Indian Railways

Indian Railways

Seal of the Indian Railways
Rail Bhawan, the headquarters of Indian Railways at New Delhi.
Native name	Indian Railways
Company type	Statutory Body State-owned enterprise
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	12 September 1837 (187 years ago) (1837-09-12)
Headquarters	Rail Bhawan, New Delhi , India
Area served	India
Key people	Ashwini Vaishnaw (Minister for Railways) Satish Kumar, IRSME (Chairperson and CEO)[1]
Services	Passenger railway Rail freight transport Parcel carrier Catering Tourism Parking lot operations Other related services
Revenue	₹256,000 crore (US$31 billion)[2] (2023-24)
Net income	~ ₹4,761 crore (US$570 million)[2] (2023-24)
Owner	Ministry of Railways, Government of India (100%)
Number of employees	1,212,882[3] With 29,719 km (18,467 mi) of the lines having two or more tracks, total running track length was 106,493 km (66,172 mi), while total trackage (including sidings) was 132,310 km (82,210 mi).[3] (31 March 2023)
Divisions	17 operational and 1 non-operational zones Southern Railway Central Railway Western Railway Eastern Railway Northern Railway North Eastern Railway South Eastern Railway Northeast Frontier Railway South Central Railway Metro Railway, Kolkata East Central Railway South East Central Railway North Western Railway East Coast Railway North Central Railway South Western Railway West Central Railway South Coast Railway [Yet to be operational]
Subsidiaries	List Braithwaite and Company Container Corporation of India Centre for Railway Information Systems Central Organisation for Railway Electrification Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ircon International Konkan Railway Corporation Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited Rail India Technical and Economic Service Rail Vikas Nigam RailTel
Technical
Line length	68,584[3] km (42,616 mi)
Track length	132,310[3] km (82,210 mi)
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) 610 mm (2 ft)
Electrification	64,080 km (39,820 mi)[4]

Indian Railways is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India that operates India's national railway system. As of 2023^[update], it manages the fourth largest national railway system by size with a track length of 132,310 km (82,210 mi), running track length of 106,493 km (66,172 mi) and route length of 68,584 km (42,616 mi). As of August 2024^[update], 96.59% of the broad-gauge network is electrified. With more than 1.2 million employees, it is the world's ninth-largest employer and India's second largest employer.

In 1951, the Indian Railways was established by the amalgamation of 42 different railway companies operating in the country, spanning a total of 55,000 km (34,000 mi). The railway network across the country was reorganized into six regional zones in 1951–52 for administrative purposes, which was gradually expanded to 18 zones over the years.

The first steam operated railway operated in 1837 in Madras with the first passenger operating in 1853 between Bombay and Thane. In 1925, the first electric train ran in Bombay on DC traction. The first locomotive manufacturing unit was commissioned in 1950 at Chittaranjan with the first coach manufacturing unit set-up at Madras in 1955.

Indian Railways runs various classes of express, passengers and suburban trains. In 2018–19, it operated 13,523 trains on average daily covering 7,325 stations and carried 8.44 billion passengers. Indian Railways also operates different classes of rail freight transport. In 2022–23, it operated 8,479 trains on average daily and transported 1418.1 million tonnes of freight. Indian Railways operates multiple classes of rolling stock, manufactured by self-owned coach-production facilities. As of March 2023^[update], Indian Railways' rolling stock consisted of 318,196 freight wagons and 84,863 passenger coaches. As of December 2023^[update], Indian Railways had 10,238 electric and 4,543 diesel locomotives amongst others.