An Indian Railway Ticket from Chennai to Vijayawada by Howrah Mail. Indian Rail fares are among the cheapest in the world.

The Indian Railways (abbreviated IR) is the state-owned national railway network of India. It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, transporting 4.2 billion people and over 300 million tons of freight on 100,000 kilometres of track each year. The Indian Railways is also the world's largest commercial or utility employer, having more than 1.6 million regular employees on its rolls. The IR as such came into existence in the 1890s through the consolidation of state-owned railways during the British Raj.

History and overview

India's maiden train journey was between Bombay and Thana, a distance of 30 km in 1853. The Indian Railways operates a great diversity of rail systems, from long-distance diesels carrying freight to short-distance electric suburban trains and rail lines serving rural areas that still contain a large part of the Indian population. This rail net provides a boon to tourists who, by using its trains, get a more complete view of India.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a World Heritage Site.

In 1995, the National Geographic Society produced the video documentary, "The Great Indian Railway", which ran on PBS.

Geography and infrastructure

Zones

The nine older zones are:

• Northern Railway (NR)
• North Eastern Railway (NER)
• Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR)
• Eastern Railway (ER)
• South Eastern Railway (SER)
• South Central Railway (SCR)
• Southern Railway (SR)
• Central Railway (CR)
• Western Railway (WR)

Seven new zones are:

• South Western Railway (SWR)
• North Western Railway (NWR)
• West Central Railway (WCR)
• North Central Railway (NCR)
• South East Central Railway (SECR)
• East Coast Railway (ECoR)
• East Central Railway (ECR)

The Konkan Railway (KR) is a separately incorporated railway that operates along the Konkan coast. The Calcutta Metro is owned and operated by IR, but does not belong to any of the zones; it is administratively considered to have the status of a zonal railway.

Stations

IR is reported to have between 7,000 and 8,000 stations in India.

See List of railways stations in India.

Hierachy of trains

The following list sorted in descending order of priority of the operation of trains. The Rajdhanis get the top priority.

1. Rajdhani
2. Shatabdi
3. Superfast Express
4. Express or Mail
5. Passenger
6. Local (intracity)

Statistics

• World's 5th largest rail network, with route length of 63,518 km (2002).
• World's largest rail network under a single management.
• 300 storage and maintenance yards.
• 2,300 warehouses.
• 700 repair shops.
• 8,300 locomotives.
• 39,000 passenger coaches.
• 350,000 freight wagons.

External links

• Indian Railways Online (http://www.indianrail.gov.in/) (official site)
• Indian Railways Fan Club (http://www.irfca.org/)
• IR. Online Tickets (http://www.irctc.co.in/)
• Railway maps: Indtravel (http://www.indtravel.com/graphic20/railmap1.gif), mapsofindia.com (http://www.mapsofindia.com/railways/)

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