What are some amazing facts about the Indian Railways?

 

• When did the first train run in India? The customary answer to this question is 3:35pm on April 16th, 1853, when a train with 14 railway carriages and 400 guests left Bombay's Bori Bunder for Thane, But, In 1835, a short experimental line was laid near Chintadripet. This appears to have been a practice run of sorts for the Red Hill Railroad line. Construction on this line began in 1836. This line was intended for the carriage of granite stone. It was opened in 1837.

• Indian railways is fourth largest railways in world by size, with a route length of 67,368-kilometre (41,861 mi) as of March 2017 and 121,407 kilometres (75,439 mi) of total track which approx 4 times of the equatorial circumference of Earth .
• Due to COVID-19 Indian railways for the first time in 167 years in suspended its all passenger trains operation. Now the railway network has decided to convert as many as 20,000 old train carriages into isolation wards for patients as the virus spreads. The railway already operates 125 hospitals across the country.

• Kolkata metro is the only metro in the country to be controlled by Indian Railways, all the other rapid transit metro system in country are operated by separate local authorities.

• ICF Chennai a manufacturer of rail coaches owned and operated by indian railways set a new record producing 2,503 coaches in the fiscal year 2017–2018. It became the world's largest railway coach manufacturer, rolling out 3,262 coaches in the fiscal year 2018–2019,

• You will be surprised to know that ice was used to keep the AC trains cool. The first Indian air-conditioned train was Frontier Mail which was introduced in 1934. Earlier, the AC coaches of the train were kept cool by using ice blocks. These were replenished at several halts along the line. A battery operated blower constantly blew air into these receptacles, and the cold air entered the insulated cars through vents.

• Indian Railways consumes about 13.8 billion units of electricity annually, close to two per cent of the country’s total power production. The Railways’ locomotives also consume 2.6 billion litres of diesel annually. (figures are old)
• Kalka Mail is currently the oldest running train in the history of Indian Railways. It recently completed its 153 years of journey this year and continues to move forward. The train began its operation in 1866 as the “East Indian Railway Mail” with 01 Up and 02 Down number plates.

• Indian Railways is the biggest landowner in the country. The railway ministry reportedly has more land under it than Goa or Delhi. The Indian Railways owns approximately 4.77 lakh hectare of land as of March 3, 2018, the ministry of railways has revealed in reply to an RTI query filed by this correspondent.
• The Jammu-Udhampur-Katra-Quazigund-Baramulla Railway line is the biggest project in the construction of a mountain railway since independence. From Jammu to Baramulla, length of the new rail line is 345 km. It passes through the young Himalayas, tectonic thrusts and faults.
  Udhampur-Katra section is 25 km long and involves about 11 km of tunneling, 9 important/ major bridges, 29 minor bridges and 10 ROB/RUBs in addition to about 38.86 lac cum of earthwork. . A mega bridge over river Chenab (1.315 km long) has been planned near Salal village for this project This bridge will have a steel main arch to cross the Chenab gorge and a viaduct with steel girders on concrete piers. The rail height from the river bed will be 359 mts. which will make it the tallest railway bridge in the world. The main arch will have a span of 465 mts. across river Chenab which gives another distinction to this bridge being the longest single span railway arch bridge in the world.

• Pamban bridge, connecting Rameswaram island to the mainland is an engineering marvel that evokes awe! WIth 143 piers, spanning 2 km between the mainland and the island, it is the second longest sea bridge in India after the 2.3-km Bandra-Worli sea link on Mumbai's western coast. The construction of the rail bridge commenced only by 1911 and it was commissioned on February 24, 1914. But ,In 1964, the bridge survived a major cyclone that flattened Dhanushkodi, a thriving port town. E Sreedharan, the man behind the construction of the Delhi Metro, played a major role in bolstering the bridge within 46 days.

• Konkan Railway runs along the Indian west coast parallel to Arabian Sea and Western Ghats.You can count more than 2000 bridges and 90 + tunnels on this route of 700km.

• Last and the most good thing according to me.Indian Railways has recorded zero passenger deaths in rail accidents in year 2019(first time in history of 166 yrs), making it the national transporter's safest year in history, according to official data.