What are the divisions in the Indian Railways?

 As of now there are 74 Railway division including New railway zone South Coast Railway Zone which is split into 4 Railway division

Newly created zone - division Under South Coast Railway , Andhra Pradesh (4):- Guntakal, Guntur, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam

⭐Zonal state wise Railway Division:

a) Central Railways, Maharashtra (5) :- Mumbai CR, Pune, Nagpur CR Bhusawal, Solapur

b) Eastern Railways division, West Bengal (4):- Howrah, Sealdah, Malda and Asansol

c) East Central Railway Division to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand (5) :-

Danapur, Samastipur Sonpur, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Dhanbad

d) East Coast Railway Division, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh (3) :-

Khurda Road division (New Bhubaneswar), Sambalpur and Waltair

e) Konkan Division, Goa and Karnataka (1) :- Karwar

f) Northern Railways Division, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Union Territory Jammu & Kashmir (6):-

Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Moradabad, Lucknow and Firozpur

g) North Central Railway Division, Uttar Pradesh (3) :- Prayagraj, Agra, Jhansi

h) North Eastern Railway Division, Uttar Pradesh (3):- Lucknow, Izzatnagar, Varanasi

i) North East Frontier Railway division, Bihar, West Bengal and North Eastern 7 states (5):-

Katihar, Alipurduar, Tinsukia, Rangiya Lumding

j) North Western Railway, division, Rajasthan (4):-

Jaipur, Ajmer Bikaner and Jodhpur

k) South Central Railways Divisions, Telangana (2):- Secunderabad, Hyderabad

l) South Eastern Railway Division, Jharkhand and West Bengal (4):-

Ranchi, Adra, Kharagpur, Chakradharpur

m) South East Central Railway Division, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh (3):-

Nagpur SECR, Raipur and Bilaspur

n) Southern Railway, Tamilnadu and Kerala (6) :- Chennai Salem Trichy, Madurai, Thiruvanthapuram, and Palakkad

o) South Western Railway Division in Karnataka (3):- Bengaluru, Mysore and Hubli

p) Western Railways Division, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh (6):-

Mumbai WR, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Ratlam

q) West Central Railway Division, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (3):-

Jabalpur Bhopal and Kota

•Conclusion:-

Kolkata Metro Railway Zone does not have its division, rather it's a independent railway and is not subdivided into any smaller railway divisions. 19th zone.

Uttarakhand state is covered by both Northern and North Eastern Railway Divisions

Himachal Pradesh Railway Division is controlled by Ambala Division of Northern Railways

Chandigarh Being a capital city of Punjab and Haryana and also Union Territory is covered by Ambala Division of Northern Railways

Pondicherry Railway network, being a union territory Pondicherry and Karaikal is covered by Tiruchirapalli Division and Mahe Railway Station is covered by Palakkad Division of Southern Railways.

What are the advantages of the First AC coach in Indian railways?

 

1. The main differences between First AC and other AC Classes on the Indian Railways are privacy and space. There are a total of 18 passengers in a First AC Coach. To revisit the question of space, compare the number of passengers in a First AC coach to the total number of passengers in a coach in the other classes of accommodation:
   
   AC First: 18-24
   AC Two Tier: 46-54
   AC Three Tier: 64-72
   Non-AC First Class (Very rare): 26
   Sleeper Class (Non AC): 72-78
   Unreserved Second Class: Officially 90, in actuality as many people as can be crammed into the coach!
2. you can carry a dog in First AC/First Class. Dogs cannot be carried along with you in the coach in any other class. However, the carrying of the dog in First AC is subject to the following conditions:
   i. You must have reserved an entire two-berth coupe or four-berth cabin [If you don't have the entire coupe/cabin and other passengers object to the dog, the dog will have to travel in the 'dog box' in the guard's van, which will probably be the most traumatic experience ever for your dog.
   ii. You must purchase a luggage ticket for the dog at the luggage booking office.
3. The ability to keep the door of your cabin/coupe bolted from the inside. No other class (except First Class Non-AC) offers this; even in AC Two Tier and AC Three Tier, the only 'protection' offered is a curtains.
4. Thus, for people carrying expensive luggage (For example, if you're a photographer and are carrying all your camera equipment), the door could provide peace of mind.
5. Primarily in the Rajdhani Expresses, especially the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Calcutta Rajdhanis. Here, food is prepared personally in the Pantry Car and passengers have much more choice (Unlike the other classes where food is prepared and packaged at intermediate stations and loaded onto the train). However, this is applicable more only to premium trains. Even in normal trains, however, First AC passengers tend to get better service.
6. Interaction in First AC is extremely low. Generally, the higher the class, the less the interaction. This can be a plus or a minus depending on your orientation and the purpose of your travel.

Which is the longest daily train in Indian Railways?

 Longest daily train on what basis? There are 3 category train, Premium, Superfast and Express

In Superfast Category longest daily running train is 22503/Kanyakumari Dibrugarh Vivek Superfast Express

It was upgraded to a Superfast Express on March 4, 2023. which runs from Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu the southernmost state of India to the North-Eastern part of Assam State in Dibrugarh via Kharagpur, Rampurhat, Malda Town Guwahati,

It is the only longest route and daily service India, by covering the distance of 4,189 kilometres in 74 hours 35 minutes, this train has 57 halts, travels through Eight states in India

In terms of Express Category Train, the 15910/Lalgarh Dibrugarh Avadh Assam Express, connects Lalgarh Near Bikaner in Rajasthan to North Eastern Part Of Dibrugarh in Assam

It is the 2nd longest daily running train

It is operated by North East Frontier railway zone. It travels through 9 states Rajasthan Punjab Haryana Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal Nagaland and Assam,

It covers 3116 km distance and takes 66 hours 25 min

In Premium Sector trains, 22691/KSR Bengaluru-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express, India's profitable and longest daily running high priority premium train,

It Covers 2377 km in 33 hour 30 min by connecting Karnataka Capital City Bangalore to Delhi Union Territory. There are 15 halts.

It is operated by South Western Railway Zone

Other longer daily running train in India

1. Thiruvananthapuram Central New Delhi Kerala Express

2. MGR Chennai Central-New Delhi Tamilnadu/Grand Trunk Express

3. KSR Bengaluru-New Delhi Karnataka Express

•Via East Coast (Chennai-Howrah Line)

4. MGR Chennai Central Howrah Coromandel Express

5. SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah SF Express

•Via West Coast (Konkan Line, Goa)

6. Ernakulam Junction- Hazrat Nizamuddin Mangala Lakshadweep Express

What surprised you about Indian Railways?

 The most modern train run by Indian Railways is Vande Bharat Express.

Now look carefully at this photo below

Notice that the logo of Indian Railways is nowhere on the Vande Bharat Express!

This is not a mere coincidence. The Railways have purposely avoided it because it contains a steam engine which is now obsolete.

Something modern like Vande Bharat, the pride of Indian Railways, cannot be linked in anyway to something obselete like the steam engine. Hence Indian Railways has avoided putting its own logo on its own trains!

Can you imagine this logo on the soon- -to-begin Bullet Train between Mumbai & Ahmedabad? Indian Railways will become the laughing stock of the world.

Obviously, Indian Railways is in dire need of a new logo. However they haven't yet realised this.

So, Railways Board & Railway Minister, when are you going to redesign the logo of Indian Railways?

What are heritage trains in Indian Railways, and where do they run?

 Heritage Train or heritage special train is a preserved train in Indian railways which is specialized for tourist-focused service designed to showcase India’s rich railway history, operating on scenic nature or historically significant routes.

Also known as Toy train, Indian railways operates them on Mountain region, these routes were tough to electrify/convert into broad gauge due to heavy Ghat section. less space to replace with new tracks

Top 3 Toy train routes designated by UNESCO world heritage site under the mountain railways of India

⭐Some of the examples of toy train route top 3

Mettupalayam- Udagamandalam (Ooty) toy train via coonoor, operated by Nilgiri Railways

The only Meter Gauge train route in Tamilnadu.

Darjeeling-New Jalpaiguri toy train

operated Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in West Bengal

Kalka -Shimla Toy train.

Kangra Valley and Matheran Hill Railway are on the tentative list of UNESCO world Heritage Site.

Pathankot-Jogindar Nagar Kangra Valley line

Neral-Matheran Hill Railway in Maharashtra

Length of the Narrow Gauge track is approx 600–762 mm

⭐Indian Railways also operates Steam Heritage Special train between Ahmedabad and Ekta Nagar Kevadiya (Statue of Unity) to showcase steam engine vibe with power supply via electric pantograph.

It features 4 AC Vistadome-type coaches and a specially designed restaurant car, designed for a luxurious, modern-vibe, yet nostalgic experience.

It's a broad gauge train.

Which companies manufacture coaches for Indian Railways?

 In Indian Railway

For ICF Coaches, Integral Coach factory manufactures it's coaches, it's a state-owned production unit in Indian Railways located in Perambur, Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

ICF produce both conventional trains like Express and suburban trains like Demu/Memu/EMU and modern trains like Vande Bharat trainsets and LHB coaches.

It also Export Coaches to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

The Vande Bharat Express trains are built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) under the "Make in India" initiative. The founder of Vande Bharat Express was ICF General Manager Sudhanshu Mani. Originally it was named as Train 18, introduced in 2018.

First Vande Metro

However to utilise more space and production unit plant to Manufacture LHB coaches, LHBs were made by (RCF) in Kapurthala, and Modern Coach Factory (MCF) in Raebareli Uttar Pradesh.

These factories were located at different states to produces more numbers of coaches, speed up LHB conversion and to eliminate dependency on one unit and improve efficiency through specialization

RCF and MCF produce the modern stainless steel, safer coaches, high potential speedy trains.which were originally developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany.

ICF manufactures the Namo Bharat Rapid Rail (formerly Vande Metro) in Chennai, Tamilnadu Technology, concept wise then followed by RCF (Rail Coach Factory) launched it, physically made and unveiled the first train set in Kapurthala, Punjab,

It's a production unit of Indian Railways.

The first rake was rolled out in April 2024 to serve short-distance, intercity travel (100–250 km)

BEML Limited were manufactured the Vande Bharat (Sleeper). BEML Produced its first prototype for Indian Railways with rollout beginning in late 2024.

Which are the best railway route, train, & railway station to experience in Indian Railways?

 15 Best Train Route in India to Travel Across the Country

Indian Railways connect the length and breadth of the country and one of the best way to explore India through various beautiful places, Breathtakingly Beautiful train routes and awesome way to experience real India. The most beautiful train routes of India includes Konkan Railway,Kashmir Railway,Pamban Bridge route,Kalka to Shimla,Vizag to Araku Valley and Nandyal-Giddalur line.

Goa Express

Route: Vasco da Gama (Goa) to Londa (Karnataka)

Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express

Route: New Jalpaiguri (West Bengal), Tinsukia , Ledo (Assam)

Nizamuddin Duronto Express

Route: Pune (Maharashtra) to New Delhi

Mandovi Express Konkan Railway

Route: Madgaon (Goa) to Mumbai

Indian Maharaja Deccan Odyssey

Route: Mumbai to Delhi

Island Express

Route: Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) to Trivandrum (Kerala)

Himalayan Queen

Route: Kalka (Haryana) to Shimla (Himachal Pradesh)

Golden Chariot

Route: Bangalore (Karnataka) to Goa

The Toy Train

Route: New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling (West Bengal)

Jammu Mail

Route: Jammu to Udhampur (Jammu state)

Matheran Train

Neral to Matheran Toy Train is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra takes you through a zigzag route of about 21 kms.

Route: Neral to Matheran

Jan Shatabdi Express

Route: Ernakulam to Trivandrum

Cachar Express

Route: Silchar to Lumding

Kashmir Railway

Kashmir Railway route crosses the most beautiful places, valley and tunnel of Indian Railways from Jammu to Baramulla.

Route: Qazigund to Baramulla

Nilgiris Railway

Nilgiri Mountain Railway is one of the five Mountain Railways of India and an extension to the World Heritage Site.

Route: Metupalaiyam to Udagamandalam Via Coonoor.