Indian Railway Zones
Indian Railway Zones
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Indian Railway Zones
➲ Early Years (1853-1924)
✧ First Railway Line : The first railway line in India was opened on April 16, 1853, between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Thane.
✧ Expansion : Railways expanded rapidly, with the introduction of new lines, including the East Indian Railway (EIR) in 1854, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) in 1853, and the Madras Railway (MR) in 1856.
✧ Unification : In 1924, the government of India took over the management of all railways, and the Indian Railways was formed.
➲ Zone Formation (1951-2003)
✧ Initial Zones : In 1951, Indian Railways was divided into six zones: Northern Railway (NR), Eastern Railway (ER), Southern Railway (SR), Central Railway (CR), Western Railway (WR), and North Eastern Railway (NER).
✧ New Zones : Over the years, new zones were formed by splitting existing ones:
◈ South Eastern Railway (SER) in 1955
◈ Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in 1958
◈ South Central Railway (SCR) in 1966
◈ North Central Railway (NCR) in 2003
◈ East Central Railway (ECR) in 2002
◈ East Coast Railway (ECoR) in 2003
◈ South Western Railway (SWR) in 2003
◈ West Central Railway (WCR) in 2003
➲ Modernization and Expansion (2003-Present)
✧ New Zones : Recent additions to the railway zones include:
◈ Metro Railway, Kolkata (MR) in 2010 (as the 17th zone)
◈ Konkan Railway (KR) in 2010 (as a separate zone)
✧ High-Speed Rail : India’s first high-speed rail project, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, is currently under construction.
✧ Modernization : Indian Railways is undergoing modernization efforts, including the introduction of new trains, upgraded infrastructure, and improved passenger amenities.
➲ Timeline of Indian Railway Zones
◈ 1853: First railway line opens between Bombay and Thane.
◈ 1854: East Indian Railway (EIR) introduced.
◈ 1924: Indian Railways formed.
◈ 1951: Initial six zones created.
◈ 1955: South Eastern Railway (SER) formed.
◈ 1958: Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) formed.
◈ 1966: South Central Railway (SCR) formed.
◈ 2002: East Central Railway (ECR) formed.
◈ 2003: North Central Railway (NCR), East Coast Railway (ECoR), South Western Railway (SWR), and West Central Railway (WCR) formed.
◈ 2010: Metro Railway, Kolkata (MR) and Konkan Railway (KR) become separate zones.
Here are the details about each of Indian Railway Zones:
➣ Central Railway (CR)
✧ Headquarters : Mumbai
✧ Divisions : 5 (Mumbai, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Solapur, Pune)
✧ Route length : 3,905 km (2,427 mi)
✧ Established : 1853
➣ Eastern Railway (ER)
✧ Headquarters : Kolkata
✧ Divisions : 4 (Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda)
✧ Route length : 2,434 km (1,512 mi)
✧ Established : 1854
➣ Northern Railway (NR)
✧ Headquarters : New Delhi
✧ Divisions : 5 (Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad)
✧ Route length : 6,968 km (4,330 mi)
✧ Established : 1856
➣ North Central Railway (NCR)
✧ Headquarters : Allahabad
✧ Divisions : 3 (Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi)
✧ Route length : 3,060 km (1,900 mi)
✧ Established : 2003
➣ North Eastern Railway (NER)
✧ Headquarters : Gorakhpur
✧ Divisions : 3 (Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Izzatnagar)
✧ Route length : 3,438 km (2,136 mi)
✧ Established : 1951
➣ Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR)
✧ Headquarters : Guwahati
✧ Divisions : 5 (Guwahati, Katihar, Alipurduar, Rangia, Lumding)
✧ Route length : 3,876 km (2,408 mi)
✧ Established : 1958
➣ Southern Railway (SR)
✧ Headquarters : Chennai
✧ Divisions : 6 (Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem, Thiruvananthapuram)
✧ Route length : 5,086 km (3,161 mi)
✧ Established : 1856
➣ South Central Railway (SCR)
✧ Headquarters : Secunderabad
✧ Divisions : 6 (Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntakal, Guntur, Nanded)
✧ Route length : 5,008 km (3,112 mi)
✧ Established : 1966
➣ South Eastern Railway (SER)
✧ Headquarters : Kolkata
✧ Divisions : 4 (Kharagpur, Adra, Chakradharpur, Ranchi)
✧ Route length : 2,634 km (1,637 mi)
✧ Established : 1955
➣ South Western Railway (SWR)
✧ Headquarters : Hubli
✧ Divisions : 3 (Hubli, Bangalore, Mysore)
✧ Route length : 3,177 km (1,974 mi)
✧ Established : 2003
➣ Western Railway (WR)
✧ Headquarters : Mumbai
✧ Divisions : 6 (Mumbai, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Ratlam)
✧ Route length : 6,182 km (3,842 mi)
✧ Established : 1853
➣ West Central Railway (WCR)
✧ Headquarters : Jabalpur
✧ Divisions : 3 (Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota)
✧ Route length : 3,046 km (1,893 mi)
✧ Established : 2003
➣ East Central Railway (ECR)
✧ Headquarters : Hajipur
✧ Divisions : 5 (Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Sonpur)
✧ Route length : 5,342 km (3,320 mi)
✧ Established : 1996
➣ East Coast Railway (ECoR)
✧ Headquarters : Bhubaneswar
✧ Divisions : 3 (Khurda Road, Waltair, Sambalpur)
✧ Route length : 2,693 km (1,673 mi)
✧ Established : 2003
➣ Konkan Railway (KR)
✧ Headquarters : Navi Mumbai
✧ Divisions : 2 (Ratnagiri, Karwar)
✧ Route length : 741 km (460 mi)
✧ Established : 1998
➣ North Western Railway (NWR)
✧ Headquarters : Jaipur
✧ Divisions : 4 (Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur)
✧ Route length : 5,459 km (3,392 mi)
✧ Established : 2002
➣ South East Central Railway (SECR)
✧ Headquarters : Bilaspur
✧ Divisions : 3 (Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur)
✧ Route length : 2,447 km (1,520 mi)
✧ Established : 2003
➣ Metro Railway, Kolkata (MR)
✧ Headquarters : Kolkata
✧ Route length : 27.22 km (16.91 mi)
✧ Established : 1984
✧ Type : Rapid transit system
