Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways,

Government of India that operates India's national railway system.[8] It manages the fourth
largest national railway system in the world by size, with a total route length of 68,043 km
(42,280 mi), running track length of 102,831 km (63,896 mi) and track length of 128,305 km
(79,725 mi) as of 31 March 2022.[9][5] 58,812 km (36,544 mi) of all the gauge routes are
electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric traction as of 1 April 2023.
In 2020, Indian Railways carried 808.6 crore (8.086 billion) passengers and in 2022, Railways
transported 1418.1 million tonnes of freight.[10][5] It runs 13,169 passenger trains daily, on both
long-distance and suburban routes, covering 7,325 stations across India.[5] Mail or Express
trains, the most common types of trains, run at an average speed of 50.6 km/h (31.4 mph).
Suburban EMUs run at an average speed of 37.5 km/h (23.3 mph). Ordinary passenger trains
(incl. mixed) run at an average speed of 33.5 km/h (20.8 mph).[5] The maximum speed of
passenger trains varies, with the Vande Bharat Express running at a peak speed of 180 km/h
(110 mph).

In the freight segment, IR runs 8,479 trains daily.[5] The average speed of freight trains is
around 42.2 km/h (26.2 mph). The maximum speed of freight trains varies from 60–75 km/h
(37–47 mph) depending on their axle load with 'container special' trains running at a peak speed
of 100 km/h (62 mph).

As of March 2022, Indian Railways' rolling stock consisted of 3,18,196 freight wagons, 84,863
passenger coaches and 13,215 locomotives.[5] IR owns locomotive and coach-production
facilities at several locations in India. It had 1.38 Million employees as of March 2020, making it
the world's tenth-largest employer.[5] The government has committed to electrifying India's
entire rail network by 2023–24, and become a "net zero (carbon emissions) railway" by 2030
The first railway proposals for India were made in Madras in 1832.[12] India's first railway line
was named Red Hill Railroad and was built by Arthur Cotton to transport granite for
road-building. It ran from the Red Hills in Chennai to the Chintadripet bridge in Madras and was
opened on 12 September 1837.[13][12] This railway, the first on the Indian Subcontinent, was
only used for freight transport. In 1845, the Godavari Dam Construction Railway was built by
Cotton at Dowleswaram in Rajahmundry, to supply stone for the construction of a dam over the
Godavari River. In 1851, the Solani Aqueduct Railway was built by Proby Cautley in Roorkee to
transport construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani River.[12] These railway tracks
were dismantled after each project was completed and no longer exist.

India's first passenger train, operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and hauled by
three steam locomotives (Sahib, Sindh and Sultan), ran for 34 kilometres (21 mi) with 400
people in 14 carriages on 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge track between Bori Bunder
(Mumbai) and Thane on 16 April 1853.[14][15] The Thane viaducts, India's first railway bridges,
were built over the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May
1854.[16] Eastern India's first passenger train ran 39 km (24 mi) from Howrah, near Kolkata, to
Hoogly on 15 August 1854.[1] The first passenger train in South India ran 97 km (60 mi) from
Royapuram-Veyasarapady (Madras) to Wallajaroad (Arcot) on 1 July 1856.[17]
On 24 February 1873, a horse-drawn 3.8 km (2.4 mi) tram opened in Calcutta between Sealdah
and Armenian Ghat Street.[18] On 9 May 1874, a horse-drawn tramway began operation in
Bombay between Colaba and Parel.[19] In 1879, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was
established which built several railway lines across the then Hyderabad State with Kachiguda
Railway Station serving as its headquarters.[20][21] In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was
introduced by many railway companies. On 3 February 1925, the first electric passenger train in
India ran between Victoria Terminus and Kurla.[22]

The organization of Indian railways into regional zones began in 1951,[23] when the Southern
(14 April 1951), Central (5 November 1951), and Western (5 November 1951) zones were
created.[24] Fans and lights were mandated for all compartments in all passenger classes in
1951, and sleeping accommodations were introduced in coaches. In 1956, the first fully
air-conditioned train was introduced between Howrah and Delhi (Presently known as Poorva
Express).[25] Ten years later, the first containerised freight service began between Mumbai and
Ahmedabad. In 1974, Indian Railways endured a 20 day strike, which damaged the nation's
economy.[26][27]

In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced in New Delhi.[28] In 1988, the
first Shatabdi Express was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi; it was later extended to
Bhopal.[29] Two years later, the first self-printing ticket machine (SPTM) was introduced in New
Delhi.[30] In 1993, air-conditioned three-tier coaches and a sleeper class (separate from second
class) were introduced on IR. The CONCERT system of computerized reservations was
deployed in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in September 1996. In 1998, coupon validating
machines (CVMs) were introduced at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The
nationwide concierge system began operation on 18 April 1999. In February 2000, the Indian
Railways website went online.[31] Individuals can book reserved tickets in online through Indian
Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) official website (www.irctc.co.in). On 3
August 2002, IR began online train reservations and ticketing.[32] Though in November 2019,
the website suffered a data breach exposing the records of 2 million customers including about
583,000 unique email addresses, usernames and passwords in plain text.[33]

The Railway Budget was usually presented two days before the Union budget every year till
2016. The central government approved merger of the Rail and General budgets from next year,
ending a 92-year-old practice of a separate budget for the nation's largest transporter. On 31
March 2017, Indian Railways announced that the country's entire rail network would be
electrified by 2022 or 2023, and become a net-zero (carbon emission) railway by 2030.[34][11]

On 22 March 2020, Indian Railways announced a nationwide shutdown of passenger rail

service to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in India. This became part of a nationwide lockdown
to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.[35] The railway shutdown was initially scheduled to
last from 23 to 31 March,[36] but the nationwide lockdown, as announced by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 24 March, was to last 21 days.[37] The national rail network is maintaining its
freight operations during the lockdown, to transport essential goods.[38] On 29 March, Indian
Railways announced that it would start service for special parcel trains to transport essential
goods, in addition to regular freight service.[39] The national rail operator has also announced
plans to convert coaches into isolation wards for patients of COVID-19.[40] The railways have
since reopened are currently functioning in 2022.

The Indian government plans to invest ₹9.05 trillion (US$110 billion) to upgrade IR.[41]

Infrastructure modernisation projects include high-speed rail;[42][43][44] redevelopment of 400

stations by monetizing 2,700 acres (11 km2) of spare railway land under a ₹10,70,000($134
billion) plan;[45] doubling tracks to reduce congestion and delays while improving safety;[46] the
refurbishing of 12- to 15-year-old coaches at the Carriage Rehabilitation Workshop in Bhopal to
enhance passenger amenities and fire safety;[47][48] Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled
tracking of trains to improve safety and service;[49] Digital India-driven ₹3,500,000 million
(equivalent to ₹4.9 trillion or US$61 billion in 2023) digitalisation of the railway to improve
efficiency and reduce cost;[46] rainwater harvesting, with 1885 systems installed by December
2016;[50] and reforestation of railway land and along the tracks.[51]

All routes will be electrified to save on imported fuel costs.[46] Off-the-grid solar-powered trains
are planned with the installation of one gigawatt of solar and 130 megawatts of wind power
between 2017 and 2022; India introduced the world's first solar-powered train and 50 coaches
with rooftop solar farms in June 2017.[52][53][54] Initial assessments of this experiment have
been positive.[55] Rooftop solar electricity is planned at stations to reduce long-term fuel costs
and protect the environment,[56] and sustainable LED lighting at all the stations was completed
by March 2018 which saves Rs 500 million per annum in electricity bills.[57] Locomotive
factories have been modernised, including two new factories in Bihar: an electric locomotive
factory in Madhepura and a diesel locomotive factory in Marhaura, and 2,285 bio-toilets were
introduced from April to July 2014.[58][59][60] A ₹200 billion (US$2.5 billion) partnership with
Alstom to supply 800 electric locomotives from 2018 to 2028 was announced.[41]

All the unstaffed level crossings had been eliminated by Jan 2019, and staffed level crossings
are being progressively replaced by overbridges and underbridges.[61][46] Other safety projects
include the extension of an automated fire alarm system, first introduced on Rajdhani Express
trains in 2013, to all air-conditioned coaches;[62] and 6,095 GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance
System railway signalling devices (replacing the practice of placing firecrackers on tracks to
alert train drivers) installed in 2017 in four zones: Northern, North Central, North Eastern and
North Western; and replacing ICF coach with LHB coach.

In an unprecedented move, the railways had suspended the services of all passenger trains for
48 days after the lockdown was announced by the PM on 24 March 2020. Its freight trains
however continued to run during this period.[63] This was the first time in its entire history that
lifeline of the nation was stopped. On 12 May 2020, in first phase, Railways started the Rajdhani
Express for 15 cities and began the reservation for the same via IRCTC website an evening
before.[64]
Indian Railways is planning to seek investments from private firms to operate passenger trains
for the first time. Ministry of Railways identified 109 origin-destination routes via 151 trains
asked private companies to submit their interest.[65] Private companies may operate trains by
April 2023.[66] This will incorporate modern trains with technological advancements like less
maintenance, reduce travel time and create employment. 151 trains will be operated by the by
private entities. Each train shall have minimum 16 coaches.[67]

Government of India is building the world's highest rail bridge over the river Chenab, which will
connect the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India. It is set to be completed
in 2022. According to the media, per a local government official: "This is the tallest railway
bridge in the world and the maximum designed wind speed for the bridge is 266 kmph".[68]