Indian Railways

Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. As of 2024, it manages the fourth largest national railway system by size, with a track length of 135,207 km (84,014 mi), running track length of 109,748 km (68,194 mi) and route length of 69,181 km (42,987 mi), of which 66,820 km (41,520 mi) is 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad-gauge. As of October 2025, approximately 99.1% of the broad-gauge railway network had been electrified. With more than 1.2 million employees, it is the ninth-largest employer of the world and the second largest employer of India. In 1951, the Indian Railways was established by the amalgamation of 42 different railway companies operating in the country, spanning a total of 55,000 km (34,000 mi). The railway network across the country was reorganized into six regional zones in 1951–52 for administrative purposes, which was gradually expanded to 18 zones over the years. The first steam locomotive hauled railway operated in 1837 in Madras for ferrying cargo. The first passenger railway was operated in 1853 between Bombay and Thane. In 1925, the first electric train ran in Bombay on DC traction. The first locomotive manufacturing unit was commissioned in 1950 at Chittaranjan with the first coach manufacturing unit set-up at Madras in 1955. Indian Railways runs various classes of express, passenger, suburban, and freight trains. In 2023–24, it operated 13,198 passenger trains on average daily covering 7,325 stations and carried 6.905 billion passengers. It operated 11,724 freight trains on average daily and transported 1588.06 million tonnes of freight. Indian Railways operates multiple classes of rolling stock, manufactured by self-owned coach-production facilities. As of March 2024, Indian Railways' rolling stock consisted of 327,991 freight wagons, and...