the country has fallen
short of revenue target by 2.17% for
the nine-month to December period.
This is despite the fact that it carries
25 million passengers each day on
64000 kms long tracks spread
across states. However, the railway
ministry has pinned hopes on recent
fare hike for enhancing FY13
revenues. Before we wish them luck,
read on some interesting facts on
the IR
The Indian Railways (IR) carries over
25 million passengers daily which is
perhaps more than the entire
population of Australia, New Zealand
and Tasmania put together.
The IR has the fourth largest
network in the world covering a
distance of 64,000 kms after China.
If the tracks were to be laid out
from one point to another around
the Earth, it would circle it one-and-
a-half times.
Introduced in 1853, the first
passengers train in India chugged
from Victoria Terminus (now CST) to
Thane on a 53-km route, 25 years
before China laid its rail network.
The IR is also the largest employer
in the country and the eighth-
largest, globally. With an employee-
strength of over 1.4 million, it is
larger than number of people
employed at the top three industrial
groups-Tata, Reliance and Birla.
The CST caters to 33 million
passengers annually and is the only
terminus in the world to be listed as
a monument of global heritage by
UNESCO.
Mumbai's local trains are amongst
the world’s few to have 15 coaches.
Shanghai's local trains come close
with 12 coaches.
One of the
Vivek Express trains, the
one from Dibrugarh
Town to Kanyakumari; is
the longest route on the
Indian Railways network,
in terms of distance and
time, and is the 8th
longest in the world. extending from Emeryville to
Chicago covering 3924 kms in the
US.
Even after recent hike, fares on long
distance journeys on the IR can be
considered cheapest in the world.
For instance, 1,500 kms journey on Delhi-Kolkata route by Kalka Mail
costs around Rs 250. A similar
journey would cost ten times more
on any budget train in Europe which
boasts of strong rail transport.
There is no railways station in the
entire Asian sub-continent which has
a longer name than
Venkatanarasimharajuvariipeta
station in Tamil Nadu.
Ever since its origin in 1853, the rail
service in India never turned back
making it one of the oldest track in
the world.
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