The Indian Railways have been a great integrating force for more than 150 years. It has helped the economic life of the country and helped in accelerating the development of industry and agriculture. Indian Railways is known to be the largest railway network in Asia.
The Indian Railways had a modest beginning on 26th April 1853, when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane covering a distance of 34 kilometers. Today, it covers 6,909 stations over a total route length of more than 63,327 kilometres.
The Indian Railways owns over 200,000 (freight) wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives. Presently, 9 pairs of Rajdhani and 13 pairs of Shatabdi Express Trains run on the rail tracks of India.
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