Q. Who is considered as the father of Indian Railways?

A. Lord Dalhousie, who was the former Governor-General of India is considered as the father of Indian Railways.

Q. What was the name of the first Railway in India?

A. The first Railway in India was named as Sahib.

Q. When was the first electric train run in India?

A. The first electric train was run on 3 rd February 1925, from Bombay to Kurla which covered a distance of 16 Kms.

Q. Who is the current Railway Minister of Indian Railway?

A. Piyush Goyal is the current Railway Minister.

Q. Who was the first Railway Minister in India?

A. In 2000, Mamata Banerjee became the first Railway Minister of India.

History of Indian Railways and Notes for DFCCIL and RRB Group D/NTPC, Download Study Material PDF

Indian Railway operates the fourth-largest network in the world, with a spanning of over 1.2 Lakh Km across the country. Today, with over 14 Lakh employees, Indian Railways is the world’s seventh-largest employer following the Defence Department of the US, Chinese Army, Walmart, China National Petroleum, State Grid of China and British Health Service.
Indian Railway provides three kinds of services to the public which are Express trains, Mail Express trains, and Passenger trains. The fare of Passenger trains are the lowest and the fare of Mail Express trains are the highest, while Express trains lie in the middle.
In this article, we have covered all the details regarding the Indian Railway such as benefits of transporting goods and passengers through railway, history of Indian Railway, facts about Indian Railway, Statistical Data of DFCCIL and Indian Railway, Zones, Divisions, and Year of Establishment of Indian Railway, and top 10 busiest railway stations of India

Benefits of Transportation of Goods and Passengers through Railway

Here are some benefits of carrying loads and passengers through railways:

Railway is the cheapest and safest mode of transport as compared to other means of transport such as airways, roadways, etc.
Also, the chances of breakdown and accidents are least as compared to other modes of transportation
There is no effect of weather on goods such as rain, fog, etc.
Railway is a better mode of transportation because it has fixed schedules and routes
As per the companies, it is the best way to transport goods for long-distance traffic
The carrying capacity through railways is immensely large and moreover, there is a flexibility to add a few loads by adding more wagons

DFCCIL and RRB NTPC/ Group D Notes: History of Indian Railways

Here is the complete history of Indian Railways in chronological order:

History of Indian Railways: Industrial Railways (1832 to 1852)

1832-1852: Industrial Railways
Year	Work Done
1832	The first proposal of Railway was done in Madras
1837	The country's first train, Red Hill Railway, ran from Red Hills to Chintadripet bridge in Madras. The train was pulled by a rotary steam locomotive engine which was manufactured by William Avery. Built by Engineer Arthur Cotton, the railway was mainly used for transporting granite stone for road-building work in Madras.
1845	The Godavari Dam Construction Railway was constructed at Dowleswaram in Rajahmundry. This structure was also built by Also built by Arthur Cotton. It mainly supplied stone for the construction of a dam over the Godavari River.
8 May 1845	The Madras Railway was amalgamated, followed by the East India Railway
1 Aug 1849	The Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) was formed by an Act of Parliament
17 Aug 1849	‘Guarantee System’ was introduced which provided free land and a guaranteed 5% return to private British companies who were willing to build railways in India
1851	The Solani Aqueduct Railway was built in Roorkee. It was pulled by the Thomason steam locomotive engine. The railway transported construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani River.
1852	In 1852, Madras Guaranteed Railway Company was formed

History of Indian Railways: Passenger Railways and Expansion (1853 to 1924)

1853-1924: Passenger Railways and Expansion
Year	Work Done
16 April 1853	India’s first passenger train ran between Bombay's Bori Bunder station and Thane, which was dedicated by Lord Dalhousie. The 14-carriage train was pulled by three steam locomotive engines which were Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan. The train traveled a total of 34 km and carried a total of 400 people. This passenger line was built and operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR).
15 Aug 1854	In Eastern India, the first passenger train ran from Howrah to Hoogly and covered a distance of 39 km (24 miles). The Railway line was built and managed by the East Indian Railway Company (EIR).
May 1854	The Bombay-Thane line was further extended to Kalyan with the Dapoorie viaduct over the Ulhas River which was also India's first railway bridge. In the same year, GIPR opened its first Railway workshop in Byculla.
1855	In 855 BB & CI Railway was formed. In the same year in August, the EIR Express and Fairy Queen steam locomotives were launched.
1 July 1856	South India's first passenger train ran from Royapuram-Veyasarapady (Madras) to Wallajah Road in Arcot and covered a total distance of 97 km. The train was built and operated by the Madras Railway department. In the same year, Madras Railway's first workshop was opened at Perambur (near Madras) and the Bombay-Thane line was extended to Khopoli.
1858	In 1858, the Eastern Bengal Railway was formed.
24 Feb 1873	India's first tramway system which is a horse-drawn tramway was opened in Calcutta. It was opened in between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street which covered a distance of 3.8 KM. In the following year, the Great South Indian and Carnatic Railways combined to form the South Indian Railway Company.
9 May 1874	On 9^th May 1874, a horse-drawn tramway started its operation in Bombay between Colaba and Parel.
1880	In 1880, the Calcutta Tramway Company was formed.
1897	In 1897, many passenger railway companies introduced lighting in passenger coaches
1902	The Jodhpur Railway Department was the first one to introduce electric lighting as standard fixtures.
1920	Electric signal lighting was introduced between Currey Road and Dadar in Bombay.

History of Indian Railways: Electrification and further expansion (1925 to 1950)

1925-1950: Electrification and further expansion
Year	Work Done
1925	In 1925, the first railway budget was presented in India.
3 Feb 1925	On 3^rd February 1925, the first electric passenger train in India ran between Victoria Terminus (VT) and Kurla on 1,500 V DC overhead traction. The locomotives for this train were manufactured by Cammell Laird and Uerdingen Wagon Fabrik. The VT-Bandra section was electrified through the elevated platform at Sandhurst Road, the Oudh and Rohil khund Railway was merged with the EIR.
1926	The Kurla-Kalyan section was electrified with 1,500 V DC. Also, electrification to Poona and Igatpuri with 1,500 V DC over the Bhore and Thal Ghats was also completed. In the same year, the Charbagh Railway Station/ Lucknow Railway Station was built.
Jan 1928	The Bandra-Virar section was electrified with 1,500 V DC.
1928	The Frontier Mail made its maiden run from Bombay VT to Peshawar. In the same year, the country's first automatic color-light signals became operational, on GIPR's lines between Bombay VT and Byculla.
1928	The Kanpur Central and Lucknow stations were opened. In the same year, the Grand Trunk Express started running between Peshawar and Mangalore. Also, the Punjab Limited Express began moving between Mumbai and Lahore, and automatic color-light signaling was extended to the Byculla-Kurla section.
1 June 1930	The Deccan Queen commenced its service, it was hauled by a WCP-1-No. 20024 (old number EA/1 4006). The route was electrified and the train had seven coaches. The train traveled from Bombay VT to Poona (Pune). In the same year, the Hyderabad Godavari Valley Railway was merged into Nizam's State Railway and the route of the Grand Trunk Express was changed to Delhi-Madras.

Zonal re-organization and further developments (1951 to 1983)

1951-1983: Zonal re-organization and further developments
Year	Work Done
1951	In 1951, the railway was re-organized into regional zones
14 April 1951	The Southern Railway zone was created.
14 April 1952	On 14^th April 1952, Northern, Eastern, and North Eastern Railway zones were created
5 Nov 1951	The Central and Western Railway zones were created. In the same year, the government of West Bengal also entered into an agreement with the Calcutta Tramways Company to take over its administrative functions and operations.
1952	In 1952, lights fans and were mandated for all compartments in all classes of passenger accommodations, and sleeping accommodations were launched in coaches.
1 Aug 1955	The South-Eastern zone was separated from the Eastern Railway zone.
1956	A divisional system of administration was established for the zones. In the same year, the first fully air-conditioned train was introduced in between Delhi and Howrah
1957	Indian Railways decided to adopt 25 kV AC electrification, choosing SNCF as a technical consultant. In the same year, the Main Line Electrification Project was established which later became the Railway Electrification Project.
1958	The Northeast Frontier Railway zone was separated from the North-Eastern zone.
1959	The first section was electrified from Raj Kharswan to Dongoposi with 25kV AC traction.
1960	The first train ran on the Raj Kharswan-Dongoposi section using 25 kV AC traction
1966	The first freight service with containers started between Bombay and Ahmedabad. The electrification (with 25 kV AC) of several suburban tracks over Delhi, Madras, and Calcutta was done.
1979	The Main Line Electrification Project was converted into the Central Organization for Railway Electrification (CORE).

Rapid Transit and Later Developments (1984 to Present)

1984- Present: Rapid Transit and Later Developments
Year		Work Done
24 Oct 1984		Calcutta Metro was the country's first rapid-transit line. India's first metro train ran from Esplanade to Bhowanipur (presently known as Netaji Bhawan station) in Calcutta.
1986		In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced in New Delhi.
1988		India's fastest train, the Shatabdi Express, was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi.
1990		In 1990, the first self-printing ticket machine (SPTM) was introduced in New Delhi.
1993		Separate three-tier air-conditioned coaches and a sleeper class was introduced
16 Jan 1995		On 16^th January 1995, the first regularly scheduled service with 2 x 25 kV traction commenced on the Bina-Katni line.
Sep 1996		The CONCERT system of computerized reservations further commenced in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.
1998		Coupon-Validating Machines (CVMs) was launched at Mumbai CST.
18 April 1999		The CONCERT system became operational at the national level. In the same year, the South East Central Railway zone was formed and credit cards were accepted for tickets and reservations at some stations.
Feb 2000		The website of Indian Railways went online.
6 July 2002		The East Coast, South Western, South East Central, North Central and West Central Railway zones were formed.
3 Aug 2002		Indian Railways (IR) started online ticketing and reservations.
1 Dec 2002		Internet ticketing expanded to many cities of India
5 Feb 2012		The Western Railway zone (WR) completely switched to 25 kV AC traction and ended its use of 1,500 V DC.
26 Sep 2013		The Tatkal (Emergency) system of ticketing was extended to all trains available in India
5 April 2016		India's fastest train, Gatimaan Express made its maiden journey from Delhi to Agra
11 April 2016		On 11^th April 2016, the Central Railway zone (CR) completely switched to 25 kV AC traction and ended its use of DC traction in the Mumbai area country's main-line rail network.
2016		India’s fastest train Gatimaan Express was introduced for passengers
31 March 2017		Indian Railway declared that India's entire rail network would be electrified by 2022.

History of DFCCIL: Important Study Notes About DFCCIL Exam 2021

Here are some important notes regarding the history, mission and board of Directors of the DFCCIL organization:

DFCCIL 2021 Important Notes

DFCCIL stands for Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited. DFCCIL was formed on October 30, 2006, and it comes under the Ministry of Railway
As per the records, freight contributes around 60 to 70 of the revenue in total profit percentage of the Indian Railway and from 1950 to 2011 the freight traffic has dropped from 83 percent to 35 percent leading to a huge loss of revenue
Hence, DFCCIL was created with an idea to dedicate a high speed, high-capacity track for freight along the golden quadrilateral (Delhi – Mumbai – Chennai – Howrah) and its diagonals (Delhi – Chennai and Mumbai – Howrah)
DFCCIL is mainly responsible for the construction, mobilization of financial resources, maintenance, and operation of the freight corridor

Mission of DFCCIL

The main mission of the DFCCIL is to take back the market share of freight transport by creating additional capacity along with ensuring a reliable, safe, efficient, and cheaper option for mobility to its businesses
Also, to provide assistance to government projects towards ecological sustainability by encouraging businesses to adopt railways as the most efficient and environment-friendly mode for transporting needs

DFCCIL Current Board of Directors

Name	Designation in DFCCIL
Hari Mohan Gupta	Director of Infrastructure and Project Planning in DFCCIL
Nanduri Srinivas	Director of Operations & Business Development in DFCCIL
Hira Ballabh	Director of Finance in DFCCIL
Ravindra Kumar Jain	Managing Director in DFCCIL

Statistical Data of DFCCIL and Indian Railway

Here is the statistical data of DFCCIL and Indian Railways:

Gross Revenue of DFCCIL and Indian Railway Over the Years

Though Indian Railway has a monopoly in the market, however, the gross revenue has been fluctuating from 2016 to 2020. The below graph highlights the gross revenue (in US Billion $) over the years:

Revenue Break-up of DFCCIL and Indian Railway Over the Years

From the graph below, you can determine that Freight Railway contributes the maximum revenue in the Indian Railway. The graph below highlights the revenue break-up of different sectors of Indian Railway for the year 2020:

Trends in Passenger Volume of Indian Railways Over the Years

The graph below states the passenger trends of Indian Railways over the years:

Trends in Freight Volume of Indian Railways Over the Years

Here is the graph for trends of freight carried (in million tons) over the years:

DFCCIL and RRB NTPC/ Group D Notes: Indian Railway Zones, Divisions, and Year of Establishment

All important details regarding Indian Railway Code, Year of Establishment, Headquarter, and Division is stated below:

Railway Zone Name	Zone Code	Established Year	Route (in KM)	Headquarter	Zone Divisions
Western Railway	WR	1951	6182	Mumbai	Mumbai Central, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Vadodara
Southern Railway	SR	1951	5098	Chennai	Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem, Thiruvananthapuram
Central Railway	CR	1951	3905	Mumbai	Mumbai, Bhusawal, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur
Eastern Railway	ER	1952	2414	Kolkata	Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda
Northern Railway	NR	1952	6968	Delhi	Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad
North Eastern Railway	NER	1952	3667	Gorakhpur	Izzatnagar, Lucknow, Varanasi
South Eastern Railway	SER	1955	2631	Kolkata	Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi
Northeast Frontier Railway	NFR	1958	3907	Guwahati	Alipurduar, Katihar, Rangia, Lumding, Tinsukia
South Central Railway	SCR	1966	5803	Secunderabad	Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Guntakal, Guntur, Nanded, Vijayawada
East Central Railway	ECR	2001	3628	Hajipur	Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Sonpur
East Coast Railway	ECoR	2001	2572	Bhubaneswar	Khurda Road, Sambalpur, Visakhapatnam
North Western Railway	NWR	2002	5459	Jaipur	Jaipur, Ajmer,Bikaner, Jodhpur
North Central Railway	NCR	2003	3151	Allahabad	Allahabad, Agra,Jhansi
South East Central Railway	SECR	2003	2447	Bilaspur	Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur
South Western Railway	SWR	2003	3177	Hubli	Hubli, Bangalore, Mysore
West Central Railway	WCR	2003	2965	Jabalpur	Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota
Kolkata Metro Railway	KNR	2009	38.5	Kolkata	Kolkata
Southern Coast Railway	SCoR	2019	3,496	Visakhapatnam	Vijayawada, Guntur, Guntakal, Waltair

Source: International Journal of Engineering Development and Research

DFCCIL and RRB NTPC/ Group D Notes: Top 10 Busiest Railway Stations of India

Here is the list of 10 busiest Railway stations in India:

Station Name & Code	Established Year	Zone	Total No. of Platforms	Total No. of Passengers (Daily)	No. of Trains per Day	Total No. of Tracks
Howrah Junction (HWH)	1905	Eastern Region (ER)	23	5 to 10 lakhs	617	26
New Delhi (NDLS)	1903	Eastern Region (ER)	16	5 to 6 lakhs	350	18
Kanpur Central (CNB)	1928	North Central (NC)	10	2 to 3 lakhs	230	14
Kalyan Junction (KYN)	1945	North Central (NC)	8	3 to 4 lakhs	850	5
Patna Junction (PNBE)	1865	East Central (EC)	10	2 to 3 lakhs	200	15
Vijayawada Junction (BZA)	1888	South Central (SC)	10	1.5 to 2 lakhs	400	22
Allahabad Junction (ALD)	1859	North Central (NC)	11	3 to 4 lakhs	245	15
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)	1887	Central Railway (CR)	18	3 to 4 lakhs	250	18
Vadodara Junction (BRC)	1861	Western Railway (WR)	7	4 to 5 lakhs	170	9
Lucknow/ Charbagh Railway Station (LKO)	1867	Northern Railway (NR)	8	3 to 4 lakhs	300	11

DFCCIL and RRB NTPC/ Group D Study Notes: Facts About Indian Railways

Particulars	Stats/ Details
Total zones of Indian Railway	17
Slogan of Indian Railway	Lifeline of the Nation
The train that operates between Pakistan and India	Samjhauta Express
The train that operates between India and Bangladesh	Maitree Express
World’s longest Railway platform	Gorakhpur (1,366 meter)
India’s oldest working locomotive	Fairy Queen
Total Railway Museums in India	8 (Delhi, Pune, Mysore, Kanpur, Kolkata, Ghum, Chennai, Tiruchirappalli)
First Computerized Reservation in India started from	1986 in New Delhi
Indian train with a status of World Heritage Status given by UNESCO	Darjeeling
Total number of passengers that travel through Indian Railway	Around 2.5 crore
Longest train route in the Indian subcontinent	Dibrugarh Kanyakumari Vivek Express
The fastest train in India	New Delhi to Bhopal Shatabdi Express (Max. speed 150 KM/hr.)
Slowest train in India	Metupalayam Ooty Nilgiri (Passenger train)
Railway station with the longest name	Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta Railway Station
Railway station with the shortest name	IB, near Jharsuguda in Odisha and Od, near Anand in Gujarat
Highest Railway Station in India	Ghum Railway Station in West Bengal
Longest Railway Bridge in India	Vallarpadam Bridge, Kerala with a total length of 4.62 KM
Longest Railway Tunnel in India	Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir with a total length of 11.2 KM
The train which has most stops	Howrah – Amritsar Express 115 halts
Most powerful locomotive engine	Electric Locomotive WAG-9
The busiest station in Indian Railways	Vijayawada Junction (247 unique trains)
Total number of trains run on daily basis	12,000 passenger trains and 7,000 freight trains (a total of 19,000 trains)
Class of Accommodation in Indian Railway	1-AC, 2-AC, 3-AC, 3-AE, EC, CC, FC, SL, 2S, II-UR
Highest earning zone	Northern Railway (120 to 125 Millo
State which has highest per capita rail route	Andhra Pradesh (0.1 metre/ person)
State which has lowest per capita rail route	Kerala (0.03 metre/ person)
Railway Station which is built on 2 states	Navapur Railway Station (one half of the station is Gujarat and other half in Maharashtra)
Total number of Freight trains run every day	9,200
Total load carried every day	1,110
Average speed of freight trains in India	24 Km/ hr
Most powerful freight locomotive of Indian Railways	WAG-12 (Generates a 12,000 Horse Power)
International freight services link between	Birgani in Nepal and Raxaul of Bihar
Freight Corridor with the highest traffic	Golden Quadrilateral Freight Corridor with total of 55% freight traffic
Container Railway Freight traffic is managed by	Container Corporation of India (CONCOR)
Guinness Book of Records for having the world’s largest Route Relay Interlocking System is taken by	New Delhi Railway Station
The first woman to become Railway Minister	Mamata Banerjee
Railway budget of 2020-21	Rs 72,216 crore (US $10.33)
Freight Earnings in 2020	US $16.24
Passenger Earnings in 2020	US $7.25

Download PDF of History of DFCCIL and Indian Railways

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