The
Railways in India is the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers.
The railways has played an important role in the development of industries and agriculture.
Indian Railways has the distinction of being one of the biggest and busiest rail networks in the world, carrying more than sixteen million passengers on a daily basis. In terms of headcount again
Indian Railway scores as it employs more than 1.6 million employees that is only second to the Chinese Army in terms of people employed.
Indian Railways has been serving the people of India with utmost pride for more than two centuries. It was in 1851 when the first train ran in the country for hauling construction material in Roorkee and by 1853 the first passenger train service became operational running between Bori Bunder, Bombay and Thane covering a distance of twenty one miles thus marking the formal birth of rail network in India.
| Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones: |
- Northern Railway (NR)
- North Eastern Railway (NER)
- Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR, sometimes NEFR)
- Western Railway (WR)
- Southern Railway (SR)
- South Central Railway (SCR)
- South Eastern Railway (SER)
- Eastern Railway (ER)
|
- Central Railway (CR)
- South Western Railway (SWR)
- North Western Railway (NWR)
- West Central Railway (WCR)
- North Central Railway (NCR)
- South East Central Railway (SECR)
- East Coast Railway (ECoR)
- East Central Railway (ECR)
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The
Indian Railways network binds the social, cultural and economical fabric of the country and covers the whole of country ranging from north to south and east to west removing the distance barrier for its people. The railway network of India has brought together the whole of country hence creating a feeling of unity among the Indians.
