22 Interesting Facts You May Not Know about the Indian Railway are as follows:
Facts
i. New Delhi Railway Station holds a world record for the largest number of route interlocks.
ii. Indian Railways is the second largest rail network in the world.
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iii. For the first 55 years, Indian Railways did not have toilets. Toilet system in upper class coaches was introduced in 1868 and in lower class coaches in 1909.
iv. Four of the world heritage sites in India are with the railways – the Victoria Terminus (VT) in Mumbai, Darjeeling Himalayan Railways Neelgiri Railways as the Kalka-Shimla Rly.
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v. Building VT took 10 years (1878-1888) and cost Rs 16,35,562. It is now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
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vi. The oldest running steam locomotive in the world. Fairy Queen, runs for four months (November- February) every year between New Delhi and Alwar stations.
vii. Indian Railways is the second largest employer in India, after Defence with 1.6 million people on its rolls.
viii. The longest journey on Indian Railways is from Jammu Tawi to Kanyakumari, a distance of 3,751 km, covered by Himsagar Express in 66 hours.
ix. Nehru Setu on river Sone is the longest bridge, which is 10,044 feet in length.
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x. The longest tunnel in India, between Monkey Hill and Khandala, is 7,000 feet.
xi. Air-conditioning was introduced in some first class coaches in 1936.
xii. Has 62,006 kms of tracks spread all over the country
xiii. 7,092 stations
xiv. 7,800 locomotives
xv. 40,000 coaches
xvi. 326000 wagons
xvii. Caters to 10 million passengers daily.
xviii. Carries 2.5 million tonnes of freight every day
xix. Runs 11,000 trains daily. Out of these Old/Delhi Railway Station handles 200 trains and New Delhi Railway Station 300 trains. A new station was added at Anand Vihar in Dec. 2009.
xx. The first fully air-conditioned train ran from Delhi to Howrah in 1956.
xxi. Computerised reservation system was introduced in 1986.
xxii. The fastest train in India is Bhopal Shatabdi, which can travel at 140 kmph.