North Indian Railway

Notable trains
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a World Heritage Site. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow
gauge train with a steam locomotive is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The route started at New Jalpaiguri in the plains in West Bengal and traverses tea gardens en route to Darjeeling, a hill station at an elevation of 2,134 metres (7,000 ft).
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, in the Nilgiri Hills in southern India, is also classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is also the only rack railway in India.
The Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) railway station in Mumbai is another World Heritage Site operated by Indian Railways.
The Palace on Wheels is a specially designed train, lugged by a steam engine, for promoting tourism
in Rajasthan.
The Samjhauta Express train ran between India and Pakistan. It was closed due to hostilities between the two nations in 2001 but was reopened when the hostilities subsided in 2004.
The Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the "Hospital-on-Wheels" which provides healthcare to the rural areas.
The Himsagar Express, between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, has the longest run in terms of distance and time on Indian Railways network. It covers 3,745 km (2,327 miles) in about 74 hours and 55 minutes.

North Central Railway (NCR)

Indian Railways Network

The Indian railways traverse through the length and width of the country; the routes cover a total length of 63,140 km (39,462 miles). It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, transporting just over six billion passengers and almost 750 million tonnes of freight annually. Indian Railway is the world's largest commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.6 million employees. The entire railway reservation system was streamlined with computerisation in 1995.

West Central Railway

West Central Railway (WCR) was founded in 1924 under British rule. It began transporting military goods for the British armed forces in 1928, when the railroad from Bombay to Pune was finished. In the late 1930s, the "Indian Railway of Bombay" started passenger transportation, but as war began, these efforts were suspended. The private company was taken over by the Royal Army in 1940.

The "Railway of Bombay" did not restart its business until India became independant in 1947. In the late 1960s three other railroads were built, leaving Bombay in different directions, reaching Ahmadabad in the North, Nagpur in the East, and Hyderabad in the South-East.

From 1970 to 1992, the company was divided into Western Railway and Central Railway. Today, WCR is by far India's largest railway system, transporting 1.4 billion passengers every year. Most of its traffic runs along the four railroads connecting Bombay's city with its suburbs. Its headquarters are located in Bombay (Mumbai), Liberty Road 1402.

Railway Map

Railway Map

Indian Railways Map

The Railways in India are the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers. The railways have played an important role in the development of industries and agriculture. Indian railways consist of a vast network of 7, 031 stations spread over a route length of 63, 221 km with a fleet of 7,817 locomotives, 5,321 passenger service vehicles, 4, 904 other coaching vehicles and 228, 170 wagons as on 31st March 2004.

Indian Railway has the distinction of being one of the biggest and busiest rail networks in the world carrying more than sixteen million passengers on a daily basis. In terms of headcount again Indian Railway scores as it employs more than 1.6 million employees that is only second to the Chinese Army in terms of people employed.

Spanning nearly two centuries Indian Railways has been serving the country with utmost pride. It was only in 1851 when the first train ran in the country for hauling construction material in Roorkee and by 1853 the first passenger train service became operational running between Bori Bunder, Bombay and Thane covering a distance of twenty one miles thus marking the formal birth of rail network in India.

The Indian Railways network binds the social, cultural and economical fabric of the country and covers the whole of country ranging from north to south and east to west removing the distance barrier for its people. The railway network of India has brought together the whole of country hence creating a feeling of unity among the Indians.

North Western Railway

Welcome!

Welcome to North West Rail, a website which has been created by a team of dedicated railway enthusiasts. We aim to tell you the latest news about railways in North West England.

Trains are part of our every day lives, and we think they need drastic improvements!

The Railway Companies serving the North West are:

First Transpennine Express
Arriva Trains Wales/Trenau Arriva Cymru
Virgin Trains
Northern Rail
Central Trains
Merseyrail

If you have any contributions you wish to send us, please e-mail them to us at the address listed in the Contact Section.

Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, we have not been able to take as many of our own pictures as we'd like, so we have borrowed a few. We have tried to give credits where we can, however we have had difficulty with a few pictures. If you recognise a picture and would like it credited, or removed, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

The North Western Railway is the main railway company featured in The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry and the TV series Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends. Although the company's name has never been specifically stated in either the books or on television it was mentioned as such in tie-in books such as "Island of Sodor, Its History, People and Railways" by the Rev. Awdry and also on some maps that were drawn to accompany the Railway Series.

The railway is situated on the fictional Island of Sodor and is usually referred to as the Fat Controller's Railway after the nickname of its chief executive or chairman Sir Topham Hatt.

The railway's motto is "Nil Unquam Simile", which is Latin for "There's nothing quite like it"!

For a list of engines that work on the NWR, see Railway Engines.

South Western Railway (SWR)

BANGALORE: The South Western Railway (SWR) will develop the Byappanahalli Railway Station as the third railway terminal for Bangalore.

Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, SWR General Manager Praveen Kumar said that the city and Yeshwanthpur railway stations had reached their saturation point and it had become impossible to introduce new trains from these terminals.

A detailed proposal had been sent to the Railway Board to develop the Byappanahalli Station into a modern terminal and the approval was expected shortly, Mr. Kumar said.

The terminal would be integrated with the upcoming Metro Rail and bus transport facilities, he added.

Earlier, Mr. Kumar launched the services of touch-screen terminals and threw open a new passenger concourse at the City Railway Station. The new concourse has a cloak room, touch screen terminal, a few shops and other amenities.

While the City Railway Station will have seven touch-screen terminals, Cantonment and Yeshwanthpur will have two each and Yelahanka, Hosur, Dharmapuri, Tumkur, Maddur, Mandya, Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam and Hindupur one each. In the second phase, two terminals would be installed at Krishnarajapuram and one each at Kengeri, Whitefield, Ramanagaram, Chennapatna, Kuppam and Bangarpet railway stations, he said.

Passengers can get a whole lot of train information at the touch of the screen on these terminals that would provide real-time information, he said.

Mangalore train

To a question on the passenger train service to Mangalore, Mr. Kumar expressed confidence that at least one pair would be operational by September-end. “I have indications from the Railway Board in this regard,” he added. Mr. Kumar said the track between Sakleshpur and Subramanya Road could accommodate a maximum of seven pairs of trains in a span of 24 hours.

At present, three pairs of goods trains were being operated on this route and the SWR intended to add at least two more goods trains considering the huge cost incurred during the conversion of the line to broad gauge.

On the hue and cry raised by Kannada organisations regarding recruitment of over 4,700 Group D employees for SWR and the Rail Wheel Factory in Yelahanka, Mr. Kumar said the recruitment process was being conducted according to the law.

“As the physical fitness and written tests are being conducted within Karnataka, I hope that the majority of those who get selected will be from within the State. I wish local people get selected because outsiders, if selected, would begin demanding transfer to their States after some time,” he said.

Mr. Kumar further said it was for the first time after the formation of the SWR that group D employees were being recruited in such huge numbers. He hoped that the recruitment would not only help the railways but also the local people.

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Bangalore Mahesh Mangal and Additional DRM Deepak Chhabra were present. Later, Mr. Kumar inaugurated the advance reservation facility at the renovated Krishnarajapuram Railway Station building.