Indian Railways is the lifeline of India. The railway network unites the distance, geography and diversity of the nation. Built way back in 18th century, during the British rule. Now it has grown to be the World’s third largest network. There are many mind blowing facts about the Indian Railways.
In the behalf of British railroad was constructed by two Indians. Jaganath Shunkerseth and Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy were the first builders. It was 16 April 1853 the first Indian rail was started rolling on track.
The full track length of Indian Railways can circle the equator one-and-a-half times. Even the daily total distance covered by Indian Railways daily equals three and a half times the distance to the moon.
The railways owns the world’s highest rail bridge. The bridge is being constructed over Chenab River in Jammu & Kashmir’s Reasi district. It has 359 meters (1,178 feet) above the riverbed (five times the height of Qutub Minar and 35 metres taller than Eiffel Tower) and 1315 meters long.
The IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation) website gets close to 12 lakh hits per minute. It is the online portal of the railways. It has got 266 global rank from alexa in trafficking.
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 received Heritage Award at the International Tourist Bureau, Berlin in March 2000. Deccan Queen is India's oldest working electric locomotive.
Indian Railways has a mascot Bholu, the Guard Elephant.The mascot, a cartoon of an elephant holding a signal lamp with green light in one hand, was initially designed for Indian Railways' 150th year commemoration events and was unveiled on 16 April 2002 in Bangalore. Later in 2003, Indian Railways decided to permanently retain it as the official mascot. The icon was placed on the reverse of a coin.
The National Rail Museum in Delhi set up in 1977 is a one of the unique museums in Asia. Sprawled over an area of 11 acres the museum has collections like antique steam engines, locomotives, models, carriages, photographs among other things. There are live exhibits as well as working and non-working models. The added attraction is the toy train which runs across the museum. This is a living heritage of the Indian Railways.
Nagpur located in central India is the site of the Diamond crossing of the Indian Railways. This is one of a kind from where trains go East, West, North and South.
The country’s longest tunnel is Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel 11.215 km that was completed in December 2012 in Jammu and Kashmir. The tunnel is yet to become functional railway route. Karbude on Konkan Railways, which is 6.5 km in length previously held the title for the longest tunnel in India.
In 1986, Indian Railways started its first computerized reservation in New Delhi.
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