Indian Railways

History

Main article: Rail transport in India#History

1832–1899

In 1832 the proposal to construct the first railway line in India at Madras was made. In 1835, a railway track was constructed between Red Hills and Chintadripet in Madras and became operational in 1837. It was hauled by a rotary steam engine imported from England and was used for ferrying granite.

The Madras Railway was established in 1845 and the Great Indian Peninsular Railway was incorporated in 1849. Temporary railway lines were built such as the railway line at Dowleswaram built by Arthur Cotton to supply stone for the construction of a dam over the Godavari River in 1845 and the Solani aqueduct railway, built by Proby Cautley in Roorkee to transport construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani river in 1851. In 1852, a steam locomotive imported from England was tried at Byculla. In 1853, the first passenger train on broad gauge ran for 34 km between Bombay and Thane which had 14-carriages carrying 400 people, hauled by three steam locomotives: the Sahib, Sindh and Sultan. This day is considered to be the formation date of the Indian Railways and is marked annually as Indian Railways Day.

The Thane viaducts, the first railway bridges, were built over the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May 1854. Eastern India's first passenger train ran 24 mi from Howrah, near Kolkata, to Hoogly on 15 August 1854. The construction of the first main line in South India between Royapuram in Madras and Arcot started in 1853, which became operational on 1 July 1856. On 24 February 1873, a horse-drawn 3.8 km tram opened in Calcutta between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat street. In 1875, a railway line was opened between Mokama and Darbhanga by the local ruler Lakshmeshwar Singh through Tirhut Railway. On 9 May 1874, a horse-drawn tramway began operation in Bombay between Colaba and Parel. In 1879, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was established which built railway lines across the then Hyderabad State from Kachiguda. In 1877, Ajmer built "F1" class metre-gauge steam locomotive no. 734 became the first indigenously built locomotive in India. In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced with Jodhpur Railway, the first to introduce electric lighting as a standard fixture.

1900–1999

The first railway budget was presented in 1924. On 3 February 1925, the first electric train ran between Bombay and Kurla, hauled by a SLM electric locomotive on DC traction. In 1925, the first Electric Multiple Units (EMU) were introduced in Bombay with 1500 V DC units imported from Cammell Laird and Uerdingenwagonfabrik.{{cite report |url= https://elocos.railnet.gov.in/Analysis/Elect_Tr_history.htm |title=Electrification history |publisher= Indian Railways |access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=9 June 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170609072045/http://elocos.railnet.gov.in/Analysis/Elect_Tr_history.htm|url-status=dead}} Chennai suburban railway started operating in 1931 with a single metre-gauge line from Chennai Beach to Tambaram. In the period between 1925 and 1944, the management of the railway companies in the British presidencies and provinces was taken over by the Government.

In 1950, there were about 42 different railway companies operating about 55000 km tracks across the country. These railway companies were amalgamated in steps to form a single entity named as Indian Railways. In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways approved the plan for re-organizing Indian Railways into six regional zones with the Southern (14 April 1951), Central (5 November 1951), and Western (5 November 1951) zones being the first to be created. In 1952, fans and lights were mandated for all compartments in passenger trains and sleeping accommodations were introduced in coaches. The first diesel locomotive used in India was fabricated by North British Locomotive Company in 1954.

The first locomotive manufacturing unit at Chittaranjan was commissioned in 1950. The first rail coaches were manufactured in India from 1956 when the Integral Coach Factory was established at Madras. In 1956, the first air-conditioned train plied between Howrah and New Delhi. In 1957, Indian Railways adopted 25 kV AC traction with the first runs beginning in December 1959 with the WAM-1 locomotives. The first containerized freight rail transport began between Bombay and Ahmedabad in 1966. In 1969, the Government of India announced the introduction of a new express train capable of reaching speeds of up to 120 kph in the railway budget and the first Rajdhani Express was flagged off from New Delhi to Howrah in March 1969. In 1974, Indian Railways endured a 20-day strike. The first metro rail was introduced in Calcutta on 24 October 1984.

In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced. In 1988, the first Shatabdi Express was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi. Two years later, the first self-printing ticket machine (SPTM) was introduced in Delhi. In 1993, air-conditioned three-tier and sleeper were introduced. In 1995, Chennai MRTS became the first operational elevated railway line in India. Centralized computer reservation system was deployed in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in September 1996, coupon validating machines (CVMs) were introduced at Mumbai CSMT in 1998 and the nationwide concierge system began operation on 18 April 1999.

2000–present

The Indian Railways website went online in February 2000. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was incorporated in 1999 and online ticketing was introduced on 3 August 2002 through IRCTC. In 2015, the first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered trains were rolled out. Since 1925, the Railway budget was presented before the Union budget till 2016. The central government approved the merger of the Rail and General budgets from 2017. On 31 March 2017, Indian Railways announced a target of electrifying the entire rail network would be electrified by 2023. In March 2020, Indian Railways announced a nationwide shutdown of passenger service to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in India with the freight operations continuing to transport essential goods. The railways resumed passenger services in a phased manner in May 2020.

Starting in the 2010s, various infrastructure modernization projects have been undertaken including high-speed rail, redevelopment of 400 stations, doubling tracks to reduce congestion, refurbishing of coaches, Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled tracking of trains and modernization of locomotives. In 2018, a semi-high speed self-propelled train-set capable of reaching speeds of over 160 kph was rolled out from ICF and the Vande Bharat Express was launched in 2019. Indian Railways announced plans to become a net-zero carbon emission railway by 2030 and has implemented rainwater harvesting at stations, reforestation along the tracks, introduction of solar-powered trains, installation of solar and wind power generation facilities, and sustainable LED lighting at all the stations. Indian railways removed all unstaffed level crossings by 2019 with staffed level crossings being replaced by bridges. Other safety projects include the extension of an automated fire alarm system to all air-conditioned coaches and GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System railway signalling devices. In 2020, Indian Railways allowed the operation of private passenger trains for the first time with the first train flagged off from Coimbatore in June 2022.

Organisation

Main article: Indian Railways organisational structure

Structure

Main article: Zones and divisions of Indian Railways

Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India. It is governed by a Railway Board, which acts on behalf of the Ministry of Railways. The five member Railway board is headed by a chairman cum chief executive officer, and consists of members responsible for infrastructure, traction & rolling stock, operations & business development, and finance. Additionally, officers on special duty include those overseeing human resources, Railway Protection Force, health and safety.

Indian Railways is divided into 18 administrative zones (17 operational), headed by general managers which are further subdivided into 68 operating divisions, headed by divisional railway managers (DRM). The divisional officers of the respective operating verticals report to the DRMs and divisional heads and are tasked with the operation and maintenance of assets. Station masters control individual stations and train movements through their stations' territory. In addition, there are a number of manufacturing units, training establishments, PSUs and other undertakings under the purview of the Indian Railways.

Human resources

Staff are classified into gazetted (Groups A and B) and non-gazetted (Groups C and D) employees with gazetted employees carrying out executive/managerial level tasks. , Groups A & B constitute 1.4% of the total workforce, while Group C (into which Group D merged before 2020) accounts for 98.6%. 80% of Group-A employees are recruited through Indian Railways Management Service with remaining through promotions.

Group B employees are recruited by departmental promotional exams of Group C employees. Recruitment of Group C employees are through exams conducted by the Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB) and Group D staffs are recruited by zonal Railway Recruitment Cells (RRC). Indian Railways operates seven centralized training institutes and 295 training centers. It also provides housing, healthcare and education facilities for staff.

As of 2024, Indian railways employed 1.25 million people. In March 2025, there were 0.13 million women employees including 2,162 loco pilots, 794 train managers, and 1,699 station masters.

Subsidiaries

Indian Railways has various public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other organisations under its purview:

Indian Railways also has multiple bodies and undertakings under its purview such as:

• Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC)
• Central Railside Warehouse Company Limited (CRWCL)
• Commission of Railway Safety (CRS)
• Central Organisation for Modernisation of Workshops (COMW)
• Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE)
• Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS)
• Passenger Amenities Committee
• Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA)
• Railway Protection Force (RPF)
• Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB)
• Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB)
• Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO)

Infrastructure and operations

Rolling stock

;Locomotives

Main article: Locomotives of India

The first trains in the 1800s were hauled by imported steam locomotives. In 1877, the first locomotive was built in India. Electric locomotives were introduced in 1925 and diesel locomotives later in 1954. By 1990s, steam locomotives were phased out and are currently operated only on mountain railways and on heritage trains. Locomotives are classified by track gauge (broad/metre/narrow/narrower), motive power (electric/diesel/battery), function (passenger/goods/mixed), power rating (x1000 HP) and model in a four or five letter code. The locomotives may be Longer Hood Front (LHF), where the driver cabin is behind the hood of the engine or Short Hood Front (SHF), where the cabin is located towards the front. Multiple units (MU) are propelled by locomotives integrated with train-sets. In 2015, the first compressed natural gas (CNG) powered MUs were rolled out by ICF. In 2018, the semi-high speed self-propelled Vande Bharat train-set was rolled out from ICF. Locomotives are manufactured by five owned manufacturing units of the Indian Railways and BHEL. , 37% of the trains were operated by diesel locomotives and rest mostly by electric locomotives. , Indian Railways had 10,675 electric, 4,397 diesel, and 16 steam locomotives in its inventory.

;Passenger coaches Main article: Indian Railways coaching stock

The early rail coaches were based on a prototype by a Swiss company and were termed as ICF coaches after Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the first coach manufacturing unit in India. These coaches, manufactured from 1955 to 2018, were largely in use till the early 2010s. From the late 1990s, the ICF coaches were replaced by safer and newer LHB coaches designed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany. In the late 2010s, Indian railways started upgrading the coaches of select trains from LHB to Tejas coaches with enhanced features and the introduction of trainsets with specialised coaches such as Vande Bharat. , Indian Railways had 91,948 passenger coaches, including 65,016 conventional, 12,229 EMU and 1,681 DMU coaches. Coaches are manufactured by five manufacturing units of the Indian Railways and public sector companies BEML and BHEL. The coaching stock have unique five or six digit identifiers. Till 2018, the first two digits indicating the year of manufacture and the last three digits indicating the class. In 2018, the numbering system was changed with the first two digits indicating the year of manufacture and the last four digits indicating the sequence number.

;Multiple units In the 1960s, electric multiple units (EMU) were developed for short-haul and suburban rail transit. On regional short-distance routes, mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) and diesel electrical multiple unit (DEMU) trains are run. These train sets run in formation of 6, 9, 12 or 15 coaches and a three-car set is typified by a motor coaches and two passenger coaches. These train-sets are self-propelled with capability for faster acceleration or deceleration. In 2018, Indian Railways also rolled out semi-high speed self-propelled train sets with modified coaches for inter city trains.

;Goods wagons

Indian Railways hauls various cargo and operates specialised rolling stock for cargo. There are 243 types of rolling stock used for cargo operations including covered wagons, boxcars, flat wagons, flatbeds, open wagons, hoppers, containers, automobile carriers, defense vehicle carriers and tankers. The freight cars can carry loads ranging from 10 to 80 tonnes per car depending on the configuration. A new wagon numbering system was adopted in Indian Railways in 2003. The requirement of wagons was previously exclusively met by Bharat Wagon and Engineering with the procurement and manufacturing done by various public and private sector companies in the 2020s. In 2025, Indian Railways announced the implementation of an artificial intelligence based technology aimed at detecting unlocked doors in freight wagons during transit.

;Others Apart from standard passenger classes, the Indian Railways has other specialized coach types used for dedicated functions. These include accident relief medical vans, brake vans, generator cars, inspection carriages, military cars, pantry car and parcel vans. These may be dedicated self-propelled units or attached to train-sets.

;Manufacturing Indian Railways operates various manufacturing units. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), commissioned in 1950, was the first locomotive manufacturing unit in India. The first rail coach manufacturing unit, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) was established at Madras in 1956. Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), commissioned in 1961, is the second locomotive manufacturing unit operated by Indian Railways. BHEL, Patiala Locomotive Works, Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowrah and Electric Locomotive Factory, Madhepura also manufacture locomotives in India. Railway coaches are also manufactured at coach factories at Karputhala, Raebareli, Sonipat and Latur. Indian Railways also operates three rail wheel manufacturing factories at Bangalore, Bela and Raebareli.

;Maintenance The locomotives are operated and maintained by 40 locomotive sheds. The repair and maintenance of the fleet of other rolling stock is carried out at 294 carriage & wagon repair units across various zones of IR.

Tracks

, Indian railway network spanned 69181 km in route length. With 31094 km of the lines having two or more tracks, total running track length was 109748 km, while total trackage (including sidings) was 135207 km. The network was built with a variety of gauges, including broad gauge, metre gauge and and narrow gauge; but a long-term effort, Project Unigauge, aims to convert most of these to broad gauge. , 66820 km or 96.59% of the network was broad-gauge, 1159 km or 1.68% metre-gauge and 1202 km or 1.74% narrow-gauge. The broad-gauge network is equipped with long-welded, high-tensile 52kg/60kg 90 UTS rails with prestressed concrete sleepers and elastic fastenings.

Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from 80 to, though the maximum speed attained by passenger trains is 160 km/h. , 23,010 km (21.1%) of the tracks are capable of handling speeds of above 130 km/h and 59,800 km (56.6%) of the tracks are capable of handling speeds between 110-130 km/h.

;Trunk routes As of July 2020, there are seven major routes a total length of 11295 km which have been classified as High-Density Network (HDN) routes or trunk routes. These routes are designed for a maximum operational speed limit of 160 km/h, and carry about 60% of the rail traffic. The trunk routes include Chennai–Howrah, Chennai–Mumbai, Delhi–Chennai, Delhi–Howrah, Howrah–Mumbai, Mumbai–Delhi and Delhi–Guwahati.

;Electrification Main article: Central Organisation for Railway Electrification

The first electric train ran in Bombay in 1925 on DC traction. In 1928, DC traction was introduced on the suburban of Bombay by the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway between Colaba and Borivili and between Madras beach and Tambaram by the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway in 1931. In 1957, Indian Railways decided to adopt 25 kV AC as its standard. The first 25 kV AC EMUs operated in Calcutta in 1962 and Madras in 1968. Indian Railway uses 25 kV AC traction on all its electrified tracks. In 2017, Indian Railways announced a plan to electrify the country's entire broad gauge rail network by 2023, and would require 30 billion kWh of electricity on an annual basis. , the Indian Railways has electrified 69315 km (99.1%) of the total broad-gauge route length of 69961 km.

;Cross-border Main article: Cross-border railway lines in India

India shares land border with multiple countries and have rail-links with some of them. Bangladesh is connected to West Bengal with a construction of new rail link connecting Tripura with Akhaura. Two rail links to Nepal exist as of 2021, with a third under construction. There is an existing railink with Pakistan through Attari–Wagah border.

Signaling and communication

Indian Railways uses a range of signalling technologies and methods to manage its train operations based on traffic density and safety requirements. , automatic block signalling is used on a total route length of 5221 km for train operations – concentrated in high density routes, large cities and junctions. Remaining routes are based on absolute block signalling with trains manually controlled by signal men from the signal boxes typically located at stations. Few low density routes still use manual block signalling methods with communication on track clearance based on physical exchange of tokens. In a few sections, intermediate block signalling is provided to further enhance line capacity with minimal investment. , 756 block sections have intermediate block signals. Indian Railways primarily uses coloured signal lights, which replaced the earlier semaphores and disc-based signalling. It uses two-aspect, three-aspect and four (or multiple) aspect color signalling across its network.

Signals at most stations are interlocked using panel interlocking, route-relay interlocking or electronic interlocking methods that eliminate scope for human signalling errors. Indian Railways uses track circuiting, and block proving axle counters for train detection. , 6,637 stations have interlocked and multi-aspect signalling. Around 99% of key routes have track circuitry or block proving axle counters for automated train detection and Kavach automatic train protection system has been implemented in 1465 km of tracks. The railways has about 66179 km of optical fiber cable network used for train control, voice and data communication with 7538 km of the route covered by GSM-R based Mobile Train Radio communication. In December 2017, Indian Railways announced that it will implement ETCS Level 2 system for signalling and control on key routes with an investment of .

Stations

, Indian Railways manages and operates 7,461 stations. Prior to 2017, the stations were classified into seven categories based on their earnings. Since 2017, Indian Railways categorizes the stations by commercial importance into three different categories namely Non Suburban Group (NSG), Suburban Group (SG) and Halt Group (HG). These are further subdivided into subcategories based on their commercial importance (NSG 1–6, SG 1-3 and from HG 1–3). The commercial importance of a station is determined by taking into account its passenger footfall, earnings and strategic importance and these categories are used to determine the minimum essential amenities required by each station.

Services

Passenger

Travel classes

Indian Railways offers various travel classes on its coaches. For the purpose of identification in passenger trains, coaches in a train-set are assigned an alpha-numeric code. The first letter identifies the coach class and the second letter identifies the coach number. The berths and seats are numbered by an alphanumeric code with the letter(s) identifying the berth/seat type and numbers identifying the position.

Saloon coaches available for chartering are equipped with a bedroom and kitchen and can be attached to normal trains.

Passenger trains

Indian Railways operates various classes of passenger and express trains. The trains are classified basis average speed and facilities with express trains having fewer halts, priority on rail network and faster average speed. The trains are identified by five digit numbers with train-pairs traveling in opposite directions usually labelled with consecutive numbers. Express trains often have specific unique names for easy identification. In 2018–19, Indian Railways operated 13,523 passenger trains on average daily and carried 8.44 billion passengers. India Railways operates various categories of express trains including Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Garib Rath Express, Double Decker Express, Tejas Express, Gatimaan Express, Humsafar Express, Duronto Express, Yuva Express, Uday Express, Jan Shatabdi Express, Sampark Kranti Express, Vivek Express, Rajya Rani Express, Mahamana Express, Antyodaya Express, Jan Sadharan Express, Suvidha Express and Intercity Express.

High-speed rail

Rajdhani Express introduced in 1969 were the first trains to reach speeds of up to 120 kph. Shatabdi Express introduced in 1988, are capable of running at a maximum speed of 150 kph. In 2019, Vande Bharat Express was launched with self-propelled EMU train-sets capable of reaching maximum speed of 180 kph with operational speeds restricted to 130-160 kph. A non-airconditioned semi-high speed train-set hauled by two modified WAP-5 locomotives was launched as Amrit Bharat Express. A high-speed rail line is under-construction between Mumbai and Ahmedabad which will become the first true high-speed rail line when completed in 2026.

Mountain railways

Mountain Railways of India refer to three rail lines operated by Indian Railways in hilly terrain. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow-gauge railway in the Lesser Himalayas of West Bengal was opened in 1881. The mountain railways were designated as World Heritage Sites in 1999. The Kalka-Shimla Railway, a narrow-gauge railway in the Siwalik Hills of Himachal Pradesh started operating in 1903. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a rack railway in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu was opened in 1908 and is the only operational rack railway in India. These railways operate with its own dedicated fleet of locomotives and coaches.

Suburban and metro

The first suburban electric trains were introduced in Bombay in 1925. Chennai suburban lines started operating in 1931 and Kolkata in 1957. Later, AC traction was adopted for suburban lines and are currently operated by Multiple Units (MUs) of various configurations. In 1984, Kolkata Metro, the first metro system and the only system operated by Indian Railways was commissioned. Opened in November 1995, Chennai MRTS became the first operational elevated railway line in India. Indian Railways operates suburban railway systems across the cities of Mumbai (suburban), Chennai (suburban and MRTS), Kolkata (suburban and metro) and Secunderabad (MMTS) covering six railway zones.

Tourism

Indian Railways offers tour packages through IRCTC. It operates tourist trains and coach services on popular tourist circuits in different regions of the country. It operates luxury tourist trains such as Maharajas' Express, Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot and Deccan Odyssey, deluxe tourist trains such as Mahaparinirvan Express. It also operates heritage and exhibition trains on special circumstances.

Ticketing and fares

In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced before which ticketing was done manually. Self-printing ticket machines (SPTM) were introduced in 1988. Centralized computer reservation system was deployed in September 1996. The ticketing network at stations is computerized with the exception of few stations. The Indian Railways website went online in February 2000 and online ticketing was introduced on 3 August 2002 through IRCTC. Indian Railways now provides multiple channels for passengers to book tickets through website, smartphone apps, SMS, rail reservation counters at train stations, or through private ticket booking counters. Reserved tickets may be booked up to 60 days in advance and confirmed reservation tickets will show the passenger and fare details along with berth or seat number(s) allocated to them on the ticket.

In case of no confirmed reservation, a wait-list number is assigned and wait-listed tickets get confirmed if there are cancellations of already reserved tickets. Reservation against cancellation tickets is an intermediate category between the waiting and confirmed lists in sleeper classes which allows a ticket holder to board the train and share a berth. Reserved tickets can be booked by passengers who want to travel at short notice at higher fares through the Tatkal train ticket, where no refund is applicable on cancellation. A valid proof for the purchase of ticket along with photo identification is required to board the train. Unreserved tickets for short distance or unplanned travels may be purchased at stations or through UTS mobile app at any time before departure. Holders of such tickets may only board the general or unreserved coaches. Suburban networks also issue unreserved tickets valid for a limited time or season passes with unlimited travel between two stops for a period of time.

India has some of the lowest train fares in the world, and lower class passenger fares are subsidised. Discounted fares are applicable for railway employees, senior citizens (over age 60), the differently-abled, students, athletes, patients and those taking competitive examinations. Seats of lower class of accommodation are reserved for women or senior citizens in some trains.

Freight

The first rail operational in Madras in 1837 was used for ferrying granite. The first dedicated commercial freight rail was operated between Bombay and Ahmedabad in 1966. Indian Railways ferries various commodities and cargo to cater to various industrial, consumer, and agricultural segments. Apart from dedicated freight trains, parcels, mail and small cargo are carried on specialized carriages attached to passenger trains. In 2023–24, Indian Railways operated 11,724 freight trains on average daily and transported 1588.06 million tonnes of freight.

Indian Railways has historically subsidized the passenger segment with income from the freight business and prioritized passenger trains on the network. Hence, freight services were unable to complete other modes of transport on both cost and speed of delivery, leading to continuous erosion of market share till the early 2000s. To counter this, Indian Railways established the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India in 2006 to construct dedicated freight corridors to reduce congestion, increase speed and reliability and proposed upgradation of existing goods sheds, attracting private capital to build multi-commodity multi-modal logistics terminals, changing container sizes, operating time-tabled freight trains and tweaking with the freight pricing/product mix. End-to-end integrated transport solutions such as roll-on, roll-off (RORO) service, a road-rail system pioneered by Konkan Railway in 1999 to carry trucks on flatbed trailers is extended to other routes.

Accidents and incidents

Main article: List of railway accidents and incidents in India

As per the Ministry of Railways, there have been more than 38,500 railway accidents from 1961 to 2019. In 2019-20, the Indian Railways reported zero passenger deaths due to accidents for the first time in its history. At least 313 people died in 40 train accidents in 2023-24 and 748 people have died in 638 train accidents in the previous ten years.

Notes

References

References

1. (31 December 2020). "Suneet Sharma Appointed New Chairman and CEO of Railway Board". [[News18]].
2. "Indian Railways registers record Revenue". [[Business Standard]].
3. "Indian Railways Year Book 2023-24". Indian Railways Statistical Publications.
4. "Electric loco holding for Dec 2025". [[Indian Railways]].
5. "Preserving Indian Railway's Heritage: A Brief Overview". [[Indian Railways]].
6. (1839). "Reports, Correspondence and Original Papers on Various Professional Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Engineers, Madras Presidency". R. W. Thorpe.
7. "Understanding Indian Railway Heritage". Indian Railways.
8. (16 April 2018). "Chennai: The track record". [[New Indian Express]].
9. "First running of a railway locomotive in India". Indian Railways.
10. (25 April 2013). "When India's first train blew steam". [[The Times of India]].
11. (16 April 2017). "164 Years Ago On This Day, India's First Train Ran From Mumbai To Thane". India Times.
12. (3 May 2024). "Celebrating Indian Railways Day in April". [[The Statesman (India).
13. (27 April 2024). "Celebrating 171 years of Indian Railways, but no real-photos available today". [[Firstpost]].
14. (31 March 2013). "On Forgotten Road". [[The Times of India]].
15. (28 February 2023). "150th anniversary of Calcutta trams: A brief history of trams in India". [[Indian Express]].
16. (26 October 2019). "Darbhanga's once glorious railway history, now lies in ruins". [[ETV Baharat]].
17. "The Evolution of Trams in Mumbai". [[Harvard University]].
18. "The History of Nizam's Railways System". Lulu.
19. (3 August 2017). "Oldest locomotive: Built in Ajmer, pride of Delhi". [[The Times of India]].
20. "Evolution of Electric Locomotives". Indian Railways.
21. "Evolution of Indian Railways-Historical Background". Indian Railways.
22. "Modernisation booklet". Indian Railways.
23. "Indian Railways". [[Parliament of India]].
24. "Overview of Indian Railways". National Academy of Indian Railways.
25. "Zones and divisions of Indian Railways". Indian Railways.
26. "Gandhidham shed details". Indian Railways.
27. "Chittaranjan Locomotive works". Indian Railways.
28. "Tracing the roots". Indian Railways.
29. (2 April 2013). "160 years of Indian Railways: Here's how AC trains were kept cool". Dainik Bhaskar.
30. (22 May 2016). "Kolkata loses last connect to first Rajdhani". [[The Times of India]].
31. "Railway Budget of 1969–70". Indian Railways.
32. (8 May 1974). "Strike of Indian Rail Workers Begins". [[The New York Times]].
33. (29 January 2019). "Better jail than rail: George Fernandes' slogan that led to Asia's biggest railway strike in 1974". [[The Economic Times]].
34. (24 March 2023). "Kolkata Metro maps evolution of its ticketing system". [[The Times of India]].
35. "IT Audit of Indian Railways Passenger reservation System (2007)".
36. (16 April 2018). "Happy Birthday Indian Railways! First passenger train started 165 years ago; unknown facts about the network".
37. "Chennai Division, SR". Southern Railway.
38. "About IRCTC". IRCTC.
39. (15 January 2015). "India's first CNG train for the Rewari-Rohtak section". [[The Economic Times]].
40. (22 January 2023). "Why was Railway Budget merged with the Union Budget?". [[Deccan Herald]].
41. (31 March 2017). "48 per cent rail tracks electrified, aim to double it in 5 years: Govt". [[Indian Express]].
42. (26 March 2020). "Coronavirus puts over 1 billion people in India on 21-day lockdown to combat spread". CNBC.
43. (29 March 2020). "Indian Railways cancels passenger train services". Business Traveller.
44. Nandi, Tamal. (27 March 2020). "How Indian Railways continuing its freight operations post lockdown". Livemint.
45. (10 May 2022). "Coronavirus lockdown: Railways to restart passenger services in phased manner". [[The Hindu]].
46. (10 June 2014). "Diamond quadrilateral of high-speed trains". [[Indian Express]].
47. (8 December 2015). "India to sign deal with Japan to get first bullet train". [[The Hindu]].
48. (23 December 2017). "Railways appoints IRSDC as nodal agency for station redevelopment". Livemint.
49. (12 April 2017). "Indian Railways orders conversion to Broad Gauge". Rail Digest.
50. (11 January 2016). "Indian Railways gets first model rake of luxury 'Make in India' coaches". [[The Economic Times]].
51. (13 January 2016). "Indian Railways unveils 'Make in India' train coaches with new look". [[The Financial Express (India).
52. (30 November 2017). "Just like your cabs, you can soon track trains in real time via GPS". DNA India.
53. (30 October 2015). "Locomotive Factories in Bihar: In cold storage for years, two Railway projects to start soon". Indian Express.
54. (9 November 2015). "GE Gets $2.6 Billion Indian Railways Contract". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
55. (20 February 2017). "Indian Railways to roll out 'Make in India' 160 kmph self-propelled 'world-class' train sets at half the cost of import!". The Financial Express.
56. (29 October 2018). "Train 18: Country's first engine-less train rolled out; Train 20 next". [[The Economic Times]].
57. (7 December 2016). "Rain Water Harvesting System In Indian Railway". Indian Railways.
58. (July 2016). "India Plants 50 Million Trees in One Day". [[National Geographic]].
59. "India's first solar-powered DEMU train launched". [[The Hindu]].
60. "Northern Railways to Install 5 MW Rooftop Solar in Four of Its Stations".
61. (31 March 2018). "Target of installing LED lights at all stations achieved, says Railways". Business Standard.
62. (12 May 2016). "All unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge (BG) have been eliminated on 31st Jan 2019". Indian Railways.
63. "Indian Railways develops Automatic Fire and Smoke Detection System". Bihar Prabha.
64. Dash, Dipak K.. (3 July 2020). "Private companies to run trains by April 2023". [[The Times of India]].
65. (18 June 2022). "First private train in India flagged off from Coimbatore, check details here". [[India Today]].
66. Virendra Kumar. (1976). "Committees And Commissions In India Vol. 7 : 1966". Concept Publishing Company.
67. "Indian Administration". S. Chand Limited.
68. "Statistical Year Book". [[Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation]], [[Government of India]].
69. Roy, Debasish. (27 February 2019). "Why isn't the Railways a PSU?". [[The Economic Times]].
70. Rao, M.A.. (1988). "Indian Railways". National Book Trust.
71. (24 December 2019). "Organizational structure of Railway board". Indian Railways.
72. "Organization Chart". Indian Railways.
73. "Railway board". Indian Railways.
74. "Railway Board Directorates". Indian Railways.
75. "Recruitment to Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) to be done through a specially designed examination (IRMS Examination)". [[Government of India]].
76. "Indian Railways Establishment Manual". RRCB.
77. (10 March 2025). "Women staff in Indian Railways crosses 1.13 lakh mark". [[The Economic Times]].
78. (8 March 2025). "Railways mark Women's Day with first-ever all-women Vande Bharat crew". [[The Times of India]].
79. International, Railway Gazette. "Konkan Railway to be merged into Indian Railways".
80. "Locomotive classification". Indian Railways.
81. "Indian railway facilities". Indian Railways.
82. (10 December 2021). "37% of trains in India being hauled by diesel locomotives, rest by electric engines". [[The Hindu]].
83. Ayyappan, V.. (4 January 2021). "Leakage Found in ICF Coaches". [[The Times of India]].
84. (April 2017). "Indian Railways Passenger Coaches: Safety Features and Technologies Adopted". International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research.
85. Debroy, Bibek. (9 February 2018). "A 70-Year-Old Vs a 30-Year-Old: LHB Coaches Perform Better than ICF Ones". [[Business Standard]].
86. (19 July 2021). "Rajdhani runs with new Tejas rakes". [[Deccan Herald]].
87. (19 July 2021). "Western Railway runs Mumbai–New Delhi Rajdhani Express with new Tejas-like smart sleeper coaches". Times Now.
88. (20 February 2017). "Indian Railways to roll out 'Make in India' 160 kmph self-propelled 'world-class' train sets at half the cost of import!". [[The Financial Express (India).
89. "Coach classification". Indian Railways.
90. "Coach numbering". Indian Railways.
91. (15 October 1999). "Electrical Multiple Units".
92. "Historical Background of Railway Electrification". Indian Railways.
93. "Operation of MUs". Indian Railways.
94. "Three phase EMU". Indian Railways.
95. (25 February 2018). "Loco hauled commuter trains to be replaced with DEMU/MEMU". [[The Times of India]].
96. (March 2024). "Cargo wagons". Indian Railways.
97. "Types of freight cars". [[Indian Railways]].
98. (4 July 2003). "New Wagon Numbering System". Indian Railways.
99. (7 November 2025). "Indian Railways to install AI-based technology to enhance security in freight trains – Here's how it will work". [[The Indian Express]].
100. "Types of passenger coaches". Asian Institute of Transport Development.
101. (25 April 2003). "ICF on a roll". Frontline.
102. "Self Propelled Accident Relief Medical Vans to improve disaster response of Railways". Indian Railways.
103. "Brake van specification". Indian Railways.
104. (11 October 2018). "Indian Railways has transformed this special coach". Zee news.
105. "Power generator car". Indian Railways.
106. "Specifications of Railway Inspection Car". Indian Railways.
107. "Pantry car equipment". Indian Railways.
108. (31 January 2020). "Indian Railways launched the first ever high capacity parcel van". Mint.
109. (8 October 2020). "Coaching Rates Circular". Indian Railways.
110. (18 February 2013). "What's in a pantry car?". [[The Hindu]].
111. "Banaras Locomotive works". Indian Railways.
112. Law, Abhishek. (24 April 2024). "Railways takes over RINL's forged wheel plant in Raebareli". [[Business Line]].
113. "Diesel locomotive holding". Indian Railways.
114. (25 July 2025). "More Than 78% of Railway Tracks Upgraded for Sectional Speed of 110 kmph and Above". [[Press Information Bureau]].
115. "Decongestion of Trunk railway routes". [[Government of India]].
116. (20 July 2020). "Trains to run at 160 KMPH on major Trunk routes". India InfraHub.
117. "Brief on Railway Electrification".
118. (20 February 2018). "Railway Electrification Market in India 2018". Enincon.
119. "Status of Railway Electrification (as on 31.10.2025)". [[Indian Railways]].
120. (24 November 2019). "Bandhan Express makes its first commercial run between Kolkata and Khulna today". [[The Indian Express]].
121. (18 June 2014). "Work on new India-Bangladesh railway link from 2015". IBNlive.
122. (11 June 2020). "Nepalese Railway and Economic Development: What Has Gone Wrong?". India Review.
123. (18 July 2023). "Do You Know This Indian Railway Station Requires Passengers To Carry A Pakistani Visa?". News18.
124. (19 March 2025). "Ministry of Railways Advances Infrastructure with Dedicated Freight Corridors, Modernization Initiatives, and Enhanced Freight Capacity". [[Press Information Bureau]].
125. (25 July 2017). "Art of the token exchange". Railscapes.
126. "Indian Railways FAQ: Signal Aspects and Indications – Principal Running Signals". IRFCA.
127. "Signalling System". IRFCA.
128. (18 December 2017). "Indian Railways clears proposal to equip electric locomotives with European train protection systems". [[Firstpost]].
129. (28 December 2017). "Railways revise station categories to improve services". [[The Economic Times.
130. "Minister of Railways directs to re-categorize railway stations taking into account earnings, passenger footfall, strategic importance". Indian Railways.
131. (18 Jul 2018). "Question and Answer regarding Grading of Railway Stations in Lok Sabha of India". [[Government of India]].
132. "Accommodation Classes in Indian Railways". Indian Railways.
133. "Abbreviations for Coaches". Indian Railways.
134. "Rail seat layout". Indiarailinfo.
135. "Rolling stock". IRFCA.
136. "Indian railway classes". Trainman.
137. (14 February 2009). "First-class coaches now just the stuff of memories". [[The Times of India]].
138. (20 December 2015). "End of road for the last of the non AC first class coaches". [[The Times of India]].
139. (23 December 2023). "Holiday special trains in Nilgiri Mountain Railway". [[The Hindu]].
140. (9 December 2017). "Anubhuti coaches with aircraft-like features to replace Shatabdi 1st-AC Executive chair cars; 20 amazing facts". [[The Financial Express (India).
141. (17 December 2017). "Soon experience flight like luxury in Shatabdi". [[Indian Express]].
142. (14 May 2018). "Two extra coaches added to afternoon Shatabdi: Railways". [[Indian Express]].
143. (27 June 2023). "Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat express flagged off". [[The Times of India]].
144. (23 September 2023). "Passengers from south T.N. to get a new travel experience on Vande Bharat Expres". [[The Hindu]].
145. (9 July 2022). "Status of Vistadome Trains". Indian Railways.
146. (8 March 2019). "All mountain railways in India to have vistadome coaches: Piyush Goyal". mint.
147. (15 October 2018). "Why you may not see curtains in AC coaches". [[The Economic Times]].
148. (18 September 2022). "Indian Railways to provide bedrolls". Mint.
149. (27 August 2021). "Garib Rath trains to get new AC 3-tier economy class coaches; to have cheaper fare than AC 3-tier". Times now.
150. (6 September 2021). "Railways introduces new AC-3 economy coaches with reduced fare. Details here". Mint.
151. (11 February 2021). "Indian Railways' first AC 3-tier economy class coach; check out features, specifications". [[The Indian Express]].
152. (9 August 2022). "New Vande Bharat Express features". [[The Times of India]].
153. (29 May 2023). "Vande Bharat Express timing and ticket prices". [[The Economic Times]].
154. (1 March 2016). "Unreserved, General Railway train tickets valid for only three hours after purchase". India.com.
155. (29 March 2018). "Saloon attached to Jammu Mail". [[The Economic Times]].
156. "Train Numbering". Indian Railways.
157. "Train Index". Indian Railways.
158. "Indian Railways Year Book 2019–20". Indian Railways.
159. "'Shatabdi is the heart of Indian railways'". [[The Times of India]].
160. (23 January 2018). "Trains faster than Rajdhani, Shatabdi on the cards". [[The Economic Times]].
161. "Watch: Vande Bharat Train's "Glass Filled To The Brim" Test At 180 Kmph". [[NDTV]].
162. (7 February 2019). "Train 18: PM Modi to flag off Vande Bharat Express on 15 February from New Delhi". Business Today.
163. Athrady, Ajith. (10 July 2023). "Indian Railways to produce non-AC Vande Sadharan trains". [[Deccan Herald]].
164. (16 July 2015). "JICA presents draft report on bullet train project to joint committee". [[The Economic Times]].
165. (1999). "Mountain Railways of India". [[World Heritage Committee]].
166. "Nilgiri Mountain railway".
167. (27 July 2019). "he Nilgiri Mountain Railway as old as the hills". [[The Hindu]].
168. Satardekar, Anvaya. (17 October 2012). "Central Railway puts 15-car locals on track". [[DNA India]].
169. (5 May 2012). "Historical perspective – the first journey". Indian Railways.
170. (18 April 2014). "83 years of electric suburban rail". [[The Hindu]].
171. "Kolkata Metro". Indian Railways.
172. (3 June 2023). "IRCTC launches tour package". [[The Hindu]].
173. "Ministry of Railways (Railway Board)". Indian Railways.
174. (31 October 2023). "PM flags off Gujarat's first heritage train, which will bring tourists to Statue of Unity". [[The Hindu]].
175. (30 May 2018). "Indian Railways Reservation Rules: 5 Things To Know About Waitlisted Tickets". [[NDTV]].
176. (2 March 2018). "Tatkal Ticket Booking: Charges, timings, cancellation and more". [[The Times of India]].
177. "Provision for carrying proof". Indian Railways.
178. (1 February 2021). "Buy suburban train tickets via app". [[The Hindu]].
179. Vivek Narayanan. (8 May 2012). "Wait for ticket gets painful". [[The Hindu]].
180. (24 December 2019). "Tourist Tickets introduced in Chennai Suburban". [[Southern Railway zone]], Indian Railways.
181. Joshi, V. (17 October 1996). "India's Economic Reforms, 1991–2001". Oxford University Press.
182. (20 March 2018). "Make in India: GE to supply 1,000 diesel locomotives to Indian Railways; set up plant in Bihar". DNA India.
183. "Concession Rules". Indian Railways.
184. (25 February 2018). "Indian Railways White Paper 2016".
185. (25 February 2018). "Vision and Plans: Indian Railways".
186. "Road-Rail Synergy System". Indian Railways.
187. (25 December 2019). "First time in 166 years, Indian Railways reports zero passenger deaths in FY20". [[Business Today (India).
188. (14 September 2024). "313 passengers, four employees died in 40 train accidents in 2023-24, says RTI reply". [[The Hindu]].
189. (November 2019). "Indian Railways safety performance". [[Government of India]].