In 2020, Indian Railways carried 808.6 crore (8.086 billion) passengers and in 2022, Railways transported 1418.1 million tonnes of freight.[10][5] It runs 13,169 passenger trains daily, on both long-distance and suburban routes, covering 7,325 stations across India.[5] Mail or Express trains, the most common types of trains, run at an average speed of 50.6 km/h (31.4 mph). Suburban EMUs run at an average speed of 37.5 km/h (23.3 mph). Ordinary passenger trains (incl. mixed) run at an average speed of 33.5 km/h (20.8 mph).[5] The maximum speed of passenger trains varies, with the Vande Bharat Express running at a peak speed of 180 km/h (110 mph).

On 22 March 2020, Indian Railways announced a nationwide shutdown of passenger rail service to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in India. This became part of a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.[36] The railway shutdown was initially scheduled to last from 23 to 31 March,[37] but the nationwide lockdown, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 March, was to last 21 days.[38] The national rail network is maintaining its freight operations during the lockdown, to transport essential goods.[39] On 29 March, Indian Railways announced that it would start service for special parcel trains to transport essential goods, in addition to regular freight service.[40] The national rail operator has also announced plans to convert coaches into isolation wards for patients of COVID-19.[41] The railways have since reopened and were functioning by 2022.


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All the unstaffed level crossings had been eliminated by Jan 2019, and staffed level crossings are being progressively replaced by overbridges and underbridges.[62][47] Other safety projects include the extension of an automated fire alarm system, first introduced on Rajdhani Express trains in 2013, to all air-conditioned coaches;[63] and 6,095 GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System railway signalling devices (replacing the practice of placing firecrackers on tracks to alert train drivers) installed in 2017 in four zones: Northern, North Central, North Eastern and North Western; and replacing ICF coach with LHB coach.

In an unprecedented move, the railways had suspended the services of all passenger trains for 48 days after the lockdown was announced by the PM on 24 March 2020. Its freight trains however continued to run during this period.[64] This was the first time in its entire history that lifeline of the nation was stopped. On 12 May 2020, in first phase, Railways started the Rajdhani Express for 15 cities and began the reservation for the same via IRCTC website an evening before.[65]

Indian Railways is planning to seek investments from private firms to operate passenger trains for the first time. Ministry of Railways identified 109 origin-destination routes via 151 trains asked private companies to submit their interest.[66] Private companies may operate trains by April 2023.[67] This will incorporate modern trains with technological advancements like less maintenance, reduce travel time and create employment. 151 trains will be operated by the by private entities. Each train shall have minimum 16 coaches.[68]

By 1990s, steam locomotives were phased out and electric and diesel locomotives, along with a few CNG (compressed natural gas) locomotives are used.[77] Steam locomotives are used only in heritage trains. Locomotives in India are classified by gauge, motive power, the work they are suited for, and their power or model number. Their four- or five-letter class name includes this information. The first letter denotes the track gauge, the second their motive power (diesel or electric), and the third their suitable traffic (goods, passenger, multi or shunting). The fourth letter denoted the locomotive's chronological model number, but in 2002, a new classification was adopted in which the fourth letter in newer diesel locomotives indicate horsepower range.

IR has introduced new electric multiple unit (EMU) train sets for long-distance routes. One such, Vande Bharat is under operation and another, its sleeper version, is expected to run from 2023. These train sets are expected to replace locomotive-hauled trains on long-distance routes.[85]

On regional short-distance routes, IR runs Mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) or Diesel electrical multiple unit (DEMU) trains, depending on the traction available. These train sets are self-propelled with capability for faster acceleration or deceleration and are expected to reduce congestion on dense routes. Passenger locomotive-hauled trains, having frequent stops, are slowly being replaced with train sets across India.[86]

As of 31 March 2022, IR network spans 128,305 km (79,725 mi) of track length, 102,831 km (63,896 mi) of running track length and 68,043 km (42,280 mi) of route length as stated in Year Book 2021-22.[7] Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from 80 to 200 km/h (50 to 124 mph), though the maximum speed attained by passenger trains is 180 km/h (110 mph) during trial runs. All of the broad-gauge network is equipped with long-welded, high-tensile strength 52kg/60kg 90 UTS rails and pre-stressed concrete (PSC) sleepers with elastic fastenings.[5]

Two trains operate to Pakistan: the Samjhauta Express between Delhi and Lahore and the Thar Express between Jodhpur and Karachi. However, as of August 2019, they have been cancelled due to the tension over Kashmir.

A standard passenger rake has four unreserved (general) compartments, two at the front and two at the rear (one of which may be for women). The number of other coaches varies by demand and route. A luggage compartment may be at the front or the rear. On some mail trains, a separate mail coach is attached. Lavatories are communal, and Indian- and Western-style. The classes in operation are (although a train may not have all these classes):

Trains are sorted into categories which dictate the number of stops on a route, their priority on the network, and their fare structure. Each express train is identified by a five-digit number. If the first digit in the train number is 1 or 2, they are long-distance express trains. If the first digit is 0, the train is a special train which will operate for a limited period of time with a different fare structure. A first digit of 5 denotes a passenger train.

The second digit indicates the zone operating the train. However, for high-speed trains, the second digit is either 0 or 2 (the first remains 1 or 2).[135] The third digit denotes the division within the zone which is responsible for maintenance and cleanliness, and the last two digits are the train's serial number.[135] The train numbering system was changed from four digits from December 2010,[136] to accommodate the increasing number of trains.

Trains traveling in opposite directions along the same route are usually labelled with consecutive numbers.[135] However, there is considerable variation in train numbers; some zones, such as Central Railway, have a less-systematic method of numbering trains.[135]

Trains are classified by average speed.[137] A faster train has fewer stops (halts) than a slower one, and is usually used for long-distance travel. Most express trains have special names to identify them easily. The names of the trains usually denote the regions they connect, the routes they traverse, or a famous person or tourist spot connected with the train.[138][139]

Indian Railway operates tourist train or coach services on popular tourist circuits in different regions of the country. The service offers tour packages inclusive of rail travel, local transportation, accommodation, food and guided tours. IR offers various tourist services in this segment including Luxury tourist trains, Semi luxury trains, Buddhist special trains, Bharat Darshan trains, Aastha Circuit trains, and Steam trains.[5]

In the freight segment, IR ferries various commodities and fuels in industrial, consumer, and agricultural segments across the length and breadth of India. IR has historically subsidised the passenger segment with income from the freight business. As a result, freight services are unable to compete with other modes of transport on both cost and speed of delivery, leading to continuous erosion of market share.[154] To counter this downward trend, IR has started new initiatives in freight segments including upgrading of existing goods sheds, attracting private capital to build multi-commodity multi-modal logistics terminals, changing container sizes, operating time-tabled freight trains, and tweaking with the freight pricing/product mix.[155] Also, end-to-end integrated transport solutions such as roll-on, roll-off (RORO) service, a road-rail system pioneered by Konkan Railway Corporation in 1999 to carry trucks on flatbed trailers,[156] is now being extended to other routes across India.

Perhaps the game changer for IR in the freight segment are the new dedicated freight corridors that are expected to be completed by 2020. When fully implemented, the new corridors, spanning around 3300 km, could support hauling of trains up to 1.5 km in length with 32.5 ton axle-load at speeds of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). Also, they will free-up capacity on dense passenger routes and will allow IR to run more trains at higher speeds. Additional corridors are being planned to augment the freight infrastructure in the country.

Oh geez I head to India in a week and have booked no trains in advance. I guess I am going to truly experience this train ride shock and the culture that goes with it. Ha should be interesting, but that's what I am after when I travel, Great blog post, very descriptive, ceers

Parcel booking is normally allowed in all passenger trains.

Besides there are a number of Parcel Special trains also comprising only of Parcel Vans, whose details are available on the Railways website.

As of now, parcel booking/delivery is allowed at around 750 stations over Indian railways.

Booking/delivery of parcel from these stations can be done in those passenger trains which have a scheduled stop of at least 05 minutes at that particular station. e24fc04721

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