Indian Railway is one of India`s most effective networks that keep together the social, economical, political and cultural fabric of the country integral. Be it cold, mountainous terrain or the long stretches through the Rajasthan desert, Indian Railways cover the huge area of the country from north to south, east to west and all in between.

History of Indian Railways
A plan for a rail system in India was first put forward in 1832, but no further steps were taken for more than a decade. In 1844, the Governor General of India Lord Hardinge allowed private enterpreneurs to set up a rail system in India. Two new railway companies were created and the East India Company was asked to assist them. The first train in India became operational on, and was used for the hauling of construction material in.

A year and a half later, on1853 the first passenger train service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder Bombay, and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 km (21 miles), it was draged by three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh and Sultan. This was the formal birth of railways in India. The formal inauguration ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853, when 14 railway carriages carrying about 400 guests left Bori Bunder "amidst the loud applause of a vast multitude and to the salute of 21 guns."

The first passenger train steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hooghly, a distance of 24 miles, on 15th August 1854. Thus the first section of the East Indian Railway was opened to public traffic, inaugurating the beginning of railway transport on the Eastern side of the sub-continent. In south the Madras Railway Company opened the first line on 1st July 1856. It ran between Veyasarpandy and Walajah Road, a distance of 63 miles. In the North a length of 119 miles of line was laid from Allahabad to Kanpur on 3rd March 1959. These were the small beginnings which is outstanding path developed into a network of railway lines all over the country.

By 1880 the Indian Railway system had a route mileage of about 9000 miles. The British government encouraged new railway companies supported by private investors under a scheme that would guarantee an annual return of five percent during the initial years of operation. Once established, the company would be transferred to the government, with the original company retaining operational control. The route mileage of this network was about 14,500 km by 1880, mostly spreading inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896 sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Railways.

Soon various independent kingdoms built their own rail systems and the network spread to the regions that became the modern day states of Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. A Railway Board was constituted in 1901, but decision-making power was retained by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The Railway Board operated under the guidance of the Department of Commerce and Industry and had three members, a government railway official serving as chairman, a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a tidy profit. In 1907, almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government.

The following year, the first electric locomotive appeared. With the arrival of the, first world war the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. By the end of the First World War, the railways had suffered immensely and were in a poor state. The government took over the management of the Railways and removed the link between the financing of the Railways and other governmental revenues in 1920, a practice that continues to date with a separate railway budget.

The second world war severely weakened the railways as trains were diverted to the, middle east and the railway workshops were converted into war ammunitions workshops. At the time of independence in 1947, a large portion of the railways went to the then newly formed Pakistan. A total of forty-two separate railway systems, including thirty-two lines owned by the former Indian princely states, were merged as a single unit which was Named as the Indian Railways.

The existing rail networks were abandoned in favour of zones in 1951 and a total of six zones came into being in 1952. As the economy of India improved, almost all railway production units were diagonised. By 1985, steam locomotives were phased out in favour of diesel and electric locomotives. The entire railway reservation system was streamlined with Computerisation in 1995.

Recent Developments
To further improve upon its services, the Indian Railways have commenced upon various schemes, which are massively motivated. The railway has changed from meter gauge to broad gauge and the people have given it a warm welcome. Now, there are the impressive looking locomotives that haul the 21st-century harbingers-the Rajdhanis and Shatabdis at speeds of 145 kmph with all amenities and comfort. With these, the inconvenience of changing to a different gauge en route to a destination will no longer be felt.

The Research, Designing, and Standardizing Organization at Lucknow the largest railway research organization in the world-was constituted in 1957. It is constantly devising improvements in the signaling systems, track design and layout, coach interiors for better riding comfort and capacity, etc along with improvements in locomotives. The workshops of the railways too have been given new equipment to create sophisticated coaches at Perambur and Kapurthala and diesel engine parts at Patiala. Locomotives are being made at Chittaranjan and Varanasi. This is in sharp contrast to the earlier British belief that only minor repairs would be possible in India, so all spare parts including nuts and bolts for locomotives would have to be imported from England.

More trains and routes are constantly being added to the railway network and services. The British legacy lives on in our railway system, transformed but never forgotten. The network of lines has grown to about 62,000 kilometers. But, the variety of Indian Railways is unlimited. It still has the idealistic toy trains on narrow gauge hill sections, meter gauge beauties on other and broad gauge bonanzas as one visits places of tourist interest. They are an acknowledgement of the Railways that tourism as an industry has to be promoted and that India is full of unique beauty.

The Calcutta Metro is a fine example of highly complex engineering techniques being adopted to lay an underground railway in the densely built-up areas of Calcutta city. It is a treat to be seen. Calcutta is also the only city where the Metro Railway started operating from September 27, 1995 over a length of 16.45 km. There is also a Circular Railway from Dum Dum to Princep Ghats covering 13.50 km to provide commuter trains.

Comparisons
1. The earliest of railway stations were simply unimpressive sheds providing a `landing` place for incoming trains. But as rail transport gained popularity among Indians the importance of this organization was realized and attempts were made to improve its appearance and utility. Today railway stations are being given the shape of large complexes and besides having the usual amenities like retiring rooms, restaurants, they now include large office areas. Over bridges is now being replaced by underground passages providing more space above, on the platforms.

2. Earliest railway coach was a rectangular wooden open box affixed to wheels with benches for seating passengers, exposing the passengers to the essentials of nature. New Coaches developed at Chennai in 1940`s were world class with all steel, fully welded lightweight vital structure. These coaches were also anti-telescopic which meant high safety to the passengers in the event of train accidents. The present day coaches continue to be built in the same layer. Air-conditioned coaches were introduced in India in 1936.

3. Today Indian Railways are planning to have in-train internet and telephones, so that the passengers need not waste their valuable time staring at co-passengers or wasting over the couple of hours lost traveling to and from in trains. Passengers will then be able to check their emails, check out what`s going on in the world around or even carry out their daily transactions within the train. Today Indian Railways are also going the western way of doing things every possible facility is provided to the passengers.