indian railway history

Beginning of railway—In England, 1825.
● Two companies were established to develop railways in India—(i) East India Railway Company, (ii) Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company.
● Afterwards, an another company was also set up—Madras Railway Company.
● Indian Railway started on 16 April, 1853.
● First train covered a distance of 34 km between Mumbai and Thane. This train was run by Great Indian Peninsula company of Central Railway.
● The name of first rail engine was Beauty.
● There were 400 passengers, in four-wheeler, 14 bogies of the first train.
● In 1854, second train ran between Hoogly and Howrah.
 ● Metre gauge started functioning in 1870.
● In the first stage, railway was run by private sector, since Indian British Government did not have fund.
● Lord Salisbury had issued three instructions regarding construction and expansion of Indian railways in the states.
● Guarantee system in railway started in 1882.
● First electrified train ran on 5 February, 1925.
● Railway was nationalised in 1950.
● Railway Board was set up in 1905 during the period of Lord Curzon.
● At present, there is provision of a chairman, one finance commissioner and five members in the Railway Board.
● First diesel engine in India ran in 1957.
● At present, diesel engines are manufactured in Varanasi.
● First locomotive factory was set up in Chittaranjan of West Bengal. This Industrial coach factory was based on the model of Switzerland.
● The name of first electric train was Deccan Queen, which ran between Pune and Mumbai.
● In 1929, it ran between Pune and Kalyan.
● New name of this train is Royal Oriental Express.
● Indian Railway is the biggest in Asia and second in the world.
 India is the only country in the world which has rails of different breadths.
● There are four types of widths of rail lines— (a) Broad gauge—1676 mm — 1·676 metre. (b) Metre gauge—1000 mm — 1 metre. (c) Narrow gauge—762 mm — 0·762 metre. (d) Special gauge—610 mm—0·61 metre.
● Main Railway factories : (a) Integral    Coach    Factory—Perembur (Chennai). (b) Rail Coach Factory—Kapurthala. (c) Wheel and Axle Plant—Bangalore. (d) Diesel Component Works—Patiala. (e) Diesel Locomotive—Varanasi. (f) Chittaranjan     Locomotive     Works— Chittaranjan.
● Biggest Yard of India—Mugalsarai (U.P.).
● Biggest railway crossing of India—Itarasi (M.P.)