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Developments in Indian Railways

History The railways in India was started after successful projects in the Western countries. The first Indian Railway link was between Bombay to Thane and it was opened on  16th April, 1853 Bombay to Thane. The first Train had 14 coaches and 3 locomotives named Sultan, Sindh and Sahib with around  400 VVIPs East Indian Railways was supposed to be the one which was supposed to be the one which was opened first but the two ships carrying the coaches and the locomotive enigne were sunk and misdirected to England respectively and hence delaying the project, Also the line through Chandernagore was part of French Territory at that time .The Train finally reached Calcutta from England through Australia and on 28th. June 1854 the first run was made. Hoogly was the destination of the first passenger train from the Howrah Station, which was a distance of around 24 miles, on 15th August, 1854.

The regular services from Howrah and Hugli had stops at Bally, Srerampore and Chandannagar. The fare ranged from Rs.3 by first class to 7 annas by third class.[1]. The Calcutta bank was the main booking office and the fare was inclusive of a ferry to the station .The Howrah station consisted of a Tin shed and platforms along both sides of the single track. The first line in the South was opened on Ist July, 1856 by the Madras Railway Company. It ran for a distance of 63 miles between Veyasarpandy and Walajah Road (Arcot). The line from Allahabad to Kanpur was the first line in the North and was for a distance of 119 miles

The British companies in India invested around £95 million and by 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km  especially at key cities like Mumbai, Kolkatta (Calcutta) and Chennai (Madras).The F734 was the first locomotive built in India  in 1895 at the  Ajmer workshop of the Rajputana Malwa Railway.

In 1905, an early Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally vested under Lord Curzon.In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. [] .The following year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. The World War 1 lead to the massive use of the Railways by the British Government for the war efforts. By 1920, the Railway network had grown to 61,220 kms and there was a need for a central management. The Government hence took over the management of the Railways and then detached the finances of the Railways from the other governmental revenues In the 9 years that followed the Railways had transported over 620 Million passengers 90 million tons of goods each year. But then due to the Great Depression, the railways suffered economically for the next eight years. During the second world war the British government again made extensive use of the Railway network to transport troops and ammunition. By 1946, The Indian Railways was taken over by the Government of India .[1]