Mind Boggling Facts About The Indian Railways

The Indian Rail is the spine of travel for the people of India. Tracks are spread across the country and connect even the remotest of places of India. As of 2018, the Indian Railway is the third longest network. There are a lot of mind blowing facts about the Indian Railway. The compilation of some trivia of the same has been mentioned below.

• The first train in India ran on 16th April 1853 between the stations of Bombay and Thane.
• The first railroad was developed and constructed by two Indians. JamsetjeeJeejeebhoy and JaganathShunkerseth. This was during the time when India was still under the British.
• The total track length of the Indian Rail can cover the equator 1 and half times. The total distance covered in a single day by all trains put together in India equals to almost two-thirds the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
• With over 1.6 million employers, the Indian Railway is the 9th largest employer across the globe.
• The daily passenger count of the Indian Railway is about 25 million. This is more than the population of Australia.
• The fastest train that runs on the tracks of India is the New Delhi – Bhopal Shatabdi Express. It clocks a top speed of about 149 kilometres per hour. It takes about 8 hours to complete this 700 km journey. The slowest train in India is the Mettupalayam to OotyNilgiri Passenger. This train takes 4 hours for a 44 km journey.
• The Vivek Express covers the longest journey by a train in India. The never ending 4273 km of track from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari takes about minimum three days to cover. The shortest train journey is between Nagpur and Ajni which is a mere 3 km.
• The longest name of a station is Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta near Chennai Central. The shortest names are Lb. near Jharsuguda in Orissa and Od. In Gujarat.
• The train with most halts is the Amritsar – Howrah express which boasts of a massive 115 stops.
• The train with least punctuality is the Guwahati – Trivandrum Express with a delay of over ten hours. The train live running status is crucial when you have to climb this train in a station on the way.  
• The longest platform in the whole world is the station of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The length is almost 1366.33 meters.
• There are around 7500 railway stations in India.
• The longest tunnel in the country is about 11.2 km long. It is the PirPanjal Railway tunnel in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The southernmost station of India is Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. The northern most station of the country is Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir. The station on the Fareast is Ledo, and the Naliya Station of Bhuj occupies the western most station of India.
• The North – South track of the Indian Railway meets the East – West tracks at the station of Nagpur, located in central India.
• The guard elephant Bholu is the mascot of the Indian Railway.
• The Mumbai CST Building, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Kalka – Shimla railway, and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway are declared ‘World Heritage Sites’ by UNESCO.