“HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS”
Presently, Indian Railways are indicators of a historical bequest and serve as an imperative economical force. The distinguished Indian Railway journey marked its commencement back in 1853 when 14 railway carriages were used as the first Railway to transport 400 guests over a distance of 34 km from Bombay to Thane. From then onwards, railway network has expanded up to 63,028 km encompassing about 6,909 stations and supplemented with diverse facilities of electrification, locomotives, coaching vehicles, wagons, good-sheds and the Indian Railway department employs about 1.54 million people. The question rises as to how the Railway journey started and reached this point of eminence?
.jpg)
The historical perspective of Indian Railways revolved around facilitating the commercial and trade pursuits of the British and it were the London-issued policies and management that steered the Indian Railways for the next century. The endeavors of Robert Maitland Brereton, a British engineer resulted in developing 6,400 km long direct Railway line connecting Bombay and Calcutta by linking the Allahabad-Jabalpur railway line (1867) with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and inaugurated the route publicly on 7th March, 1870. Great enthusiasm was displayed at the commencement ceremony for uniformly covering the entire country with railway network which was translated into a £95 million investment by British organizations by 1857. By 1880, the railway line had extended up to 9000 miles majorly spring from major port cities of India i.e. Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Within the next 15 years, indigenous locomotives were being built that led to establishment of Uganda Railways in 1896.
By 1900, the network mushroomed to the states of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam and sovereign states built their own railways. As the railway system started generating revenue, the management and policy-making activities of Railway network were undertaken by Railway Board, a regulatory body that was constituted in 1905, however the formal authorities rested with British Viceroy Lord Curzon. Until 1907, the government had held control over all the rail companies and the innovative electrified locomotives dawned in 1908 that took railway transport to another level. Unfortunately, WW1 inflicted huge damage to railway property and lines. Furthermore, Sir William Acworth (chairman of East India Railway Committee) proposed the arrangement of some central management for Indian Railways System, owing to its expansion up to 38,040 miles. The government thus planned to fix a quota for Railway dept. in the budget.
An economic escalation was marked by 41,000 miles of country-wide railway lines during the time span of 1920-1929. The genuine statistics depicted that railways accommodated monetary value of 687 million and transported 620 million passengers and 90 million tons of cargo annually. The WWII further aggravated the after effects of WWI by superseding the railway possessions and rendering the system discrepant. By 1946, the entire railway structure was succeeded by the government. The Railway line since its advent has acted as a unifying force for the country as the multi-dimensional running network knits India into a cultural, economic and social fabric. With the glorious history, Indian Railways network now rank as the largest network of Asia continent.