Unknown facts about Indian railways history and IRCTC

Unknown Facts about Indian Railways and IRCTC is always an interesting subject to all of us because many of us know just Indian railway is just a rail-road in India and just a mode of transport in India. But today here i would like to put some unknown facts about Indian railways and Irctc. India it self a worlds one of the largest economy and Indian railways is a many important role in this economy and infrastructure of India. Indian Railways is the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second largest under one management. “IRCTC”-Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. has been set up by the Ministry of Railways with the basic purpose of hiving off entire catering and tourism activity of the railways to the new Corporation so as to professionalize and upgrade these services with public-private participation.

Rail based Tourism in India will be the specific vehicle for achieving high growth in coordination with state agencies, tour operators, travel agents and the hospitality industry. A dynamic marketing strategy in association with public and private agencies, tour operators, transporters, hoteliers and local tour promoters is on the anvil. Indian Railways span global volumes in hospitality and catering sectors with services provided to 13 million passengers everyday.

Unknown Facts about Indian Railways

Indian Railways runs around 11,000 trains everyday, of which 7,000 are passenger trains.
Indian Railways network is the fifth largest network in the world. The rankings are- 1) USA 2) Russia 3) China 4) Canada 5) India.
IR employs about 1.6 million people, making itself the second largest commercial or utility employer in the world.IR boasts of more than 7,500 railway stations in its periphery.
It has a fleet of not less than 7800 locomotives, 40,000 coaches 3,26,000 wagons. 9 pairs of Rajdhani and 13 pairs of Shatabdi Express Trains run on the rail tracks of India.
First Passenger Train Ran On: 16th April 1853 (between Bombay to Thane)
First Railway Bridge: Dapoorie Viaduct on the Mumbai-Thane route (Its our Khadaki -Dapodi wala bridge !!)
First Rail Tunnel: Parsik Tunnel
First Ghats Covered by the Rail lines: Thal and Bhore Ghats (Lonavala)
First Underground Railway: Calcutta METRO
First Computerized Reservation System started in: New Delhi (1986)
First Electric Train ran on: 3rd Feb’ 1925 (between Bombay VT and Kurla)
Toilets on Trains were introduced in: 1891 (1st Class) 1907 (lower classes)
Shortest Station Name: Ib (Orissa)
Longest Station Name: Sri Venkatanarasimharajuvariapeta (Tamil Nadu)
Busiest Railway Station: Lucknow (64 trains everyday)
Longest Run (Time): Himsagar Express (Jammu to Kanyakumari- 3751 km in 74 hrs and 55 min)
Shortest Run: Route between Nagpur to Ajni (3km)
Longest Run for Daily Train: Kerala Express (3054 km in 42.5 hrs)
Longest Non-Stop Run (Distance): Trivandrum Rajdhani (528 km in 6.5 hrs)
Longest Railway Platform in the World: Kharagpur (2,733 ft in length)
Longest Railway Bridge: Nehru Setu on Sone River (10044ft in length)
Longest Tunnel: On Konkan Railway between Monkey hill Khandala ( 6.5 km)
Oldest Preserved Locomotive: Fairy Queen (1855), still in working order
Heritage Train : Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, running from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, a hill station at an elevation of 2134 meters has attained the World Heritage Status from UNESCO.
Gauges of Track: 4 Gauges; BG (5’6″), MG (1 metre), NG (2)
IR Daily Runs: About 14,000 trains
IR Daily Carries: More than 11 million passengers 1 million tonnes of freight
IR’s only line with Rack Pinion system: From Mettupalayam to Conoor
IR’s Fastest Train: Bhopal-Shatabdi (runs at a speed up to 140 Km/ph)
Railway Station with all the Three Gauges : Siliguri Railway Station
Route Kilometers of Track: More than 62,000 kms
People Employed in IR: About 1.6 million people
Train with Maximum Number of Halts: Howrah-Amritsar Express (115 halts)
Trains without Commercial Halts : Sampoorna Kranti Express, Howrah Rajdhani, Bombay Rajdhani, Pragati Express and Pune Shatabdi

The Mumbai Suburban Railway system carries more than 6.1 million commuters on a daily basis and constitutes more than half of the total daily passenger capacity of the Indian Railways itself.

Indian Railways in Guinness book of world records

1. Fairy Queen of Indian railways is oldest functioning steam engine

2. Delhi station entered Guinness book of world records for having the world’s largest route relay interlocking system.

Ref : boydom, indiansawaal,

Longest Platform: Indian Railways owns the longest railway platform in the world at Kharagpur (West Bengal) with a length of 2,733 ft (1072.5 m) in length.
Oldest Working Locomotive: Indian Railways still has the oldest preserved locomotive in working order, the Fairy Queen which was made way back in 1855. It is the oldest functioning steam engine in the world, which finds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records and got Heritage Award at the International Tourist Bureau, Berlin in March 2000.
Highest Bridge: The world’s highest rail bridge being constructed over Chenab river in Jammu & Kashmir’s Reasi district (Chenab Bridge) will be ready by December, 2015. Coming up at Kauri, it will be 359 meters (1,180 feet) above the riverbed (five times the height of Qutub Minar and 35 metres taller than Eiffel Tower).

Also, Anjikhad Railway Bridge to be completed in 2015 in Katra, Jammu-Kashmir is going to be the 4th highest in the world at 186 meters (610 feet). Stretching across a length of 424 metres, the bridge on the Panval River in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra is currently the tallest bridge in India.

So, friends see how these all Unknown Facts about Indian Railways and IRCTC are interesting. Hope you people enjoy this collective history and present facts of Indian railways and irctc. if you have a any things that i missed in listed out here, let me know to improve it better. Hope to hear from you soon,..