Malgudi Express: From the pages of RK Narayan to the railway tracks of Mysore. - Vageesh

Following the 167th anniversary of the first commercial train service between Bombay and Thane, here are some updated trivia about the Indian railways - all the firsts. Only some of the less-known trivia are produced here.

First known railway line in the country - RedHill Rail road in Madras, running from Chintadripet to Red Hills, opened in 1836-37, by the Madras Corps of Engineers lead y Sir Arthur Cotton.
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Sir Arthur Cotton also used railway lines for construction projects in Trichy (for construction of the Anicut over the Kollidam river) in 1836, in Visakhapatnam in 1842-43 for the construction of a bund near the harbour and in Rajahmundry during 1845-50 for the construction of the Dowalaiswaram anicut. Thus he constructed at least 4 different railway lines even before the more famous ones at Roorkee and Bombay were constructed.

First use of a steam locomotive in the country - Red hill rail road in Madras, around 1838. Sir Arthur Cotton and his team designed and tested at least 3 steam locos based on Avery's engine.

First 'Make in India' rails, locomotives and wagons - Redhill rail road in Madras. All the rails, wagons and locomotives were built from the iron forged in the foundry at Porto Novo (Now Parangipettai) in 1837.

First train journey from the east coast to the west coast - Between Madras and Beypore (near Calicut) on April 13th, 1862.

First electric railway in the country - 'Madras electric street tramway' (trams) opened in the city of Madras in 1895. This was also the second electrified railway line in Asia, only losing out to Japan by a few months.

First electric locomotive - Metre gauge electric locomotives used around the Edgar's shaft in the Kolar gold mines (near Marikuppam) in 1909-1910.

First Air-conditioned coaches (experimental) - Used in the G.I.P Bombay Punjab mail in 1914. (Now running as the 12137/38 Bombay-Ferozepore Punjab mail).

First Triple gauge station (BG, MG and NG) - Wadhwan station in Gujarat in the 1890's. Now this station is closed and the Surendranagar station is opened nearby.

First Double Decker coaches - On the B.B & C.I. railway (present day Western railway) between Colaba (Bombay) and Ahmedabad in the 1870's. Colaba station was shutdown in 1870.