An Indian Railway Ticket from Chennai to Vijayawada by Howrah Mail. Indian Rail fares are among the cheapest in the world. A journey of 430 kms costs just US$4.
The Indian Railways are the state-owned national railway network of India. It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks on the planet, transporting 4.2 billion people and over 300 million tons of freight on 100,000 kilometres of track every year. The Indian Railways came into existence in 1890s when various state-owned railways were brought under the British Raj.
The Indian Railways operates many types of trains, from long-distance diesels carrying freight to short-distance electric suburban trains. Travelling by trains is one of the best ways of seeing India, as it gives one access to the Indian countryside, often missed by the visiting tourist.
Zones
Indian Railways has been divided into zones for easy administration.
The nine older railway zones are:
- Northern Railway (NR)
- North Eastern Railway (NER)
- Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR, sometimes NEFR)
- Western Railway (WR)
- Southern Railway (SR)
- South Central Railway (SCR)
- South Eastern Railway (SER)
- Eastern Railway (ER)
- Central Railway (CR)
The 7 new zones are:
- South Western Railway (SWR)
- North Western Railway (NWR)
- West Central Railway (WCR)
- North Central Railway (NCR)
- South East Central Railway (SECR)
- East Coast Railway (ECoR)
- East Central Railway (ECR)
The Konkan Railway (KR) is a separately incorporated railway which operates along the Konkan coast.
The Calcutta Metro is owned and operated by IR, but does not belong to any of the zones; it is administratively considered to have the status of a zonal railway.
A Few Statistics
- The largest rail network in Asia, along with China.
- World's largest rail network under one management
- 100,000 kilometres of track
- 300 yards (train storage/maintenance yards, not distance yards)
- 2,300 goodsheds
- 700 repairshops
- 8,300 locomotives
- 39,000 coaching vehicles
- 350,000 freight wagons
- 4.2 billion passengers per year
- 376 millions tons of freight in 1992-93
External Links
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