Indian Railways
Indian Railways is a state-owned undertaking which is organized as a departmental undertaking of the Government of India's Ministry of Railways and runs India's national rail network.[a] As of 2024, it operates the fourth largest national railway network in terms of size with 135,207 km (84,014 mi) track length, running track length of 109,748 km (68,194 mi) and route length of 69,181 km (42,987 mi). As of August 2024, 96.59% of the broad-gauge network is electrified. It has over 1.2 million employees and is the world's ninth-largest employer and India's second largest employer.
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Indian Railways
Seal of the Indian Railways
Rail Bhawan, the headquarters of Indian Railways at New Delhi.
Native name
Indian Railways
Company type
Statutory Body
State-owned enterprise
Industry
Rail transport
Founded
16 April 1853 (171 years
Headquarters
Rail Bhawan, New Delhi, India
Area served
India
Key people
Ashwini Vaishnaw (Minister for Railways)
Satish Kumar, IRSME (Chairperson and CEO)[1]
Services
Passenger railway
Rail freight transportation
Parcel carrier
Catering
Tourism
Parking lot operations
Other ancillary services
Revenue
Increase ₹256,000 crore (US$29 billion)[2] (2023–24)
Net income
~Increase ₹4,761 crore (US$540 million)[2] (2023–24)
Owner
Ministry of RailSEmployees are divided into gazetted (Groups A and B) and non-gazetted (Groups C and D) staff with gazetted staff performing executive/managerial level duties.[73] As of 31 March 2024, Groups A & B make up 1.4% of the total staff, while Group C (into which Group D was merged prior to 2020) makes up 98.6%.[3] 80% of Group-A staff are appointed by Indian Railways Management Service with the rest through promotions.[74]}
Group B employees are selected by departmental promotional exams of Group C employees. Recruitment of Group C employees is done through RRCB conduct examinations and Group D staffs are selected by zonal RRC.[75] Seven central training institutes and 295 training schools are run by Indian Railways. It also has residential accommodation, medical facilities and educational centers for personnel.[3] Indian Railways operated an all-female crew on International Women's Day 2025 to drive the Vande Bharat Express for the first time.sways, Government of India (100%)
Number of employees
1,252,200[3] (31 March 2024)
Divisions
17 operational and 1 non-operational sectors
Subsidiaries
List
Technical
Line length
69,181[3] km (42,987 mi)
Track length
135,207[3] km (84,014 mi)
Track gauge
1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
762 mm (2 ft 6 in)
610 mm (2 ft)
Electrification
64,589 km (40,134 mi)[4]
In 1951, Indian Railways came into being by the merger of 42 various railway companies present in the nation, covering a total distance of 55,000 km (34,000 mi). The railway system in the nation was reorganized into six regional zones in 1951–52 for administrative reasons, which was expanded to 18 zones in the course of time.
The first steam locomotive railway worked in 1837 in Madras and the first passenger travelled in 1853 from Bombay to Thane. In 1925, the first electric train moved on DC traction in Bombay. The first locomotive factory was installed in 1950 at Chittaranjan and the first coach factory set-up in 1955 at Madras.
Indian Railways operates several types of express, passengers and suburban trains. In 2023–4, it ran 13,198 trains per day on average over 7,325 stations and transported 6.905 billion passengers.[3] Indian Railways also runs various classes of rail freight transport. In 2023–4, it ran 11,724 freight trains per day on average and carried 1588.06 million tonnes of freight.[3] Indian Railways runs various classes of rolling stock, produced by self-owned coach-production plants. As of 31 March 2024, Indian Railways rolling stock comprised 327,991 freight wagons, 91,948 passenger coaches (including multiple unit coaches) and 10,675 electric, 4,397 diesel and 38 steam locomotives.
History
1832–1899
In 1832 the idea of building the first Indian railway line at Madras was proposed.[5][6] In 1835, between Red Hills and Chintadripet in Madras, a railway track was laid and opened to traffic in 1837. It was pulled by a rotary steam engine brought from England and was utilized for transporting granite.
The railway bridge near Thane in 1855
Railway map of India in 1865
Madras Railway was founded in 1845 and Great Indian Peninsular Railway was formed in 1849.[6] The temporary railway tracks were constructed like the Dowleswaram railway track constructed by Arthur Cotton to transport stone to construct a dam across the Godavari River in 1845 and Solani aqueduct railway constructed by Proby Cautley at Roorkee to carry building materials for an aqueduct across the Solani river in 1851.[6] A steam locomotive brought from England was experimented in 1852 at Byculla.[8] In 1853, the first 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge passenger train ran for 34 kilometres (21 mi) between Thane and Bombay and had 14-carriages accommodating 400 passengers, pulled by three steam locomotives: Sahib, Sindh and Sultan.[9][10] This day is taken as the formation date of the Indian Railways and celebrated as the Indian Railways day every year.
The Thane viaducts, the earliest railway bridges, were constructed across the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May 1854. The first passenger train of Eastern India traveled 39 km (24 mi) from Howrah, close to Kolkata, to Hoogly on 15 August 1854.[6] In 1853, the first main line of the South between Royapuram at Madras and Arcot was commenced which became functional on 1 July 1856.[13] On 24 February 1873, a horse tram of 3.8 km (2.4 mi) opened between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat street in Calcutta.[14] On 9 May 1874, a horse tramway was introduced at Bombay between Parel and Colaba.[15] In 1879, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was formed which constructed railway lines across the then Hyderabad State from Kachiguda.[16] An Ajmer constructed F-1/734 Steam Locomotive was the first indigenously constructed locomotive in India in 1877.[17] In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was implemented with Jodhpur Railway, the first to install electric lighting as a permanent feature.
1900–1999
Indian Railways map in 1914
The railway budget was introduced for the first time in 1924.[6] The first electric train traveled between Bombay and Kurla on 3 February 1925, powered by a SLM electric locomotive running on DC traction.[18] Electric Multiple Units (EMU) were first launched in Bombay during 1925 using 1500 V DC units supplied by Cammell Laird and Uerdingenwagonfabrik.[19] Chennai suburban railway began running in 1931 with one metre-gauge line from Tambaram to Chennai Beach.[20] Between 1925 and 1944, the running of the railway companies in British presidencies and provinces came under the management of the Government.[21]
In 1950, there were approximately 42 different railway companies operating around 55,000 km (34,000 mi) tracks nationwide.[22][23] These railway companies were gradually amalgamated into one entity to be called Indian Railways.[24] In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways sanctioned the proposal of 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 established first.[23][25][21] In 1952, fans and lighting were made compulsory for all compartments of passenger trains and sleeping facilities were provided in coaches.[6] The first diesel locomotive employed in India was manufactured by North British Locomotive Company in 1954.[26]}
A typical red-colored ICF coach used by the Indian Railways till the late 1990s.
The first locomotive production shop at Chittaranjan commenced in 1950.[27] The initial rail coaches were produced in India from 1956 when the Integral Coach Factory was set up at Madras.[28] In 1956, an air-conditioned train ran for the first time between Howrah and New Delhi.[29] In 1957, 25 kV AC traction was adopted by Indian Railways with the first workings commencing in December 1959 with the WAM-1 locomotives.[19] The initial containerized rail freight transport was initiated between Bombay and Ahmedabad in 1966.[6] In 1969, the Government of India declared a new express train with the capacity to travel up to 120 km/h (75 mph) in the railway budget and the first Rajdhani Express was inaugurated from New Delhi to Howrah in March 1969.[30][31] In 1974, Indian Railways witnessed a 20-day strike.[32][33] The initial metro rail commenced in Calcutta on 24 October 1984.[34].
In 1986, computerized reservations and ticketing were introduced.[35] In 1988, the first Shatabdi Express was launched between New Delhi and Jhansi.[6] Two years later, the first self-printing ticket machine (SPTM) was launched in Delhi.[36] In 1993, air-conditioned sleeper and three-tier were launched.[6] In 1995, Chennai MRTS was the first operational elevated railway line in India.[20] Centralized computer reservation system was implemented in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in September 1996, coupon validating machines (CVMs) were launched at Mumbai CSMT in 1998 and the nationwide concierge system went into operation on 18 April 1999..jpeg)
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2000–present
The website of Indian Railways came online in February 2000. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was formed in 1999 and online ticketing was launched on 3 August 2002 through IRCTC.[37] In 2015, the first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered trains were introduced.[38] From 1925, the Railway budget was tabled prior to the Union budget until 2016. The central government cleared the merger of the Rail and General budgets from 2017.[39] On 31 March 2017, Indian Railways declared a target of electrifying the entire rail network would be electrified by 2023.[40] In March 2020, Indian Railways declared a nationwide closure of passenger service to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in India with the freight operations continuing to carry essential commodities. The railways resumed passenger services in a phased manner in May 2020.
Launched in 2019, Vande Bharat Express running on a train-set manufactured by ICF, is India's fastest train
From the 2010s, numerous infrastructure upgradation works have been carried out such as high-speed rail,[45][46] redeveloping 400 stations,[47] doubling of tracks to ease congestion,[48] coach refurbishing,[49][50] GPS-based tracking of trains[51] and modernization of locomotives.[52][53] In 2018, a semi-high speed self-propelled train-set with speeds of over 160 km/h (99 mph) was rolled out from ICF and the Vande Bharat Express was inaugurated in 2019.[54][55] Indian Railways announced it would become a net-zero carbon emission railway by 2030 and has already introduced rainwater harvesting at stations,[56] reforestation on the tracks,[57] induction of solar-powered trains,[58] commissioning of solar and wind power generation plants,[59] and eco-friendly LED lighting at all the stations.[60] Indian railways eliminated all unmanned level crossings by 2019 with manned level crossings replaced by bridges.[61] Other safety initiatives include extending an automated fire alarm system to all air-conditioned coaches and GPS-based Fog Pilot Assistance System railway signalling equipment.[62] In 2020, Indian Railways permitted running of private passenger trains for the first time with the first train flagged off from Coimbatore in June 2022.
Organisation
Structure
Indian Railways is a government-owned company, organized as a departmental undertaking of the Government of India's Ministry of Railways.[a][67][68] It is administered by a Railway Board on behalf of the Ministry of Railways.[68][69] The five member Railway board has a chairman cum chief executive officer as head and members dealing with infrastructure, traction & rolling stock, operations & business development, and finance.[70] Also included among officers on special duty are those managing human resources, Railway Protection Force, and health and safety.
Indian Railways is organized into 18 administrative zones (17 operational), under the charge of general managers that are further segmented into 68 operating divisions, under the control of divisional railway managers (DRM).[71] Divisional officers of the corresponding operating verticals are under the jurisdiction of the DRMs and divisional heads and are responsible for the operation and maintenance of assets. Station masters regulate single stations and movement of trains through the territory of their stations.[3] Apart from that, there are various manufacturing units, training centers, PSUs and other undertakings under the Indian Railways' jurisdiction.
Human resources
Employees are divided into gazetted (Groups A and B) and non-gazetted (Groups C and D) staff with gazetted staff performing executive/managerial level duties.[73] As of 31 March 2024, Groups A & B make up 1.4% of the total staff, while Group C (into which Group D was merged prior to 2020) makes up 98.6%.[3] 80% of Group-A staff are appointed by Indian Railways Management Service with the rest through promotions.[74]}
Group B employees are selected by departmental promotional exams of Group C employees. Recruitment of Group C employees is done through RRCB conduct examinations and Group D staffs are selected by zonal RRC.[75] Seven central training institutes and 295 training schools are run by Indian Railways. It also has residential accommodation, medical facilities and educational centers for personnel.[3] Indian Railways operated an all-female crew on International Women's Day 2025 to drive the Vande Bharat Express for the first time.
Infrastructure and operations
Rolling stock
Locomotives
Passenger coaches
The early rail coaches were modelled on a Swiss company's prototype and were referred to as ICF coaches after Integral coach factory (ICF), India's first coach manufacturing facility.[28] From 1955 to 2018, these coaches were produced and were mostly in service up to early 2010s.[82] From the late 1990s, the ICF coaches were replaced by newer, safer LHB coaches designed by Germany's Linke-Hofmann-Busch.[83][84] In late 2010s, Indian railways began upgrading the coaches of some of the special trains from LHB to new Tejas coaches with improved features.[85][86] As of 31 March 2024, Indian Railways had 91,948 passenger coaches, out of which 65,016 were conventional, 12,229 EMU and 1,681 DMU coaches.[3] Coaches are produced by five Indian Railways' manufacturing facilities and public sector entities BEML and BHEL.[78] The coaching stock are assigned unique five or six digit codes. Up to 2018, the first two numbers denoting the year of manufacture and the remaining three numbers denoting the class.[87] The numbering scheme was modified in 2018 with the first two numbers denoting the year of manufacture and the remaining four numbers denoting the sequence number.
Multiple units
In the 1960s, short-distance and suburban rail transport Electric multiple units (EMU) were introduced.[89][90] Mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) and Diesel electrical multiple unit (DEMU) trains operate on regional short-distance routes. These train sets operate in configuration of 6, 9, 12 or 15 coaches and a three-car set is characterized by a motor coaches and two passenger coaches.[91][92] These train-sets are powered and capable of accelerating or decelerating at a quicker rate.[93] In 2018, Indian Railways also introduced semi-high speed self-powered train sets with redesigned coaches for inter city trains.
Goods wagons
Indian Railways transport a range of freight to meet different needs and possess specialized rolling stock to match the freight transported. There are 243 classes of rolling stock employed for freight operations.[94] They consist of covered wagons, boxcars, flat wagons, flatbeds, open wagons, hoppers, containers, automobile carriers, defense vehicle carriers and tankers.[95] The freight cars can usually transport loads ranging from 10 to 80 tonnes per car depending on the design.[95] A new wagon numbering system was implemented in Indian Railways in 2003.[96] The wagon requirement was earlier fulfilled by Bharat wagon and engineering with the procurement and production now being carried out by both in public and private sector.
Others
Apart from standard passenger classes, the Indian Railways has other specialized coach types used for dedicated functions.[97] These include accident relief medical vans,[98][99] brake vans,[100][101] generator cars,[102] inspection carriages,[103] military cars,[98] pantry car[104] and parcel vans.[105] These may be dedicated self-propelled units or attached to train-sets
Manufacturing
Indian Railways runs several production units. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) commissioned in 1950 was the first locomotive production unit in India.[27] The first railway coache production unit, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) was produced at Madras in 1956.[28] Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) commissioned in 1961 is the second locomotive production unit of Indian Railways.[108] BHEL, Patiala Locomotive Works, Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowrah and Electric Locomotive Factory, Madhepura also produce locomotives in India.[78] Railway coaches are also produced at coach factories at Karputhala, Raebareli, Sonipat and Latur.[78] Indian Railways also has three rail wheel production factories at Bangalore, Chhpra and Raebareli
Maintenance
The locomotives are operated and maintained by 40 locomotive sheds.[81][80] 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
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