Facts about Indian Railways you can’t miss

India proudly boasts of world's largest railway network. Not only that, but the India railways itself can boast as the biggest employer in India.

Railways is a major part of India, not only because of its importance as a means of transportation but also because of its political and economic significance.

Here are some interesting facts about Indian Railways which might surprise you :

• The New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India. The train runs at an average speed of 91 kmph and touches a top speed of 150 kmph on the 195 km Delhi-Agra stretch. The Nilgiri Express with an average speed of 10 kmph is said to be India's slowest train.

• Indian Railways-owned the longest railway platform in the world at Kharagpur with a length of 2,733 feet. Now, breaking the record, Gorakhpur station has recently taken its place with a length of 4,430 feet.
• Two historical railway elements are included in the UNESCO' World Heritage site list – the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Indian Mountain Railways.The Indian Mountain Railways includes three railways – the Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, Nilgiri Mountain Railways and Kalka Shimla Railway. All three trains have been functional for some 100 years. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is famous for its classic fusion of Gothic art with Indian architecture.

• The Vivek Express (Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari) travels the longest distance of 4273 km. The shortest run is taken by a few scheduled services between Nagpur and Ajni – a total of 3 kms.
• Mathura junction has the maximum number of routes emerging from it. The 7 of them include – Broad Gauge (BG) line to Agra Cantt, BG line to Bharatpur, BG line to Alwar, BG line to Delhi, Metre Gauge (MG) line to Achnera, MG line to Vrindavan and MG line to Hathras.
• The railways function on a high operating ratio of 94%, that is, it spends 94 paise on every rupee that it earns.
• The mascot for Indian Railways is Bholu, or Bholu the guard elephant, which was designed by National Institute of Design. It was introduced on 16th April 2002.

• Bholu – the elephant guard was revealed in 2002. Wikimedia Commons

• The oldest working Indian locomotive still in use is the Fairy Queen, which worked with a steam engine.
• India has eight Railway Museums – in Delhi, Pune, Kanpur, Mysore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ghum, and Tiruchirappalli. The National Railway Museum in Delhi is the largest rail museum in Asia.
• Toilets were introduced in 1909 in the lower classes of trains, after a letter by certain Okhil Babu that described the ordeal he faced due to the absence of lavatories.