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The first double
decker air conditioned train between Howrah and Dhanbad was flagged off on 1
Oct 2011 Minister of Railways Dinesh Trivedi.
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First
live telecast of railway budget took place on 24 March 1994
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India had, however, spotted one of its earliest
locomotives as early as December 22, 1851. The first steam engine, Thomason,
hauled some wagons containing mud and earth during the construction of the
Solani aqueduct near Roorkee. The second one, Lord Falkland, named after a
Bombay governor, was seen a year later near Byculla, Bombay, doing shunting
duties. The third one was used for the trial run of the passenger train in
November 1852. And it was only after all this that the much-publicised
“official” first train saw the light of the day on April 16, 1853. Wasn’t it a
long, long journey before the “official” first train saw the light of day.
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The first
train on Indian soil ran between Bombay and Thane on the 16th of April 1853,
The
line in Bombay was ready by November 1852 and on November 18, 1852, a few
engineers and directors of the GIP Company had a trial run between Bombay and
Thane. However officially, the first train in India (and in Asia) was flagged
off on April 16, 1853, a Saturday, at 3:35 pm between Boree Bunder (Mumbai) and
Thane, a distance of 34 kms. The importance of the day can be gauged from the
fact the Bombay government declared the day as a public holiday.
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The First train in India, hauled by three engines
-- Sindh, Sahib and Sultan -- carried as many as 400 passengers in its 14
coaches on its debut run. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway had ordered a set
of eight locomotives from Vulcan Foundry, England, for the purpose. A suit of
Durbar Tents erected at Thane welcomed the first train and a cover for four
hundred persons was built with tables laid with menu literally groaning under
every delicacy of the season.
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It was
almost 89 years ago that the first electric train ran in India with the
inauguration of services between Bombay VT and Kurla Harbour on
3rd Feb 1925 on ex-GIP Railway system. The section was electrified on 1500 Volt
DC.
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The first section
to be electrified on 25 kV AC system was Raj Kharswan - Dongoposi of South
Eastern Railway in the year 1960.
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Production of
Electric locomotives was imultaneously taken up indigenously
at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) in 1960 and the first 1500 V
DC electric locomotive for Bombay Area Lokmanya was flagged
off on 14.10.1961 by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India
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The
manufacture of Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) required for Calcutta suburban
services was taken up indigenously at Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perambur
and the first EMU rolled out during September 1962
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It was finally on August 15, 1854 that the first
passenger train in the eastern section(Calcutta the then capital of the India)
ran between Howrah to Hooghly (24 miles). The section is soon extended to
Pundooah.
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In significant step towards adopting green fuel, the railways have launched
their first CNG train on jan 15 2015. Railway minister
Suresh Prabhu flagged off the train, run on dual fuel system —diesel and CNG — on
the Rewari-Rohtak section of northern zone.
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In 1977, the country’s first railway museum was
set up at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. The first of its kind in the country, this
unique museum covers a land area of over 10 acres, comprising an elegantly
designed octagonal building housing nine display galleries and a large open
area laid out to simulate a Railway Yard.
