FACT ABOUT INDIAN RAILWAYS

1.Indian Railways, is the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second largest under one management with 7,500 stations.

2.As of December 2012, it transported over 25 million passengers daily (over 9 billion on an annual basis).

3.Indian Railways runs around 11,000 trains everyday, of which 7,000 are passenger trains.

4.The first railway on Indian sub-continent ran over a stretch of 21 miles from Bombay to Thane. The formal inauguration ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853.

5.The first passenger train steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hooghly, a distance of 24 miles, on 15th August, 1854.

6.The first electric train in India was named as DECCAN QUEEN which started in 1929 and travelled from kalyan to pune.

7.In south the first line was opened on Ist July, 1856 by the Madras Railway Company. It ran between Vyasarpadi Jeeva Nilayam (Veyasarpandy) and Walajah Road (Arcot), a distance of 63 miles.

8.In the North a length of 119 miles of line was laid from Allahabad to Kanpur on 3rd March 1859. The first section from Hathras Road to Mathura Cantonment was opened to traffic on 19th October, 1875.

9.Indian Railways is a multi-gauge, multi-traction system covering the following:

10.  Total Train Routte Length- 108,706 kms.

  i.Broad Gauge (1676 mm) - 86,526 kms.

ii.Meter Gauge (1000 mm) - 18,529 kms.

iii.Narrow Gauge (762/610 mm) - 3,651 kms.

11.  Indian Railways is running with 17 railway zones. Kolkata Metro is recently added as 17^thrailway zone in 2011.

Sr no.	Railway Zone	Headquarters
1.	Central	Mumbai (C.S.T., Maharastra)
2.	Northern	New Delhi
3.	North Eastern	Gorakhpur (U.P.)
4.	North Central	Allahabad (U.P.)
5.	North East Frontier	Maligaon (Guwahati, Assam)
6.	North West	Jaipur (Rajasthan)
7.	Eastern	Kolkata (W.B.)
8.	East Central	Hazipur (Bihar)
9.	East Coastal	Bhuabaneswar (Odisha)
10.	Southern	Chennai (Tamilnadu)
11.	South Eastern	Kolkata (W.B.)
12.	South Western	Hubli (Karnataka)
13.	South Central	Secundrabad (A P)
14.	South East Central	Bilaspur (Chattishgarh)
15.	Western	Mumbai (Church gate)
16.	West Central	Jabalpur (M.P.)
17.	Kolakata Mertro	Kolkata city