Indian Railways - Amazing Facts And Figures
INDIAN RAILWAYS AMAZING FACTS & FIGURES
- Indian Railways - How To Book
- Indian Railways - Railway Stations
- Indian Railways - Travel Classes
- Indian Railways - Facts & Figures
- Indian Railways - Types Of Trains
Our much loved Indian Railways is an astonishing legacy of British occupation, which the Indians remarkably develop and grow to satisfy demand for its 1.3billion cricket supporters.
From the days when you could not get a train from Mumbai to Goa, you can now get a train from Mumbai to Jammu in Kashmir, without stopping in New Delhi (it simply rolls past), so just imagine where else and how far you can get by Indian Railways across this incredible country.
When planning your Australian Cricket Tour to India and you need a break from trying to understand How To Book Indian Railways, these 21 astonishing, ever-changing facts (in no particular order) will see you back to your task of helping Indian Railways break more world records.
INDIAN RAILWAYS AMAZING FACTS & FIGURES
1 - Indian Railways took off on April 16, 1853 carrying 400 passengers 34km from Mumbai to Thane, in 14 carriages hauled by 3 locomotives named Sahib, Sindh, & Sultan
2 – In 2021 there was 68,000km of route network (40,000km electrified), 76,600 passenger coaches and 12,700 locomotives. Indian Railways has its own locomotive and coach engineering plants
3 - The running track length is 100,000km with a total track length of 126,000km as of March 31, 2020. When travelling through rural India, you see 'spare track' along side almost every operating rail so you can double the 'physical' total track length
4 - There are 8 railway museums across India, in New Delhi, Pune, Kanpur, Kolkata, Chennai, Ghum, Mysore, and Tiruchirappalli. The National Railway Museum, New Delhi is the most visited museum in India and largest railway museum in Asia
5 - The Vivek Express from Dibrugarh in Assam to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu is the longest route at 4273km. It departs Saturday at 1935pm, arriving 3 nights later at 2200pm (give or take 5-mins)
6 - The shortest Indian Railways route is 3km between Nagpur and Anji in Maharastra
7 - Nagpur is the geographic centre of India. Being the crossroads of east, west, north, and south is no more evident the unique 'Nagpur Diamond Crossing'
8 - Though on the same line, Belampur and Srirampur in Maharastra are two different railway stations just on opposite sides of track. #India
9 - 23 million people use Indian Railways everyday on more than 13000 passenger trains, from 7500 stations. There are 7000 daily freight trains
10 – The daily power output of all locomotives is twice that needed to launch the space shuttle
11 – With more than 1.2 million employees, an ever-changing number, Indian Railways is the world's 9th largest employer (2015). Behind US Dept. of Defense, Chinese Liberation Army, Walmart, Russian Armed Forces, McDonald's, British National Health Service, China National Petroleum, and State Grid Corporation of China
12 – In 2020 Indian Railways carried 8.086 billion passengers on 13,200 passenger trains per day
13 - In 2020 Indian Railways revenue was US$1.9b with a nett income of US$510m. The highest paid employee is CEO Suneet Sharma with an annual salary of just US$75,000
14 - Howrah (Kolkata) is the busiest junction in India with almost 1000 trains stopping there everyday.
15 – The fastest train is Vande Bharat Express with a top speed of 160kph
16 – The slowest is Nilgiri Mountain Railway with a top speed of 10kph. This is also Asia’s steepest with a gradient of 8.33%
17 – The world’s longest platform is Hubballi in Karnataka after platform 1 was extended to 1505m from 550m (to park 2 trains end to end), overtaking Gorakphur (Uttar Pradesh) Platform 1 at 1366m
18 – The Fairy Queen is the world’s oldest serving steam locomotive, built in 1855, operating 2-day tourist trips from New Delhi to Alwar in Rajasthan.
19 – Indian Railways has the world’s highest railway bridge. Rising 359 meters over the Chenab River on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link in the Kashmir Valley, it was opened in July 2024.
20 – The shortest station name is Ib in Odisha whilst the longest is Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station in Tamil Nadu when Chennai Central Station was renamed on April 5, 2019 after the famous Tamil Nadu actor & politician. The longest station name before then was Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta (Andhra Pradesh). Making it harder, it is pre-fixed with 'Sri'
21 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai is UNESCO heritage protected as are the Mountain Railways of India – Kalka-Shimla Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway & Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
We love Indian Railways as much as cricket in India and both should be experienced. Our Australian Cricket Tour To India 2023 included Indian Railways between test match cities, saving you the infuriation of learning how to book Indian Railways, which in itself is another fantastic Indian adventure.
- Indian Railways - How To Book
- Indian Railways - Railway Stations
- Indian Railways - Travel Classes
- Indian Railways - Facts & Figures
- Indian Railways - Types Of Trains