History of Railways Articles
1: Rail Trivia
We are back again with some interesting rail trivia. This time it is all about Railways. Let us first appreciate some interesting facts and figures which are unique to Indian Railways
2: Trains are often referred to as going "up" or "down" — what does this mean?
In the UK, the convention was that all trains going to London were "up", and all those going away from it were "down". In India, the GIPR adopted this convention with respect to Bombay, and the Madras Railway adopted it for Madras.
3: Is there a system behind the numbering of trains?
0 is for Konkan Railway
1 is for CR, WCR and NCR(?)
2 is for superfasts, Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi trains regardless of zones
3 is shared by ER and ECR
4 is for NR, NCR and NWR
5 is shared by NER and NFR
6 is for SR and SWR
7 is shared by SCR and SWR
8 is for SER and ECoR
9 is for WR, NWR and WCR
4: How does IR name its trains?
All trains on IR are identified by primarily through their numbers (either the 4-digit nationwide numbers or the zonal numbers for local passenger trains). However, as a convenience, most trains (other than some very frequent local services such as EMU/MEMU or passenger shuttles) are referred to by names in IR's literature and also by the travelling public. The most common way to name a train is by providing the endpoints of the train and the train class designation, e.g., Bangalore-Chennai Mail, Pune-Hyderabad Passenger, etc. A lot of trains have specific names, however (see below for a list), based on names of landmarks (rivers, mountains, etc.), regions, famous personalities, abstract qualities, and so on.
5: What's in a name?
Well, aircrafts and ships also have names, but their names do not go together with their routes, and perhaps for this reason, their names are not remembered or recognized easily. We come to know the name of an aircraft either when it joins the fleet, or when it crashes!
6: Railways Since Independence
IN the Golden Jubilee year of our independence, when we pause to look back at the progress and happenings in the five decades of the Independent India, I take a rear view of about three decades of my personal experience with our own Indian Railways ... yes, just three decades — simply because that is the total span of my memory! The Indian Railways is such a vast and interesting canvas that I wonder where to begin..., well then, why not start with the basics....
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