| id #CCCCCC; background-color: #ffffff;" /> | | | | 1855. Hopefully you would have a good time traveling |
| In case you are planning to visit India then you definitely | | | | on the Indian Railways. |
| need to utilize the services of Indian Railways if you | | | | If you are looking forward to know more about Indian |
| want to travel through the length and breadth of the | | | | Railways then you will probably have to go more than |
| country. You would be amazed to know that it is one | | | | 175 years back when plan for railway system in Indian |
| of the largest and busiest railway networks in the | | | | was put forward in 1932 but nothing happened until |
| world carrying sixteen million passengers on a daily | | | | 1844 when Lord Hardinge who was then the |
| basis. It also carries more than one million tones of | | | | Governor general of India gave the green signal to |
| freight on a daily basis and with an employee strength | | | | private entrepreneurs to set up a railway system in |
| surpassing 1.6 million is also one of the biggest | | | | India and heavy interest from UK investors led to the |
| commercial employers and is only next to Chinese | | | | creation of railway system at a faster pace in the |
| Army in terms of people recruited by it. | | | | country. |
| The railway network was established in India way | | | | It took another seven years until 1851 when the first |
| back in 1853 and by the time of Independence in 1947 | | | | train was introduced in India which was used for |
| had forty-two rail systems that were later on | | | | hauling of construction materials in Roorkee and by |
| nationalized in 1951 to become a single unit and hence | | | | 1853 the first passenger train service started running |
| earn the distinction of being one of the largest railway | | | | between Bori Bunder, Bombay and Thane. By 1880 the |
| networks in the world. With Indian railways now rests | | | | Indian Railways network was covering major port |
| the responsibility of operating both suburban and long | | | | cities of Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and five years |
| distance railway network. | | | | later it even started building its own locomotives. |
| Indian Railways is spread across length and breadth of | | | | Later on various independent kingdoms came up with |
| the entire country covering a total of 39, 233 miles and | | | | their own railways system and the network started |
| in terms of infrastructure operates more than 14,444 | | | | spreading to other regions including Andhra Pradesh, |
| trains backed by 7,739 locomotives and 39,263 | | | | Assam and Rajasthan. It was only in 1907 that Indian |
| coaches. The longest train journey that you can | | | | Railways started churning profits for the first time. 1908 |
| experience on Indian Railways is the HimSagar | | | | saw electronic locomotives being introduced but WWI |
| Express that runs between Jammu Tawi and | | | | and WWII almost crippled the railways system in the |
| KanyaKumari covering a whopping distance of 4,751 | | | | country and independence saw major part of the |
| km within a time period of 66 hours. To its credit it | | | | network moving to Pakistan and therefore India was |
| even has the longest platform in the world at | | | | hence left with forty-two separate railway systems |
| Kharagpur measuring 2,733 ft in length. Also in case | | | | owned by Indian princely states which was merged to |
| you are looking forward to revisit the British Raj era | | | | forma single unit called Indian Railways. |
| then you should definitely travel on the Fairy Queen | | | | Zones were adopted in 1951 and as a result six zones |
| that was started more than hundred years ago in | | | | were formed in 1952. |