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Indian Rail

Indeed, the system of Indian Rail has done a great job. However being one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, Indian Rail has taken up a strong transporting capacity to overhaul over 18 million passengers and more than 2 million tones of freight daily. To make comfortable journey, Indian Rail is getting down to upgrading stations, coaches, tracks, services, safety and security of its passengers. With the introduction of eco-friendly, discharge-free, green toilets, Indian Railways has all set to enhance the ridding comfort for passengers. And entire of the Indian Rail proceeding is directly supervised by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India.

Earlier, the first passenger train service in India was started on April 16, 1853 between Bori Bunder in Bombay (now Mumbai) and Thane for a distance of 34 Kilometres. It was pulled by three locomotives i.e., Sultan, Sahib and Sindh. Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General of India, formulated a plan to construct a rail network in India. And thereafter, various states started constructing their own rail systems spread through the regions

Now, Indian Rail operates long distance as well as suburban rail network on a multi-gauge system of Broad, Metre and Narrow gauges. Entire of the system of Indian Rail is well administered by the Railways Board. The board comprises seven members in all. With all that, Indian Rail gains the privilege of becoming the world’s largest commercial or utility employer that has over 1.4 million employees.

Indian Railways has secured notable distinction and achievements in the area of passenger service. It has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Mountain Railways of India. Apart from this, Indian Railways has the Palace on Wheels. This specifically designed train set to promote tourism in Rajasthan. Likewise, the Deccan Odyssey covers key tourist destinations of both Maharashtra and Goa, while the government of Karnataka has introduced the Golden Chariot which connects popular tourist spots in Karnataka and Goa. Also, the Kalka Shimla Railway till recently featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the steepest altitude train services in the space of 96 kilometres.

Precisely, the Indian Rail system has been divided into 16 zones. Each zone has certain number of divisions and has its divisional headquarters which is headed by a General Manager who reports directly to the Railway Board. In a good-will gesture to Pakistan, Indian Rail has introduced two rail services. One is Samjhauta Express that connects Delhi (India) and Lahore (Pakistan), while another train is the Thar Express which Khokhrapar (Pakistan) and Munabo (India).

Also, Indian Rail has inducted the Lifeline Express. It is a special train popularly known as the “Hospital-on-Wheels. It provides healthcare to the rural areas. Among other famous locomotives, the Fairy Queen, the oldest running locomotive on the mainline inn the world today, has the distinction of being the oldest surviving locomotive service.

For the reservation of seat in Indian Rail, every passenger has to fill out a simple requisition form which is easily available online as well as offline. Of that, online booking has due precedence as it saves a good amount of your time and energy. Every passenger has allocated a PNR (Passenger Name Record). Indian Rail keeps a record in the database of a computer Reservation system that takes record of a passenger or a group of travelers. If adequate seats are not available then the provisions of RAC (Reservation against Cancellation) is to be implemented in order to maximize the number of wait-list passengers to be accommodated in case of cancellation. In this way, a great number of rail passengers are well provided somewhere to stay and take journey even in peak seasons.