Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) Is A Statutory Body Under The Jurisdiction of Ministry of

Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of

Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It
manages the fourth-largest railway network in the world by size, with a route
length of 67,956 km (42,226 mi) as of 31 March 2020. 45,881 km (28,509 mi) or
71% of all the broad-gauge routes are electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric
traction as of 1 April 2021.
In the fiscal year ending March 2020, Indian Railways carried 808.6 crore
(8.086 billion) passengers and transported 121.23 crore (1.2123 billion) tonnes of
freight.[4] It runs 1 lakh (100,000) passenger trains daily, on both long-distance
and suburban routes, covering 7,325 stations across India. Mail or Express trains,
the most common types of trains, run at an average speed of 50.6 km/h
(31.4 mph). Suburban EMUs run at an average speed of 37.5 km/h (23.3 mph).
Ordinary passenger trains (incl. mixed) run at an average speed of 33.5 km/h
(20.8 mph). The maximum speed of passenger trains varies, with the Gatimaan
Express running at a peak speed of 160 km/h (99 mph).
In the freight segment, IR runs 8,479 trains daily. The average speed of freight
trains is around 24 km/h (15 mph). The maximum speed of freight trains varies
from 60–75 km/h (37–47 mph) depending on their axle load with 'container
special' trains running at a peak speed of 100 km/h (62 mph).
As of March 2020, Indian Railways' rolling stock consisted of 2,93,077 freight

wagons, 76,608 passenger coaches and 12,729 locomotives. IR owns locomotive
and coach-production facilities at several locations in India. It had 1.254 million
employees as of March 2020, making it the world's eighth-largest employer.[4] The
government has committed to electrifying India's entire rail network by 2023–24,
and become a "net zero (carbon emissions) railway" by 2030.
History[edit]
Main article: History of rail transport in India
The first railway proposals for India were made in Madras in 1832.
 The country's first transport train, Red Hill Railway (built by Arthur

Cotton to transport granite for road-building), ran from Red Hills to
the Chintadripet bridge in Madras in 1837.In 1845, the Godavari Dam
Construction Railway was built by Cotton at Dowleswaram in Rajahmundry, to
supply stone for the construction of a dam over the Godavari River. In 1851,
the Solani Aqueduct Railway was built by Proby Cautley in Roorkee to
transport construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani River.[
 India's first passenger train, operated by the Great Indian Peninsula

Railway and hauled by three steam locomotives (Sahib, Sindh and Sultan), ran
for 34 kilometres (21 mi) with 400 people in 14 carriages
on 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge track between Bori Bunder (Mumbai)
and Thane on 16 April 1853.[9][10] The Thane viaducts, India's 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 39 km
(24 mi) from Howrah, near Kolkata, to Hoogly on 15 August 1854.The first
passenger train in South India ran 97 km (60 mi) from Royapuram-
Veyasarapady (Madras) to Wallajabad (Arcot) on 1 July 1856.
On 24 February 1873, a horse-drawn 3.8 km (2.4 mi) tram opened

in Calcutta between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street 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 several railway
lines across the then Hyderabad State with Kachiguda Railway Station serving as
its headquarters. In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced by many
railway companies. On 3 February 1925, the first electric passenger train in India
ran between Victoria Terminus and Kurla.
The organization of Indian railways into regional zones began in 1951, when

the Southern (14 April 1951), Central (5 November 1951), and Western (5
November 1951) zones were created. Fans and lights were mandated for all
compartments in all passenger classes in 1951, and sleeping accommodations
were introduced in coaches. In 1956, the first fully air-conditioned train was
introduced between Howrah and Delhi (Presently known as Poorva Express). Ten
years later, the first containerised freight service began between Mumbai
and Ahmedabad. In 1974, Indian Railways endured a 20 day strike, which
damaged the nation's economy.
In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced in New Delhi In

1988, the first Shatabdi Express was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi; it
was later extended to Bhopal.Two years later, the first self-printing ticket machine
(SPTM) was introduced in New Delhi. In 1993, air-conditioned three-tier coaches
and a sleeper class (separate from second class) were introduced on IR. The
CONCERT system of computerized reservations was deployed in New Delhi,
Mumbai and Chennai in September 1996. In 1998, coupon validating machines
(CVMs) were introduced at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The
nationwide concierge system began operation on 18 April 1999. In February 2000,
the Indian Railways website went online On 3 August 2002, IR began online train
reservations and ticketing.The Railway Budget was usually presented two days
before the Union budget every year till 2016. The central government
approved merger of the Rail and General budgets from next year, ending a 92-
year-old practice of a separate budget for the nation's largest transporter. On 31
March 2017, Indian Railways announced that the country's entire rail network
would be electrified by 2022 or 2023, and become a net-zero (carbon emission)
railway by 2030.
On 22 March 2020, Indian Railways announced a nationwide shutdown of

passenger rail service to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in India. This became
part of a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.[29] The
railway shutdown was initially scheduled to last from 23 to 31 March, but the
nationwide lockdown, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24
March, was to last 21 days. The national rail network is maintaining its freight
operations during the lockdown, to transport essential goods. On 29 March,
Indian Railways announced that it would start service for special parcel trains to
transport essential goods, in addition to regular freight service. The national rail
operator has also announced plans to convert coaches into isolation wards for
patients of COVID-19.

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) Is A Statutory Body Under The Jurisdiction of Ministry of

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) Is A Statutory Body Under The Jurisdiction of Ministry of

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) Is A Statutory Body Under The Jurisdiction of Ministry of

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Indian Railways

Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of

As of March 2020, Indian Railways' rolling stock consisted of 2,93,077 freight

Main article: History of rail transport in India

 The country's first transport train, Red Hill Railway (built by Arthur

 India's first passenger train, operated by the Great Indian Peninsula

On 24 February 1873, a horse-drawn 3.8 km (2.4 mi) tram opened

The organization of Indian railways into regional zones began in 1951, when

In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced in New Delhi In

On 22 March 2020, Indian Railways announced a nationwide shutdown of

You might also like