INDIAN RAILWAYS

Indian Railways is a state owned railway company, responsible for rail transport in India. It is owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is fourth largest railway network in the world comprising 119,630 kilometres (74,330 mi) of total track and 92,081 km (57,216 mi) of running track over a route of 68,525 km (42,579 mi) with 7,216 stations at the end of 2015-16. In 2015-16, IR carried 8.107 billion passengers annually or more than 22 million passengers a day and 1.101 billion tons of freight annually.



So, one can infer that Indian trains are extremely crowded. But, due to large number of passenger trains and their proper management, this crowd is handled well by the railways.

Indian Railway uses various locomotive engines for various purposes such as-


WAM-4- This is the first electric powered locomotive of India after it’s independence with a top speed of approximately 110 km/hr. This locomotive is used for operating both passenger and goods trains.



A WAM-4 Locomotive


WCAM-3- This locomotive can run on both AC and DC electricity with a top speed of 105 km/hr approximately. This locomotive is also used for operating both passenger and goods trains.



A WCAM-3 Locomotive

 WAG-7- This is an electric powered locomotive which is typically operated in goods trains. This has a top speed of 105 km/hr approximately. This locomotive has been developed by BHEL.

WAG-7 Locomotive (Built by BHEL)

WDP-4- This is diesel powered locomotive which operates in passenger trains. This has a top speed of 160 km/hr

WDP-4 Locomotive

WAP ‘P5’- This is an electric powered locomotive which operates in high speed passenger trains such as Rajdhani and Shatabdi. It has a top speed of 160 km/hr

WAP-5 Locomotive

WAP ‘P7’- This is also an electric powered locomotive which operates in express passenger trains. It has a top speed of 140 km/hr.

WAP P’7′ Locomotive

WAG-9- This is goods train drawing locomotive which is powered by electricity and has a top speed of 100 km/hr. It is in operation since 1997.

WAG-9 Locomotive

WDG-4- This is typically a high speed goods train drawing locomotive powered by diesel with a top speed of 160 km/hr.

WDG-4 Locomotive

WAP-5- This is an electric powered locomotive with a top speed of 160 km/hr used for drawing passenger trains. This locomotive is in service since 1995

WAP-5 Locomotive

WDG-3A- This is used for drawing goods trains. It has a top speed of 100 km/hr and is powered by diesel. It is also known as ‘Shakti’

WDG-3A Locomotive (Also called ‘Shakti’)

WAP-7- This is an electric locomotive used in passenger trains. With a top speed of 140 km/hr, this locomotive is serving Indian railways since 1998.

WAP-7 Locomotive

WAP-4- This is an electric powered locomotive which is typically used in running passenger trains. It has a top speed of 140 km/hr. It is in service since 1990.

WAP-4 Locomotive

These all locomotives operate on ‘Broad Gauge’.

Indian Railways also use/used some locomotives which operate on narrow gauge, such as-

ZDM 1

ZDM 2

ZDM 3 (Later rebuilt as ZDM 4C class)

ZDM 4

ZDM 4A

ZDM 4B, 4C, 4D

ZDM 5

ZDM-5 Locomotive

YDM 1 – The first diesel locomotives on 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metere gauge .Imported from Britain in 1955.They were 20 in number.Mainly found on Western Railway.Phased out by the 1990s.

YDM 2 – Originally used on Southern Railway.Built by CLW .Only 41 in numbers.Mostly used for shunting purposes or to pull short passenger trains.

YDM 3 – Produced by GM-EMD in 1961–62. (Model no. GA-12) .Mainly found near Ahmedabad near Sabarmati Loco shed.

YDM-3 Locomotive

YDM 4 – Most widely and successful diesel locomotive used in India on meter gauge.550 units produced by DLW till date.

YDM-4 Locomotive

YDM 4A – The 99 locos supplied by Montreal Locomotive Works

YDM 5 – Same specifications as of YDM-3 but an addition of 10 t (9.8 long tons; 11.0 short tons) weight to the axles.Supplied by GM-EMD in 1964.

Currently all diesel locomotives except YDM-4 and YDM-4A are supposed to be withdrawn from service.

Metre-gauge electric loco –

YCG 1 (These locomotives are among the earliest electric locomotives in India. This class was imported to serve the Chennai area in the early 1930s.

YCG-1 Locomotive

YAM 1 - These locomotives were in service until 2002 around Chennai. 20 were Imported from Japan.

These locomotives operate on meter gauge.

NO OTHER SOUTH ASIAN RAILWAY HAS SUCH A BIG COLLECTION OF LOCOMOTIVES EXCEPT INDIA.

These locomotives operate daily on variety of routes across the length and breadth of India and provide it’s commuters one of the cheapest and fastest modes of transportation.

Indian trains are crowded. but the crowd is properly managed, a typical Indian train looks like this-

However, inside the train it is completely full and commuters also cling to the doors and very rarely someone travels on the top.

Besides this, in a normal Indian express train, there are 5 types of coaches-

General Coach- This coach doesn’t have any seat reservation and any number of people can take a ticket and board it. That’s why general coaches are crowded most of the time. It is also the cheapest coach.

Sleeper Coach- This coach has reserved seats. But, this coaches are non-AC type.

3 Tier AC Coach- This coach is same as Sleeper coach except that is air-conditioned completely.

2 Tier Ac Coach- This coach has two berths on the either side with very less crowd and as the name suggests fully air conditioned.

1 Tier AC Coach- This coach has a single berth on each side with very-very less crowd and it is the most expensive coach.

There are some high speed express trains such as Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express and Gatimaan Express besides the normal express trains.

Indian Railways also transports freights across the country. Oil, Gasoline and and minerals are also transported by special traains called 'Malgadi' in India.

An Indian freight train

Besides this, India also has Metro Railways in Kolkata, Delhi and Lucknow (Scheduled to start soon) as well as monorail in Mumbai. Special trains called ‘Local Trains’ operate between local stations in highly populated metros such as Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi for the convenience of the commuters.

Kolkata Metro Train

Mumbai Local Train

Mumbai Monorail

Other than that, Indian Railways have some of the most luxurious trains in the world such as The Golden Chariot, Palace on Wheels, Deccan Odyssey, Maharaja’s Express etc which makes it one of the most unique railway in the world.

The Palace on Wheels train

Restaurant Coach of Palace on Wheels Train

Dibrugarh - Kanyakumari ‘Vivek Express’ is weekly train, numbered 15905/15906, is currently the longest train route in the Indian Subcontinent. It joins Dibrugarh in Assam, North-East India to Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu which is the southernmost tip of Mainland India.

Vivek Express ( A tribute to Swami Vivekananda by Indian Railways)

Indian Railway also operates International trains such as Samjhauta Express between Delhi to Amritsar in India and to Lahore in Pakistan and Maitri Express between Kolkata in India to Dhaka in Bangladesh. Indian Railways is also providing technological and financial assistance to Nepal to bulid it’s railway system efficiently.

Indian Rake of Samjhauta Express

Maitri Express

Recently, Indian Railways have stared ‘Double Decker’ trains which are first of it’s kind in Southern Asia on highly crowded routes. In times to come, India Railways is planning to start ‘Bullet Trains’ in Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune corridor which will have a top speed of 350 km/hr with technological help from Japan.

Double-Decker Train

India has a huge population and there is always stress on it’s railway network which serves as the ‘Lifeline of the Nation’. But, Indian Railways has learnt to deal with the huge number of commuters gradually which use it’s service 24*7. It also runs more number of trains on specifically crowded routes to ensure that there is no overcrowding during festive seasons. Therefore, one can infer that yes Indian trains are crowded, but the crowd is most of the time under control and the commuter can have a ‘Happy Journey’ in Indian trains.