Indian Railways

There is a great historical background behind the Indian Railways. The first Indian Railway was built first in 1853. Since then, the railways had seen subsequent development. With the subsequent increase in the economy and industries in India, the demand of railway transport has increased to a demanding level. The Indian Railway is the main rail network in India. The Indian Railway is maintained by the Central Government of India. In Fact, the Indian Railways is the largest and the busiest rail networks in the entire world. The Indian Railway spreads in all the length and breadth of the country. The route that is covered by the Indian Railway is 63,140 km. At present, there are 39263 coaches, 7739 locomotives and 14444 trains that run daily in India. Out of 14444 trains, there are 8702 passenger trains. Due to the vast size of India, the Indian Railways has been divided into sixteen divisional zones. However, the Metro Rail in Calcutta is not a part of any divisional zones. Again, each zonal division is made up with a certain number of divisions.

With a view to felicitate luxury and comfort to each and every group of people, the Indian Railways have a wide range of classes. The different types of classes are as given below:-

� The first class air-conditioned class
� AC 2-tier sleeper class
� First class
� AC 3 Tier
� AC chair class
� Second sitting class

The accommodation types that are provided by the Indian Railways are the berths, seats and chair car.

Services

Passenger Services
The Indian Railways traverse through the length and breadth of India and the system is managed through zones and divisions. The Indian Railway operates across twenty-eight states and three union territories of India. Usually a standard passenger train comprises of eighteen coaches. Each coach has different accommodation facility. Each coach is capable to accommodate near about 18 to 72 passengers. The most popular coach is the sleeper class. For the comfort and luxury of the elite class's passenger, additional air- conditioned coaches are also attached by the Indian railways. With the growth of science and technology, the Indian Railways has introduced the online passenger ticketing. The Indian Railways provides the best means of transportation to travel long distances in India.

Suburban Rail
In the major cities, the rail network provides a splendid facility to cater to commuters. Some of the suburban network that is operated in India is in the cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad had made the city life easier. The metro- cities like New Delhi and Kolkata have their own metro network. In Mumbai, the suburban runs across the whole city and handles more rush than any other suburban network in the entire globe.

Freight
The Indian Railways is the major carrier of varieties of goods ranging from fertilizers and petrochemical, mineral ores, iron and steel, agricultural produce, and others. All the major ports and urban places have their freight lines and yards. Almost 70% of the revenue earned by the Indian Railways is from the freight sector. Most of the freight earning comes from bulk goods like coal, cement, iron ore and food grains. The Indian Railways transports these goods to a long distance. Thus, the transportation by rail becomes economical and beneficial.

Reservation and Booking
With the developing technology, the Indian Railways had made their system technically sound. Now, the passenger can get online information on the availability of seats by accessing in the internet. The passenger, who is familiar with the internet and computers, can easily get railway reservation tickets from their home itself. The online booking of the ticket has certainly changed the system of reservation of Indian railways in India. One can book his or her ticket at Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation online reservation site, which is www.irctc.co.in. This splendid online reservation was launched in collaboration with the Centre for Railway Information System on 3rd of August, 2002. This technique of reservation in India has solved the problem of standing in the long queues in front of the reservation counter of the Indian Railways. This online ticket booking facility provided by the Indian Railways has helped the people to save their valuable time. The online reservation tickets provided by the Indian Railways are mainly of two types namely the I-tickets and the E-tickets. Once the confirmation of the booking appears on the screen, the passenger can take the print out of the ticket. In case of availing this online reservation tickets, the passengers are recommended to carry appropriate identity card along with the e-ticket in their journey.

PNR Status
PNR stands for passenger current status. It is an online web portal maintained by the Govt. of India using which the passenger can check the status of their reserved tickets. It is an excellent tool, with which the traveler can check his status of the ticket in just few seconds. The traveler can get the necessary information by putting the required input data, which is free of cost.

Now-a-days, the railway signaling system is technically sound and modernized to cope with the rising traffic density. This preventive measure has met the better safety standards of the passengers. Moreover, the advent of electrification in the railway engines took a major leap towards the energy conservation. The two very known expresses that runs throughout the entire railway network of India are the Rajdhani and the Satapdi Express. These Express trains connects many distant cities in India The design and development of the coaches has been extremely improved to make the travel to various places, a splendid and memorable one. This is for this reason that the traveling through Indian rail has become an integral part of journey of the majority of passengers in India. The success of the Indian Railways lies in the principle of providing excellent service to the travelers.

Luxury Train Travel

- Palace on wheels	- The Royal Orient	- Rajdhani Express
- Fairy Queen	- Shatabdi Express	- Shivalik Deluxe Toy Train
- Heritage on Wheels	- Deccan Odyssey India	- Golden Chariot India
Train Compartments at a Glance