Indian Railways have a history of glory instigating from the pre-independence era in the year 1853. Railways in India is the largest railway network in Asia. Indian railways has both long distance and short distance rail systems covering the entire length and breadth of the country from major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore to less connected areas like Guwahati in the north east, Kachchh in the west, from Kashmir in the north to Kerala in the south.
The first of the Indian railways passenger trains was the one covering a distance of 21 miles between Bombay (Mumbai now) and Thane. Since then many rail companies emerged in India and in 1907, the government nationalized almost all railways companies. A large chunk of the Indian railways network went to Pakistan during partition.
In 1985, the use of steam locomotives in railways India was stopped and diesel engines took the place of time-old steam engines. In 1995, Indian railways saw another major technological change this was computerization of the entire network providing it efficiency in railways information and railways enquiry never attained before. The Indian railways ministry, on the commencement of 150 years of Indian railways, adopted a cartoon elephant ‘Bholu – The Guard’ representing a happy experience as the official Indian railways mascot.
Indian Railways has been divided into 16 + 1 zones namely:
- Northern Railway
- North Eastern Railway
- Northeast Frontier Railway
- Eastern Railway
- South Eastern Railway
- South Central Railway
- Southern Railway
- Central Railway
- Western Railway
- South Western Railway
- North Western Railway
- West Central Railway
- North Central Railway
- South East Central Railway
- East Coast Railway
- East Central Railway
- Konkan Railway
Other railway networks in India include:
-
- Mumbai Sub-Urban Railway:
This is an intra-city railway system of the Indian Railways with over 6 million commuters daily, giving it the status of most concentrated rail networks of the world.
- Mumbai Sub-Urban Railway:
-
-
- Kolkata Metro Rail:
It was the first underground rail transport system of India. Started in 1984, the railways network commences at Dum Dum in the north to Tollygunge in the south.
- Kolkata Metro Rail:
-
-
-
- Delhi Metro:
The Delhi Metro was started in Dec 2002. The railway network consists of elevated, ground – level and underground metro rail lines.
- Delhi Metro:
-
The Indian railways are the responsibility of the ministry of railways a government of India ministry. In the recent few years with the introduction of many special trains for easier passenger load and also cargo trains have increased the passenger freight in the Indian railways. This has shown a surprising rise in the revenues earned by the Indian railways. These special trains include:
-
-
- Trains connecting remote stations to nearest metro cities
- Trains between important stations
- Link Express
- Sampark Kranti Trains
- Sampoorna Kranti Train
- Intercity Express
- Rajdhani for Kolkata, Sealdah.
- BBS Rajdhani Express, Deluxe Express, August Kranti Rajdhani Express
- Holiday Trains
- Hills Trains
- Palace on Wheels
- Toy trains special tourists trains for short distance hills tourism
- Special luxury coaches
-
The Indian railways provides Indian railways website with online ticket booking facility. On the official website of Indian railways you can find information about railways time table, online ticket booking facility by checking the accommodation and reservation availability, arrivals info, trains schedules, PNR status enquiry, details of the particular train timetable, route and special trains available and many such facilities.
Indian railways gov.in is the official site of Indian railways that besides the online ticket reservation facility provides customer care and enquiry services that provide info on special trains like Garib Rath, holiday special, Rajdhani express, Shatabdi express, link express, Sampark Kranti Trains etc. for the convenience of the customers. Also check availability of seats in the passenger trains and availability of luggage space in cargo trains. Login to the Indian Railways website homepage and get the Indian railways enquiry counter right here on your desktop.
Railways India stations in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad etc have special reservation and voice enquiry counters that provide info on the fare and freight of Indian railways. Special Indian railways helpline numbers are also available to provide info on local trains, passenger trains, new trains, special trains, cargo trains and other information regarding the station codes, train schedules, trains time table, waiting list, Indian railways map and other such issues.
Indian railways online booking service on the Indian railways website or Indian railways.com gives you the details about the availability and fare of the tickets. Indian railways online reservation, Indian railways ticket booking Indian railways PNR status, Indian railways timetable and Indian railways map are special categories on the Indian railways site since these areas demand the maximum info search.
INDIAN RAILWAYS INFORMATION WEBSITES:
Railways Official Website:
Website:
http://www.indianrail.gov.in/