Railways in India

The first railway in India opened in 1853 from Bombay (present day Mumbai) to Thane, a distance of 21 miles (33 km). It was built to a gauge of 5ft 6in (1675mm), which was adopted as standard for the majority of main line railways in the Indian subcontinent. However, in the mountainous areas, various narrow gauges are used, including 2ft (610mm), 2ft 6in (762mm) and 1000mm. Some of these narrow gauge lines themselves form extensive networks, and many are being converted to broad (1675mm) gauge.

The Indian railway network has two international connections with Pakistan. There are six international connections with Bangladesh, three of which are used by passenger trains. There are two cross-border links into Nepal, each following the route of an earlier 2ft 6in (762mm) gauge line. A line is under construction from Jiribam in the northeast of the country to Moreh on the border with Myanmar, where it is planned eventually to connect with Myanma Railways. A cross-border link into Bhutan is planned.

In 2006, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) was set up as a government company to coordinate the design, build, operation and maintenance of new dedicated freight railways in the country. Current projects amount to over 3300km of new line.

In 2016, National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) was set up as a joint national and state government company to coordinate the design, build, operation and maintenance of new dedicated high speed passenger railways in the country. The first project is a high speed line linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad, a distance of 508km; the planned opening date is 2023.

The National Network

• Indian Railways passenger and freight train operator and owner and maintainer of infrastructure for the majority of the railways in the country.
• Rail Tourism India special tourist trains on the national network, including luxury cruise trains.
• DFCCIL new dedicated freight lines.
• NHSRCL new high speed passenger lines.

Independent Railways

• Konkan Railway coastal route between Mumbai (Bombay) and Bangalore. Although Government owned it is treated as a separate entity from Indian Railways.
• NCRTC proposed regional commuter railway between Delhi and Meerut.

The “Toy Trains”

Several spectacularly picturesque narrow gauge lines, originally built to serve British hill forts, later becoming important local transport links, then tourist attractions. Three of them now have UNESCO World Heritage status. Administratively and operationally part of the Indian Railways network, some also have their own websites, listed here:

• Darjeeling Himalaya Railway New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, 54 miles (87 km), 2ft (610mm) gauge. Some trains steam hauled. Declared UNESCO World Heritage in 1999.
• Nilgiri Mountain Railway Mettupalaiyam to Udagamandalam (Ooty), 28½ miles (46 km), metre gauge, partly rack operated. Some trains steam hauled. Declared UNESCO World Heritage in 2005.
• Kalka Shimla Railway Kalka to Shimla, 43¼ miles (97 km), 2ft 6in (762mm) gauge. Some trains steam hauled. Declared UNESCO World Heritage in 2008.
• Matheran Hill Railway Neral to Matheran, 13 miles (21 km), 2ft (610mm) gauge. Some trains steam hauled (No website located at present)
• Kangra Valley Railway Pathankot to Jogindernagar, 102 miles (164 km), 2ft 6in (762mm) gauge. Some trains steam hauled (No website located at present)

Metros and Trams

• Delhi metro
• Bengaluru (Bangalore) metro
• Bhopal proposed metro (No website located at present)
• Bhubaneswar proposed metro (No website located at present)
• Chennai (Madras) metro
• Dholera proposed trams (No website located at present)
• Gujarat Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad metro, and Surat metro under construction
• Guwahati proposed metro (No website located at present)
• Hyderabad metro
• Indore proposed metro (No website located at present)
• Jaipur metro
• Kochi metro
• Kolkata (Calcutta)
  • Metro
  • Trams
• Madhya Pradesh metros under construction in Bhopal and Indore
• Malang Gad funicular under construction providing access to the hill fort; 320m rise in 1.2km (No website located at present)
• Mumbai (Bombay)
  • Metro
  • monorail (No website located at present)
• Nagpur metro
• Navi Mumbai metro (No website located at present)
• Noida Metro. The city is also served by Delhi Metro
• Patna metro under construction (No website located at present)
• Pune (Poona) metro
• Ranchi proposed metro (No website located at present)
• Uttarakhand proposed Dehradun – Haridwar – Rishikesh metro (No website located at present)
• Uttar Pradesh Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow metros, and metro under construction in Meerut
• Varanasi (Benares) proposed metro (No website located at present)
• Vijayawada proposed metro (No website located at present)
• Visakhapatnam proposed metro (No website located at present)

© 2005-2024 Glyn Williams
Photo image from unknown source