Longest Railway Routes Archives

The first recorded steam-hauled railway journey took place long back on 21 February 1804 from Penydarren Ironworks (a community for manufacturing iron goods in South Wales) to Abercynon (a small village in South Wales). It took almost 50 years for the British East India Company to establish its first Rail Track in India under the supervision of British officer Lord Dalhousie (also known as the father of Indian Railways). He was a Governor-General of India at that period.

Now Indian Railways is India’s national railway system operated by the Ministry of Railways (one of the ministries in the Government of India, responsible for the country’s rail transport). As of March 2017, it operates the fourth-largest rail network in the world and is 67,368 km wide.

Being the 7th largest country in the world, and having such geological diversity was always in need of some network that connects the cities altogether and this need was fulfilled by Indian Railway. Indian Railway took its time to became nerve of the whole nation but it started way before complete road transport was available to the common folk of Inda. Railway changed the course of the history and economy of India as it did for no other country in the world.

We today may seem too forgot its importance due to other means of transportation, however, without the railway, their employment wouldn’t have been possible. Following are some facts and figures about Indian railway that really make it best in the world.

1. Indian Railway is 168 years old

Indian-Railway-Old — Indian Railway in 1853

The inception of the Indian railway dates back to 16 April 1853. The first train track was 33 kilometers in length and was started between Mumbai and Thane. It was capable to carry 400 passengers, another interesting fact about it is that day was declared as a holiday by the British Government.

2. It carries equivalent Population of Australia Every Day

Yes, every day 23 million people use Indian railway to move from one place to another. This fact on its own enough to show one importance of the Indian railway. We can really say that it carries the nation on its soldiers.

3. It Really does some heavy lifting

Not only people but a huge quantity of freight is carried by Indian railway. There are 7,421 freight trains operating in India and they are capable to carry 3 million tonnes (MT) of freight daily.

4. Indian Railway has its own finances

Back in the financial year of 1920-1921 a separate committee and budget were made for the development of Indian railway. In 1924 all of its finances were separated from other Government finances.

5. Other transport has taken the load off the Indian railway now

In 1950’s Indian Railway used to carry 75% of public transport and 90% of freight of the whole nation however due to other mediums of transportation, it has reduced to 15% and 30%. respectively.

6. It even has a Mascot

Indian-Railway-Mascot — Indian Railway Mascot is an elephant

Indian railway even has a Mascot who is an elephant named-Bholu. It can be seen wearing guard dress at various places, however, it is not very common.

7. Its Max Speed is 180 Km/hr

Vande Bharat Express is the fastest train in Indian and has a max speed of 180 Km/hr. However, due to safety concerns speed is restricted to 130km/hr. Anything above it could have been very dangerous.

8. Indian railway is fourth-largest in the world

Lenght of Indian railway tracks is 67,368-kilometre it is long enough to cover the equator one and a half time. Railway networks of the USA, Russia and China are the only ones in the world that are longer than India.

9. Its slowest speed is 10 km/hr

Mettupalayam Ooty Nilgiri Passenger train is the slowest train in the Indian railway system, with a speed of 10 km/hr. It is because of the hilly area where the train can’t achieve a very high speed.

10. It is one of the World’s largest employers

Indian railway has 1.6 million that keep the whole system running for the world’s largest democracy. Its is arguably one of the top 10 employers of the world.

11. New Delhi Main Station has a place in Guinness Book of World record

Having the world’s largest route relay interlocking system made New Delhi Main Station get a name in Guinness Book of World record. It makes Delhi station a hub for all the railway networks in India.

12. Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh has the longest platform in the world

Having a length more that 1.3 kilometres Gorakhpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh has the longest platform.

13. It is set to have the highest railway bridge

Chenab Bridge will be built in the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir and it will be 359 m above Chenab river and will have a length of 1.3 Kilometers. It is even higher than the Effie Tower.

14. It has 7500 stations

Indian railway is so large that 7500 stations are needed to hold it all together. These stations carry out the task of loading and unloading of passengers and various maintenance-related tasks too.

15. It has the oldest steam Locomotive

Indian railway has the Fairy Queen. It is the oldest steam locomotive that is still running. It runs between New Delhi and Rajasthan and was constructed back in 1855. In 1998 it also got a Guinness book of world record.

16. It has a train that runs 6.5 hours non-stop

Trivandrum – H. Nizamuddin Rajdhani covers 528 km between Vadodara and Kota without stopping. It completes this journey in about 6 and a half hour.

17. It got its first toilet in 1909

Indian railway didn’t have any toilets for the first 50 years. Only when a passenger named Okhil Chandra Sen wrote a letter to the railway department, this need was fulfilled. That letter is currently in the railway museum.

18. In 2012 it was stopped for several hours

In 2012 North India met an energy crisis due to which caused a blackout for Indian railway. All the railroads were stopped because of it for several hours.

19. In 1981 it met its deadliest disaster

In 1981 a passenger train fell into the Bagmati river that killed nearly 600 people. It was considered as a black day in the history of Indian Railway.

20. It has one of the world’s most unreliable train

The Guwahati Thiruvananthapuram Express with an average delay of 10-12 hours is one of the most unreliable trains in the world. However, considering its odd geographical path it can’t be said it’s the worst.

21. It has a popular website

The IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation) has a website that gets 12 lakh hits per minute, due to its online booking system. It has expanded railways reach to the people and it is much easier nowadays to book tickets online.

22. It has four sites declared “World Heritage sites” by UNESCO

Darjeeling, Himalayan Railway (1999), Mumbai CST Building (2004), Neelgiri Mountain Railways (2005) and Kalka-Shimla Railways (2008) were declared “World Heritage sites” by UNESCO.

23. It also has a toy train

In Darjeeling, there is a famous toy train that was built by the British government back in 1881. It is famous for its small size and it still runs on steam. Over the years it has become a famous tourist attraction.

24. It has a railway station that is in 2 states

Navapur railway station is built on a border between Maharashtra and Gujarat thus it has area spanned in both the states.

25. Samjhauta Express runs between India and Pakistan

Samjhauta Express runs between Delhi and Lahore and connects both nations. However, due to continued tension between both countries, it gets suspended from time to time.

26. It saved people after partition

From August to November in 1947 Indian railway helped in the evacuation of Over a million non-Muslims from Pakistan and 1.3 million Muslims from India. It was all possible because of Indian railway’s efficiency.

Conclusion:-

Indian railway has always been the lifeline of India. We hope all the aforementioned facts provided will boost your knowledge about the fourth-largest networks in the World. A network this large helps the people of the nation to move around in a certain way which can’t be achieved by any other medium. After the rise of road transportation, its use certainly has been compromised but its importance and role in Indian history certainly aren’t. Indian history couldn’t have been the same without the Indian railway, so it is important for us to know about it.

Carrying over 8 billion passengers every year, Indian Railways is the fourth largest railway network in the world. That’s huge. Isn’t it? Founded on 16th April 1853, Indian railway network has a total track length of 121,410 km over a 67,368 km route. Railways are one of the most looked after mode of transportation in the country. Maybe the same is the reason for the fact that Indian railways are the eighth-largest employer in the world with 1.4 million(approx.) number of employees. These railway networks expand to some extraordinary routes that cover the length and breadth of entire India. So, here we’re today with a list of 10 Longest Railway Routes in India.

1. Vivek Express – Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari

The route followed by the Vivek Express is the longest railway route in India.

The route followed by the Vivek Express is the longest railway route followed in India. This train joins the Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari. The distance covered by this train is 4,233 km. This train has a running time of roughly 80 hours and 15 minutes and has 55 stops scheduled during the entire journey. This train starts in northern Assam region and extends to Kanyakumari in the South. This train is named after Swami Vivekananda and was introduced to mark the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of the Indian philosopher and visionary. The route followed by this train is the ninth largest in the world. This train passes through eight states during its entire course of the journey.

2. Thiruvananthapuram – Silchar Superfast Express – Thiruvananthapuram to Silchar

The route followed by this train is the second longest in the country.

The route followed by the Thiruvananthapuram-Silchar Superfast Express is the second longest railway route followed in India. This weekly train earlier used to connect Thiruvananthapuram to Guwahati but on 21st November 2017, the train was extended to Silchar in the east. After this extension, the train became the longest running superfast train in the country. The distance covered by this train is 3,932 kilometres. This train has a running time of roughly 75 hours. This train starts from Thiruvananthapuram in the south and extends to Silchar in the east.

3. Himsagar Express – Jammu Tawi to Kanyakumari

The route followed by this train is the third longest in the country.

The route followed by the Himsagar Express is the third longest railway route followed in India. This weekly train connects Kanyakumari in the south to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi in the north. The distance covered by this train during its course of the journey is 3709 km. The train covers 12 states during its journey and has a scheduled running time of about 70 hours and 50 minutes. This train is quite famous among the South Indians who have travelled or are looking forward to a visit to Mata Vaishno Devi in the north.

4. Ten Jammu Express – Tirunelveli to Jammu

The route followed by this train is the fourth longest in the country.

The route followed by the Ten Jammu Express is the fourth longest railway route in India. This train connects Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu in the south to Katra, Jammu & Kashmir in the north. The distance covered by this train is 3,631 km. The total number of stations covered on this route is 523 and the train has a scheduled stoppage at 62 stations out of 523 stations. This weekly train has a running time of about 71 hours and 20 minutes. During the course of the journey, the train passes through 11 states.

5. Navyug Express – Mangalore to Jammu

The route followed by this train is the fifth longest in the country.

The Navyug Express runs on the fifth longest railway route in India. The distance covered by this train is 3,607 km. The network extends from Mangalore Central, Karnataka in the south to Katra, Jammu & Kashmir in the north. This weekly train crosses 15 states during the entire journey. This train has a running time of 68 hours and 10 minutes and halts at 58 scheduled stations during the journey. This train was introduced with a vision to improve the connectivity of Jammu & Kashmir with rest of the country.

6. Humsafar Express- Agartala to Bangalore Cantonment

The route followed by this train is the sixth longest in the country.

The next railway route on our list of 10 Longest Railway Routes in India is from Agartala to Bangalore Cantonment. The route followed by the Humsafar Express is the sixth longest railway network in the country. The distance covered by this train is 3,599 km. This train is completely a 3-tier AC sleeper train specially designed by Indian Railways and is known for long-haul routes. The train connects the eastern states with the IT hub of India. Currently, the train is being operated under two train numbers 12503/12504 on the weekly basis.

7. Dibrugarh Express – Yeshwantpur (Bengaluru) to Dibrugarh

The route followed by this train is the 7th longest in the country.

The seventh longest railway route in the country extends from New Tinsukia, roughly 15 km away from Dibrugarh, Assam to Yeshwantpur, near Bengaluru, Karnataka. Dibrugarh Express- the train that runs on this route covers 3,547 km during the entire journey. The train takes around 70 hours and 45 minutes to complete the entire route. Some of the important cities connected by this train are Dimapur, Guwahati, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Bengaluru. The train passes through 7 Indian states and has 35 scheduled stops.

8. Raptisagar Express – Ernakulam (Kochi) to Barauni

The route followed by this train is the 8th longest in the country.

The next route on our list is the one followed by Raptisagar Express. This train follows the eighth longest railway route in the country. The train expands the railway connectivity from Ernakulam Junction, Kerala to Barauni in Begusarai district of Bihar. A railway network between the south western corner of India and the north eastern corner. The distance covered by this train is 3,438 km and has a scheduled running time of approximately 60 hours and 35 minutes. During the course of the journey, this train crosses 8 states of the country. This train is also a weekly express and stops at about 60 scheduled stations during the journey.

9. Amritsar Kochuveli Express – Amritsar to Kochuveli

The route followed by this train is the 9th longest in the country.

Amritsari to Kochuveli is the next railway route on our list. Amritsar Kochuveli Express connects these two places. The train passes through 7 states on its journey from north western city to the southern end of the country. The distance covered by this train is 3,295 km. The time taken by the train to cover the entire route is 57 hours and 20 minutes. Like other trains on the list, this is also a weekly train and stops at 24 scheduled stations during the course of the journey.

10. Dehradun-Kochuveli Superfast Express – Dehradun to Kochuveli

The route followed by this train is the 10th longest railway route in the country.

The last route on our list of 10 Longest Railway Routes in India is Dehradun to Kochuveli. Dehradun Kochuveli Superfast Express follows this route in the country. This express train connects Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala in the South. This train covers a distance of 3,154 km during the entire journey and has a running time of approximately 57 hours and 25 minutes. This train has a scheduled stoppage at 24 stations and passes through nine states.

This marks the end of our list of 10 Longest Railway Routes in India. No doubt, railways play an important role in the development of every nation. From transporting goods to connecting people, railways definitely does wonders. Maybe the same is the reason for Railways being the best-managed mode of transportation in the country.

That’s all from the story. Stay connected for more!