-sets are self-propelled with capability for faster acceleration or deceleration. In 2018, Indian Railways also rolled out semi-high speed self-propelled train sets with modified coaches for inter city trains. The freight cars can carry loads ranging from 10 to 80 tonnes per car depending on the configuration. The requirement of wagons was previously exclusively met by Bharat Wagon and Engineering with the procurement and manufacturing done by various public and private sector companies in the 2020s. Others Apart from standard passenger classes, the Indian Railways has other specialized coach types used for dedicated functions. These include accident relief medical vans, brake vans, generator cars, inspection carriages, military cars, and parcel vans. These may be dedicated self-propelled units or attached to train-sets. Manufacturing Indian Railways operates various manufacturing units. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), commissioned in 1950, was the first locomotive manufacturing unit in India. BHEL, Patiala Locomotive Works, Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowrah and Electric Locomotive Factory, Madhepura also manufacture locomotives in India. Maintenance The locomotives are operated and maintained by 40 locomotive sheds. The repair and maintenance of the fleet of other rolling stock is carried out at 294 carriage & wagon repair units across various zones of IR. Trunk routes As of July 2020, there are seven major routes a total length of which have been classified as High-Density Network (HDN) routes or trunk routes. These routes are designed for a maximum operational speed limit of 160 km/h, and carry about 60% of the rail traffic. The trunk routes include Chennai–Howrah, Chennai–Mumbai, Delhi–Chennai, Delhi–Howrah, Howrah–Mumbai, Mumbai–Delhi and Delhi–Guwahati. Electrification The first electric train ran in Bombay in 1925 on DC traction. In 1957, Indian Railways decided to adopt 25 kV AC as its standard. , the Indian Railways has electrified (99.1%) of the total broad-gauge route length of . Cross-border India shares land border with multiple countries and have rail-links with some of them. Bangladesh is connected to West Bengal with a construction of new rail link connecting Tripura with Akhaura. Two rail links to Nepal exist as of 2021, with a third under construction. There is an existing railink with Pakistan through Attari–Wagah border. Signaling and communication similar to the one pictured Indian Railways uses a range of signalling technologies and methods to manage its train operations based on traffic density and safety requirements. , automatic block signalling is used on a total route length of for train operations – concentrated in high density routes, large cities and junctions. Remaining routes are based on absolute block signalling with trains manually controlled by signal men 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. , 756 block sections have intermediate block signals. Signals at most stations are interlocked using panel interlocking, route-relay interlocking or electronic interlocking methods that eliminate scope for human signalling errors. Indian Railways uses track circuiting, and block proving axle counters for train detection. , 6,637 stations have interlocked and multi-aspect signalling. Around 99% of key routes have track circuitry or block proving axle counters for automated train detection and Kavach automatic train protection system has been implemented in of tracks. Stations , Indian Railways manages and operates 7,461 stations. Since 2017, Indian Railways categorizes the stations by commercial importance into three different categories namely Non Suburban Group (NSG), Suburban Group (SG) and Halt Group (HG). These are further subdivided into subcategories based on their commercial importance (NSG 1–6, SG 1-3 and from HG 1–3). == Services ==

Passenger Travel classes Indian Railways offers various travel classes on its coaches. For the purpose of identification in passenger trains, coaches in a train-set are assigned an alpha-numeric code. The first letter identifies the coach class and the second letter identifies the coach number. The berths and seats are numbered by an alphanumeric code with the letter(s) identifying the berth/seat type and numbers identifying the position. Saloon coaches available for chartering are equipped with a bedroom and kitchen and can be attached to normal trains. Passenger trains Indian Railways operates various classes of passenger and express trains. The trains are classified basis average speed and facilities with express trains having fewer halts, priority on rail network and faster average speed. The trains are identified by five digit numbers with train-pairs traveling in opposite directions usually labelled with consecutive numbers. Express trains often have specific unique names for easy identification. In 2018–19, Indian Railways operated 13,523 passenger trains on average daily and carried 8.44 billion passengers. India Railways operates various categories of express trains including Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Garib Rath Express, Double Decker Express, Tejas Express, Gatimaan Express, Humsafar Express, Duronto Express, Yuva Express, Uday Express, Jan Shatabdi Express, Sampark Kranti Express, Vivek Express, Rajya Rani Express, Mahamana Express, Antyodaya Express, Jan Sadharan Express, Suvidha Express and Intercity Express. In 2019, Vande Bharat Express was launched with self-propelled EMU train-sets capable of reaching maximum speed of with operational speeds restricted to . A non-air-conditioned semi-high speed train-set hauled by two modified WAP-5 locomotives was launched as Amrit Bharat Express. A high-speed rail line is under-construction between Mumbai and Ahmedabad which will become the first true high-speed rail line when completed in 2026. Mountain railways Mountain Railways of India refer to three rail lines operated by Indian Railways in hilly terrain. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow-gauge railway in the Lesser Himalayas of West Bengal was opened in 1881. The mountain railways were designated as World Heritage Sites in 1999. Suburban and metro The first suburban electric trains were introduced in Bombay in 1925. Chennai suburban lines started operating in 1931 and Kolkata in 1957. Later, AC traction was adopted for suburban lines and are currently operated by Multiple Units (MUs) of various configurations. In 1984, Kolkata Metro, the first metro system and the only system operated by Indian Railways was commissioned. Opened in November 1995, Chennai MRTS became the first operational elevated railway line in India. It operates tourist trains and coach services on popular tourist circuits in different regions of the country. It operates luxury tourist trains such as Maharajas' Express, Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot and Deccan Odyssey, deluxe tourist trains such as Mahaparinirvan Express. It also operates heritage and exhibition trains on special circumstances. Ticketing and fares In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced before which ticketing was done manually. Reserved tickets can be booked by passengers who want to travel at short notice at higher fares through the Tatkal train ticket, where no refund is applicable on cancellation. A valid proof for the purchase of ticket along with photo identification is required to board the train. Unreserved tickets for short distance or unplanned travels may be purchased at stations or through UTS mobile app at any time before departure. Holders of such tickets may only board the general or unreserved coaches. Suburban networks also issue unreserved tickets valid for a limited time or season passes with unlimited travel between two stops for a period of time. India has some of the lowest train fares in the world, and lower class passenger fares are subsidised. Discounted fares are applicable for railway employees, senior citizens (over age 60), the differently-abled, students, athletes, patients and those taking competitive examinations. Seats of lower class of accommodation are reserved for women or senior citizens in some trains. Freight The first rail operational in Madras in 1837 was used for ferrying granite. To counter this, Indian Railways established the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India in 2006 to construct dedicated freight corridors to reduce congestion, increase speed and reliability and proposed upgradation 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. End-to-end integrated transport solutions such as roll-on, roll-off (RORO) service, a road-rail system pioneered by Konkan Railway in 1999 to carry trucks on flatbed trailers is extended to other routes. == Accidents and incidents ==

As per the Ministry of Railways, there have been more than 38,500 railway accidents from 1961 to 2019. At least 313 people died in 40 train accidents in 2023-24 and 748 people have died in 638 train accidents in the previous ten years. == See also ==