GKLitHub – Current Affairs, History & Exam Preparation

I have provided a concise summary of the history and evolution of Indian Railways. Here’s a breakdown of the key milestones:

1837: The first steam-operated railway began in Madras (now Chennai). This marked the beginning of railway operations in India.
1853: The first passenger train service commenced between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Thane. This was a significant milestone, symbolizing the start of public railway services in India.
1925: The first electric train in India ran in Bombay on DC traction, marking the beginning of electrified railway services.
1950: The first locomotive manufacturing unit was commissioned at Chittaranjan, marking the start of indigenous locomotive production.
1951: Indian Railways was established by merging 42 different railway companies operating in the country.
1951-52: The network was initially reorganized into 6 regional zones for administrative purposes, which eventually expanded to 18 zones.
1955: The first coach manufacturing unit was established in Madras (now Chennai), which played a crucial role in the production of passenger coaches for the Indian Railways.

1. Central Railway (CR)

Headquarters: Mumbai at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.
Formed: 5 November 1951.
Divisions: Mumbai, Pune, Bhusawal, Solapur, Nagpur
It has the distinction of operating the first passenger railway line in India, which opened from Mumbai to Thane on 16 April 1853.

2. Eastern Railway (ER)

Headquarters: Kolkata at Fairley Place
Formed: 14 April 1952
Divisions: Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda
Eastern Railway oversees the largest and second-largest rail complexes in the country, Howrah Junction and Sealdah railway station.
Eastern Railways operates India's oldest train, Kalka Mail.
The first train ran here between Howrah and Hooghly on 15 August 1854.

3. Northern Railway (NR)

4. North Eastern Railway (NER)

5. North Eastern Frontier Railway (NFSR)

Headquarters: Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam
Formed: 14 April 1952
Rail network all across Northeastern states and some districts of eastern Bihar and northern West Bengal.
Divisions: Katihar, Alipurduar, Rangiya, Lumding, Tinsukia

6. Southern Railway (SR)

Headquarters: Chennai
Formed: 14 April 1951.
Divisions: Chennai, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli

7. South Central Railway (SCR)

8. South Eastern Railway (SER)

Headquarters: Kolkata

Divisions: Kharagpur, Adra, Chakradharpur, Ranchi

9. South Western Railway (SWR)

10. Western Railway (WR)

Headquarters: Mumbai Churchgate
Formed: 5 November 1951
Divisions: Mumbai Central, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Vadodara
The new upgraded Vande Bharat version 2.0 was first introduced on 30/09/2022 between Gandhinagar and Mumbai Central.
Western Railway Connects Statue of Unity

11. East Coast Railway (ECoR)

12. North Central Railway (NCR)

13. East Central Railway (ECR)

14. North Western Railway (NWR)

Headquarters: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Formed: 1 October 2002
Divisions: Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur
NWR operates the international rail service Thar Express from Jodhpur to Karachi.

15. West Central Railway (WCR)

16. South East Central Railway (SECR)

17. Metro Railway Kolkata

Headquarters: Kolkata
This zone is also unique as it manages the metro operations in Kolkata without being divided into traditional divisions.
It was the first operational rapid transit system in India
It is the fourth-longest operational metro network in India after the Delhi Metro, Namma Metro, and Hyderabad Metro.
It is the only metro system in the country to be controlled by Indian Railways.

18. South Coast Railway (SCoR)