Indian Railways (1843-2014):  Milestones of Eminence

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Following have gone as the landmarks in the glorious history of Indian Railways..

1843:   Lord Dalhousie conceived the possibility of connecting INDIA by means of Railway Communication.

1844:   First proposal for the construction of Railways.

1847:   Lord Dalhousie appointed as Governor-General of India.

1849:  Agreement made for setting up experimental line by EIR and GIPR in Calcutta and Bombay respectively.

1850:   “The Battle of Guages” was settled and standard guage of 5′ 6″ adopted.

1851-52:  First Steam Locomotive in India “Thomason” (Guage 4′ 8.1/2″) and “Lord Falkland” First Broad Guage (5′ 6″) steam locomotive arrived.

1853: On April 16, at 3:35 pm, the first passenger train of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway left Boree Bunder station in Bombay (present day CST,Mumbai) for  Tannah (present day Thane). The train took fifty-seven minutes to reach Tannah. It covered a distance of 21 miles (33.8 km). Three locomotives named Sultan, Sindh and Sahib pulled the 14 carriages carrying 400 passengers on board.

1854: First run in Calcutta area from Howrah to Hooghly.

1855: Fairy Queen Steam Engine came in service.

1856: First run in Madras area from Veyasarpaudy to Walajah Raod (Arcot).

1856-65: First Ghats-The challenging construction of Bhor & Thul Ghats including Tunnels.

1863:  Ramgotti Steam engine worked on Nalhati Railway of 4′ Guage line in EIR

1866-72: Calcutta linked with Delhi, Amritsar and Bombay. Bombay linked with Madras, Cochin etc. JAMALPUR workshop in East and PAREL Workshop in West set up for maintenance of rolling stock etc.

1870:  First Native-State Railway-Khamgaon.

1873: First Metre Guage line opened from Delhi to Farukhnagar.

1873: First Narrow Guage 2′ 6″ line started by Gaekwar Baroda State Railways.

1874-79: Railways supplied food and water in affected areas during dreaded famine.

1881:  First Hill Railway (DHR narrow Guage-2′ ) towards Darjeeling opened.

1887:  One of the most beautiful Station/Office buildings of the World Bombay V.T. constructed.

1907:   “Zero” Guage (Mono-Rail-PSMT) of Maharaja Patiala started and it still works in Delhi at National Rail Museum.

1925: First Electric Train introduced by GIPR. Railway Finance separated from General Finance for strengthening the Organization.

1945: First Diesel Engine introduced by EIR.

1947-51: Formation of Indian Railways and then its division into Zonal Railways.

1971: Foundation stone of National Rail Museum, Delhi was laid by Hon’ble President Sh. V.V. Giri opened the National Rail Museum for Public on 1st of February. Museum is of international fame for Preservation and Promotion of Heritage Tourism, Education and Entertainment.

1984:   Introduction of First Metro Rail in Calcutta.

1998: Guinness Book world record certificate for being the oldest working Steam Locomotive was granted to Fairy Queen.

1999:   First Hill Railway (DHR narrow Guage-2’) towards Darjeeling declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

1999: Name of Delhi Main Station included in Guinness Book of World Records as it has the world’s largest Route Relay Interlocking system, with 11000 relays allowing upto 1,122 signaled movements, installed by Northern Indian Railways

2011: The Indian Railway carried over 8,900 million passengers’ annually or more than 24 million passengers daily and 2.8 million tonnes of freight daily.

2012: Indian Railway transported over 25 million passengers daily.

The Vallarpadam railway link in Kochi, Kerala, is the longest rail bridge in India. The 4.62 km rail bridge is part of an 8.86 km rail corridor connecting the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) on Vallarpadam Island with Edappally, a suburb in Kochi city.

2013: Indian Railways is the world’s ninth largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.4 million employees.

As for rolling stock, Indian Railway holds over 239,281 Freight Wagons, 59,713 Passenger Coaches and 9,549 locomotives (43 steam, 5,197 diesel and 4,309 electric locomotives).

There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Indian Railways – the Chhatrapati  Shivaji Terminus and the Mountain Railways of India.

2014: Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has announced Rs. 28000 crore for new rail projects for North East India.

Another landmark engineering marvel, Indian Railways completed Udhampur-Katra Broad gauge line in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dudhsagar

Govt. of India started first Bullet Train Project from Mumbai to Ahemdabad.

(Source: Indian Railways)

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Shivesh Pratap

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