20 Incredible Facts About Indian Railways That You Probably Did Not Know

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20 Incredible Facts About Indian Railways That You Probably Did Not Know
Surabhi Katyal
August 21, 2015

Do you know everything about the next train you will catch? Or the next station you will visit? Here are 20 facts about the Indian Railways you might not be aware of.

Indian Railways – the lifeline of transport system in our country, is evidently a huge setup, and an organization with numerous branches. With a dedicated ministry and budget in its name, railways help large portions of the country’s population in running their daily businesses successfully. However, there are a few things you probably don’t know about our trains and how the entire system works. Read on, and maybe you can remember them; or simply be awed every-time you pass by something even remotely related to the railways.


1. Indian Railways is the largest railways network to be operated by a single government and is the world’s third largest network with a total length of 127,760 kms.

Photo Source: able2know
The annual tally is 8421 million passengers on 9991 trains connecting 7,172 stations across the country. The number of daily passengers on the railways is said to be larger than the population of some countries. It also carries 1014.15 million tons of freight annually.


2. Indian Railways owned the longest railway platform in the world at Kharagpur with a length of 2,733 feet. Now, breaking the record, Gorakhpur station has recently taken its place with a span of 4,430 feet.

Photo Source: indiarailinfo


3. Two historical railway elements are included in the UNESCO’ World Heritage site list – the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Indian Mountain Railways.

Photo Source: Wikipedia
The Indian Mountain Railways includes three railways – the Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, Nilgiri Mountain Railways and Kalka Shimla Railway. All three trains have been functional for some 100 years. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is a classic fusion of Gothic art with Indian architecture.


4. Indian Railways has five luxury trains.

Photo Source: Indian Transport Portal

These are:

• Royal Rajasthan on Wheels,
• Palace on Wheels (Rajasthan),
• The Golden Chariot (Karnataka and Goa),
• The Maharajas’ Express (begins in Delhi but the itinerary differs) and
• The Deccan Odyssey (begins in Maharashtra but itinerary differs).

They are the pride of Indian Railways as they hold an eminent position among the luxury trains of the world. Palace on Wheels is the oldest one of them.


5. The Vivek Express (Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari) travels a distance of 4273 km, which is the longest run in the railways. The shortest run is taken by a few scheduled services between Nagpur and Ajni – a total of 3 kms.

Photo Source: kochigallan


6. Srirampur and Belapur are two different stations in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. They are both situated at the same point on the railway route, but are located on opposite sides of the track.

Source: Indiarailinfo


7. Mathura junction has the maximum number of routes emerging from it.

Photo Source: snipview
7 of them include – Broad Gauge (BG) line to Agra Cantt, BG line to Bharatpur, BG line to Alwar, BG line to Delhi, Metre Gauge (MG) line to Achnera, MG line to Vrindavan and MG line to Hathras.

 

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8. The resonance frequency of the suspension for the coaches is kept as close as possible to 72 bpm or 1.2 Hz while designing.

Photo Source: rcf.indiangovernment
The human body is most comfortable at 1.2 Hz frequency as it’s one of the most fundamental frequencies of our bodies (normal heartbeat) – which is why people sleep soundly in trains.


9. The railways functions on an operating ratio of 94%, that is, it spends 94 paisa on every rupee that it earns.

Photo Source: asianeer
The amount of Rs. 4 saved from every Rs. 100 earned is minuscule and the revenues of the railways have been suffering because of the negligible revision of prices.


10. The diamond crossing (dubbed so by railways themselves), in Nagpur, is one-of-its-kind, from where trains go East, West, North and South.

Photo Source: IRFCA


11. The Indian Railways is constructing the world’s highest rail bridge over Chenab.

Source: consumersprotection
The bridge will be 1,315 meters long and will use up to 25,000 tonnes of steel. The idea was initially conceived in 2008 but the project was paused due to safety concerns. The work, however, began in 2010 and it is expected to be completed this year.


12. The longest tunnel in the country is Pir Panjal Railway tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir which is 11.25 kms long.

Photo Source: Kashmirlife


13. The busiest junction in the country is Howrah junction in Kolkata with as many as 974 trains stopping there daily.

Photo Source: trekearth


14. All the electric appliances (fans, lights) in rail coaches function at 110 volts instead of the Indian standard 220 volts. It is a very effective counter-measure against thieves!
Photo Source: noisypilgrims

 

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15. The mascot for Indian Railways is Bholu, or Bholu the guard elephant, which was designed by National Institute of Design. It was unveiled on 16th April 2002.



16. The oldest working Indian locomotive still in use is the Fairy Queen, which worked with a steam engine.

Photo Source: plustoursIndia
It was built in 1855. After retiring in 1909, it was relaunched in 1997 and operates as a tourist train between Delhi and Alwar. It travels at a speed 40 km/h.


17. The Indian Railways is the world’s eighth largest employer with a total of 1.4 million employees.
Photo Source: Flickr


18. Computerized reservations began in New Delhi in 1986.

Photo Source: Blogspot


19. Indian Railways launched an awareness campaign train on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007, called the Red Ribbon Express.

Source: Kochiservnet


20. India has eight Railway Museums – in Delhi, Pune, Kanpur, Mysore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ghum and Tiruchirappalli. Out of these, the National Railway Museum in Delhi is the largest rail museum in Asia.

Photo Source: dadstheway.wordpress.com

 

[ranjeet]

Great thread...

15. The mascot for Indian Railways is Bholu, or Bholu the guard elephant, which was designed by National Institute of Design. It was unveiled on 16th April 2002.

But Bholu needs to go.

 

[dray]

Point-14 is very smart!

Let's call the train experts.... @anant_s @gslv mk3

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Point-14 is very smart!

Let's call the train experts.... @anant_s @gslv mk3

I think that the voltage is not only 110 V but its D.C.; though I'm not sure. Better confirm with @anant_s and @gslv mk3 about that.

 

[Sky lord]

I like Bholu, he looks friendly and helpful unlike the real life TCs.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I like Bholu, he looks friendly and helpful unlike the real life TCs.

Why ? Real-life TCs are also helpful, if..... you are generous.

 

[anant_s]

@Rain Man @Capt.Popeye
the voltage indeed is DC at 110V.
I'm not sure if theft was a consideration for design but the insulation level of batterries and cable is an engineering factor for this voltage level. Also at this voltage, risk of fire reduces multi fold.

btw point number 10 is not correct.
i personally have seen diamond crossings at North of Bhusawal jn (maharashtra) and one near Ratlam jn.

also point 5
the train is basically for railway man who travel between city and electric loco shed and workshop situated at Ajni.

 

[Levina]

he human body is most comfortable at 1.2 Hz frequency as it’s one of the most fundamental frequencies of our bodies (normal heartbeat) – which is why people sleep soundly in trains.

Now thats interesting.

 

[anant_s]

Why ? Real-life TCs are also helpful, if..... you are generous.

indeed!
ask any waitlisted passengers

 

[dray]

I have seen gorgeous steam engines in action during my childhood, I think nothing beats the beauty of steam engines, modern locos are just too civilized!!

 

[anant_s]

I have seen gorgeous steam engines in action during my childhood, I think nothing beats the beauty of steam engines, modern locos are just too civilized!!

absolutely.
there is a certain romance associated with steam that unfortunately is absent with modern traction.
while travel has become far more comfortable, there is a feeling of it all being run of the mill stuff lacking any individuality.

 

[anant_s]

First AC traction
Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railways has got the distinction of introducing 25 kV electric traction on Indian Railways. A transformer and a circuit breaker, taken on loan from SNCF, were commissioned at a site near Kendposi. OHE was energized on 25 kV AC from Kendposi to Rajkharswan and the pantograph of loco No.20250 was for the first time raised at Kendposi on 12th December 1959. On 15th December 1959, official inauguration ceremony took place, when a steam special train and an electric loco ran parallel on the 3 Km double track between the feeding post site to Kendposi station. Rajkharswan-Dangoaposi section was officially inaugurated on electric traction on 11th August 1960.

25 kV AC traction technology was taken from 50 cycles group, a European consortium. The first Traction Substation was set up at Kendposi near Dangoaposi and the first electric loco goods train run took place from Kendposi to Chaibasa for a distance of 35 kms and set the tone of Railway electrification on Indian Railways. Later on, the electrification spread over the iron ore and coal routes of Eastern and South Eastern Railways.
The first electric locomotive was BBM1 (WAG-1) type and was imported from 50 cycles group, Europe. This locomotive of B-B type with 2870 HP power and 25T starting tractive effort was able to haul a train load of 2200 T at 50 KMPH speed. In 1970s, Indian Railways modified the French design, adopted it to Indian conditions and first co-co type 25 kV AC WAM-4 locomotive was manufactured at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works & introduced in regular service. This was 3640 HP, 33T starting tractive effort locomotive and was able to haul 3200 T train with speed of 90 KMPH.

WAG 1 (french classification of BBM1 or B-B, mono-motor, mixed traffic 1) class was the first AC electric locos to ever run in India.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Anyone have any idea how much KMs are added to the network each year?