Railway Gauge in India

Indian Railways is the nation's lifeline, providing transportation across the country's length and breadth. The Indian railway system is a massive and comprehensive network of connections that spans the entire country. The Indian Railways started operating on April 16, 1853. The Fairy Queen is the world's oldest working steam engine. It runs between New Delhi to the Rajasthani city of Alwar. Its vision is to be the vehicle of inclusive growth, connecting regions, towns, ports, and centres of industry, trade, tourism, and pilgrimage across the country, and to provide efficient, inexpensive, customer-focused, ecologically friendly integrated transportation solutions.

In India, railways are the main source of freight and passenger transportation. Railways support a variety of activities, including commerce, sightseeing, and pilgrimage, as well as the transportation of goods over long distances. For more than 150 years, Indian Railways have served as a major integrating factor in addition to being a vital mode of transportation. As of March 2011, the Indian Railways operated a network of more than 7133 stations over a 64,460-kilometer route, with a fleet of 9213 locomotives, 53,220 passenger service vehicles, 6,493 other coach vehicles, and 2,29,381 waggons.

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Image of the Indian railway route.

Civil Engineering infrastructure, which includes track, bridges, and land, is the greatest static infrastructure of Indian Railways. The organization's vision must be followed when managing this massive infrastructure. All of these infrastructures are managed and maintained by Indian Railways' civil engineering department. It also plays a major role in the development of infrastructure, technical leaps in numerous industries, high-speed transit, and the creation of world-class stations.

What is Rail Gauge?

The gauge of a railway track is defined as the clear minimum vertical distance between the inner sides of two tracks. Railway gauge in India refers to the distance between the two tracks on any railway route. The standard gauge of 1,435 mm is used by approximately 60% of the world's railways. In India, there are four different railway gauges. A standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft, 8 1/2 in) is used on most tracks. Broad gauge (1676mm) belongs to larger gauges, while narrow gauge belongs to smaller gauges (762mm or 610mm). When a track needs to move a lot of weight, a broad gauge is a good option. Because the narrower track costs less, narrow-gauge railroads, such as metre gauge (1000mm), are used to build railroads for less money. The break of the gauge is the junction of multiple gauges. Broad gauge, metre gauge, narrow gauge, and standard gauge are all types of gauges (for Delhi Metro). This article will cover all different types of gauges.

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Image of different gauges.

Standard Gauge in India

In this railway gauge, the distance between the two tracks is 1435 mm (4 ft 8 1/2 in). The standard gauge is only used in India for urban rail transit systems such as the Metro, Monorail, and Tram. The Kolkata (Calcutta) tram system was India's only standard gauge line until 2010. All metro lines in urban areas will be built in standard gauge since standard gauge rolling stock is easier to get by than Indian gauge rolling equipment. The Delhi Metro, Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon, Bangalore Metro, and Mumbai Metro lines will all be operational by 2016. All of these are operated separately by Indian Railways.

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Image of Standard gauge.

In a few places in India, Standard Gauge has been used. The tram lines in Calcutta are probably the most well-known and maybe the only ones still operating. During the construction of the Madras Harbour, heavy rail in this gauge was employed (3 standard gauge locos were procured by the Madras Port Trust). The original building of the Bombay Docks was also done in standard gauge (but this system, put in place in 1909, lasted only until 1954). The contractors for the Bombay Docks project insisted on a standard gauge for the delivery of material from Elephanta Island to the new dock works and basin dam.

Broad Gauge in India

Broad gauge is also known as the large line or wide gauge. In these railway gauges, the distance between the two tracks is 1676 mm (5 ft 6 in). The broad gauge can be defined as any gauge that is wider than the standard gauge, which is 1,435 mm (4 feet 8 1/2 inches). In 1853, a wide gauge line from Bore Bunder (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) to Thane became India's first railway line. Broad gauge railroads are also used on ports for cranes and other machinery. This improves stability and makes them better than thinner gauges.

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Image of board gauge.

This is now common all around the country, with broad gauge being used on all main passenger and freight routes. The broad gauge width in India is 1676 mm. This is the largest gauge now in use anywhere on the globe. (In the past, an 8' gauge and a 7'14 gauge were used in Oregon, USA.) "The Great Western Railway in the United Kingdom utilised this gauge. Away from India, the 5'6" "Pakistan, an extension of Pakistan into Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Argentina, Chile, and the BART rapid transit system in the United States also had a gauge. The decision to employ a gauge wider than that used in the United Kingdom was made to save money on freight transportation while also ensuring stability in the face of Indian weather and the potential of cyclonic winds.

Narrow Gauge in India

The narrow gauge railway track in India is called a small gauge or a small line. The narrow gauge train in India is the railway track, in which the distance between two tracks is 2 ft 6 inches (762 mm) and 2 ft (610 mm). In 2015, there existed a 1,500-kilometer narrow gauge rail route, representing around 2% of India's overall rail network. Narrow gauge in India services is planned to be completed by 2018 as the country develops. The small lines are now being converted into large lines. Trains with small bogies will now have close to zero views. On July 24, 2008, the Darjeeling Mountain Railway was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

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Image of narrow gauge.

The narrow gauge width in India is between 600 mm ( 1 ft 115⁄8 in) and 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).

New Neral Matheran, Jalpaiguri-Darjeeling, and the Gwalior branch lines, which include Gwalior - Sheopur Kalan, Gwalior – Shivpuri, and Gwalior – Bhind, all feature the smaller 2–foot gauge. (In the past, the Gwalior lines also comprised the Ujjain–Agar line.) The NG lines between Howrah and Amta and Howrah and Sheakhala have shut down a time ago and are now being rebuilt as a broad gauge. Together, the two narrow gauges account for around 3700 route kilometres on IR's network.

Metre Gauge in India

The metre gauge train in India was built to save money. Under Project Unigauge, all metre gauge lines in India will be converted to broad gauge, except the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, which is a legacy run on a metre gauge. Despite the push to convert everything to broad gauge, this may still be found in a lot of places. It is reported that Lord Mayo picked this gauge based on calculations to allow four people to sit comfortably abreast it would have been 3'3" except for the campaign to adopt the metric system, in which case the gauge became 1m. In 1872, the first MG line was completed between Delhi and Farukh Nagar. Interestingly, the metric system was not adopted until nearly a century later, thus for a long time, the gauge was the sole metric thing in India. IR's network has roughly 14,500 meter-gauge route km.

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Image of metre gauge.

Indian Railway Facts

• The Indian Railways is Asia's and the world's second-largest rail network.

• On April 16, 1853, the first train on Indian soil operated between Bombay and Thane.

• The Guinness Book of Records has recognised the New Delhi Railway Station as having the world's largest Route Relay Interlocking System.

• Every day, Indian Railways transports almost 2.5 crore people.

• With over 1.4 million employees, Indian Railways is one of the world's largest employers.

• The Bhopal Shatabdi Express, which runs between New Delhi and Bhopal Junction, is India's fastest train.

• The Dibrugarh Kanyakumari Vivek Express is the Indian Subcontinent's longest train line.

• The Metupalayam Ooty Nilgiri local train is India's slowest train.

• Indian Railways' Kolkata Metro zone would build a 1,500-foot underwater metro connecting Mahakaran and Howrah stations under the Hooghly River.

• The Fairy Queen, which runs between New Delhi and Alwar in Rajasthan, is the world's oldest operating steam engine.

• The Trivandrum HNizamuddin Rajdhani Express travels 528 kilometres without stopping.

• In India, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is the only single-track rack and pinion rail system.

• The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is regarded as India's most magnificent train station.

• The Maharaja Express is India's most expensive luxury train.