Contrary to popular belief, the first train in India was the Red Hill Railway, which ran from Red Hills to Chintadripet bridge in 1837. Sir Arthur Cotton was credited with building the train, which was mainly used for transporting granite. However, India’s first passenger train started its service on 16 April 1853, covering a stretch of 33 km from Mumbai to Thane. The train carried 400 passengers. Interestingly, this day was also declared a public holiday.
The first electric train in India ran on 3 February 1925, between Bombay Victoria Terminal and Kurla Harbour. Later, the electric line was extended to Nashik’s Igatpuri district and then to Pune.
Bholu the guard elephant is the mascot of the Indian Railways. Bholu was designed by the National Institute of Design in 2002 in honour of the 150th anniversary of the Indian Railways. Bholu is seen holding a signal lamp with a green light in it, which symbolises movement, assurance to trains and passengers to go ahead without fear.
The Vivek Express (Train Number 22503/22504) is the longest train route in India, running between Dibrugarh and Kanyakumari
The first Rajdhani Express train in India was the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, which began operations on March 1, 1969
In 1956, the first air-conditioned train plied between Howrah and New Delhi.
Hubli station in Karnataka now has the longest railway platform in India surpassing the earlier renewed platform at Gorakhpur Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh.
Indian Railways’ longest tunnel is Pir Panjal that links Kashmir Valley with Banihal in Jammu.
Station with the shortest name is Odisha
Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta is the station with the longest name.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, who remained Railways Minister from 2004 to May 2009, presented the railway budget 6 times in a row.
In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced
In 1994, the first live telecast of the railway budget took place.
Four sites of Indian Railways have been declared as “World Heritage sites” by the UNESCO. They are Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain, Mumbai CST, and Kalka-Shimla Railways.
The world’s highest rail bridge is owned by Indian Railways, and it is being constructed over Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir. It is five times the length of the Qutub Minar.
In 1988, the first Shatabdi Express was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi.
As of 2025, it manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world.
Bori Bunder, located in Mumbai was the first railway station in India.
In the year 1999, Mamata Banerjee became the first female Railway Minister. In 2000, she became the first female to present the Railway budget and is the only woman to do so for two different governing coalitions (NDA and UPA).
Indian Railways is divided into 18 administrative zones (17 operational), headed by general managers which are further subdivided into 68 operating divisions, headed by divisional railway managers (DRM)
The first locomotive manufacturing unit was commissioned in 1950 at Chittaranjan with the first coach manufacturing unit set-up at Madras in 1955.
John Matthai presented the first Railway Budget for Independent India on 20 November,1947 which was Interim Railway Budget and only after 3 months he presented his second Railway Budget on 24 February,1948
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 first railway budget was presented in 1924.
The Railway Budget was presented every year, a few days before the Union budget, till 2016. Modi government on 21 September 2016 approved merger of the Rail and General budgets from the next year, ending a 92-year-old practice of a separate budget for the nation’s largest transporter.
Mathura junction is the largest railway junction in India, with as many as 7 routes emerging from this station. Mathura junction also has 10 platforms, with connectivity to all major cities of India.
