10 interesting facts about Indian Railways
Indian Railways, the world’s fourth largest in terms of network, is a lifeline for the 13 million people who use it every day. Here are ten key facts about the railways that you must know.
Indian Railways, the world’s fourth largest in terms of network, is a lifeline for the 13 million people who use it every day. Here are ten key facts about the railways that you must know.
Mammoth service
It runs 11,000 trains every day on tracks that spread over 60,000 km in length.
Big boss
It employs close to 1.54 million people, making it the seventh-largest employer in the world, according to Forbes.
Long haul, short haul
A trip on the Vivek Express is like an odyssey. India’s longest-route train runs between Dibrugarh and Kanyakumari, a distance of 4,286 km with 56 stops and a running time of 82.30 hours. A train between Nagpur and Ajni runs for just 3 km.
Non-stop, full stop
The Trivandrum-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express covers the 528-km distance between Vadodara and Kota in 6.5 hours without any stops. It is the longest ‘non-stop train’ in India. The Howrah-Amritsar Express has the most number of stops--115.
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Hare & tortoise
The New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express is India’s fastest train, touching a maximum speed of 150 kmph. The Nilgiri Express with an average speed of 10 kmph is India’s slowest train.
Least punctual train
The Guwahati-Trivandrum Express is usually delayed by 10-12 hours per trip on its scheduled journey time of 65 hours and 5 minutes.
Spell that
Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta on the Arakkonam-Renigunta section near Chennai, is the station with the longest name. Ib, near Jharsuguda in Odisha, and Od, near Anand in Gujarat, have the shortest names.
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One station, two states
The Navapur railway station straddles 2 states: one half of it is in Maharashtra and the other half in Gujarat.
Two stations, one place
Srirampur and Belapur are two different stations in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, but on opposite sides of the same track.
Disaster
On June 6, 1981, a passenger train plunged into the Bagmati River in Bihar, killing around 800 people. The accident is among the deadliest-ever rail accidents in India.
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