The Indian Railways come is the most extensive rail networks across the globe and today on the occasion of Indian Rail Transport Day, we will highlight some of the interesting facts which are sure to amaze you.
1. The first official train in the country commenced its journey on April 16 and covered a distance of 34 km in Mumbai between Bori Bunder and Thane. The Indian Railways serve as one of the largest logistics and transportation networks in the world and is an important national asset of India, covering the length and breadth of the entire country.
2. The Fairy Queen in India has been accredited with the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998 for being the oldest running steam locomotive.
3. The country’s railways are used by 22.5 million passengers a day. The annual figure of the same is a mind-boggling 8.224 billion passengers which far exceeds the entire population of the globe.
4. The total length of the Indian Railways network stands at a whopping 66,030 km which is more than the entire circumference of our planet.
5. Another interesting fact about Indian Railways is that while the first official run was logged in April, the first train in the country moved its wheels in December 1851 in Roorkee.
6. India’s Railways connect every remote corner of the country. The system manages 7137 stations 24*7. The station with the longest name is WR Venkatanarasimharjuvariipeta which is nestled on the Arakkonam-Renigunta section of the Southern Railway, while Ib, the station with the shortest name is located on the Howrah-Nagpur mainline near Jharsuguda.
7. India, during the time of independence, had 42 independent railway systems and in 1951 they were nationalized and segregated into six different railway zones. The country at present has 69 divisions and 16 zones.
8. Indian Railways employs more than 1.3 million employees and is ranked as the eighth largest employer in the world as per data published in 2015.
9. The longest-running train in India, Vivek Express, covers a distance of 4273 km commencing its journey from Dibrugarh, Assam and travels to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu in less than four days.
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