Every day 12,000 trains chug to 7,000 destinations
spread over 62,000 km of hills, dales, plains and plateaus.
250 years ago when the
British staked their first pound on the Indian Railways, little did
they dream that they were laying the foundations of what would one
day become the largest passenger train service in the World. At that
time only eight other countries were running railways: Britain,
France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, USSR and USA.
There was an
international controversy over the wisdom of starting a railway in a
backward country like India. Could the destitute Indian who didnt
possess an anna be persuaded to pay train fares in preference
to jogging peacefully on his bullock cart? It was argued. What about
Indias climatic and geographical conditions? After all, India
was not a flat country like Russia, nor a small one like England.
Some areas were absolutely unapproachable by vehicle of any type.
Some were in dense forests infested with wild beasts, vermins and
malarial insects. Other didnt receive an inch of rainfall in
the year. Then, equipments and facilities for large-scale
construction work were minimal.
Yet the railways had to
come to India: to strengthen the foothold of the British Empire in
this mineral rich country. Britishers found that in 16 hours a train
could do as much work as 2,500 camels could do in a fortnight. So,
apart from the main trunk lines connecting harbors, they developed
branch and feeder lines for transporting food and commercial goods
from one place to another, as well as others for strategic purposes.
The first locomotive in
India could be seen shunting in Bombay as early as in 1852, less than
three decades after the worlds first locomotive had made a
successful run. The formal inauguration of a train journey in India
was later, however, when the great Indian Peninsular Railways was
sure of a smooth performance. On April 16, 1853, 14 carriages
carrying 400 guests trundled out for Thane to the accompaniment of
the Governors band, amidst the applause of a vast multitude and
to the salute of 21 guns
The day was observed as a public
holiday reports the Bombay Times with that dateline.
Initially most railway
systems in India belonged to private investors in England or to some
Indian Maharajas, with the concurrence of the British government. At
one time there were as many as 175 different railways following their
own routes and time schedules. It was just not possible for a person
to travel without halting several times, sometimes in the wilderness.
In the 1920s a Committee
set up by the government recommended the setting up of a central
railway authority. This Committee also made some pithy comments on
the administration of Indian Railways at the beginning of this
century. At the date of the last report there were employed on the
railways of India 710,000 persons, it stated. Of these roughly
700,000 were Indians and only 7,000 Europeans (a portion of just 1%).
But the 7,000 Europeans were like a thin film of oil on the top of a
glass of water, resting upon but hardly mixing with the 700,000
below.
Europeans enjoyed better
salaries, living quarters, leave allowances, and recreational and
medical facilities than Indians. They also had special carriages
meant exclusively for the use of Europeans and Eurasians. As for the
rest of the people, a commoner felt compelled to warn his fellow
passengers thus. The extinguish railway arrangement renders it
imperative that you should provide yourself with a large stock of
philosophy to enable you to put up with certain inconveniences. Look
out for a double allowance of smoke, dust, dirt and everything that
is disagreeable. Be content to run a two folk risk of life and limb.
Do not expect the luxury of a seat. As an individual and as a
traveler you are one of the lower classes: a poor, beggarly and
contemptible person, and your comforts and conveniences are not to be
attended to.
There is no longer any
third class on the Indian Railways. It was abolished in 1975 and its
amenities generally upgraded to be included in the new second class.
Now there is a trend towards classless trains, in keeping with the
governments policy of equality. All coaches on these classless
trains have identical padded seats as well as sleeping berths. There
is arrangement for drinking water, hot meals and even a lending
library on board some of the trains.
The Research, Designing
and Standardizing Organization at Lucknow-the largest railway
research organization in the world-is constantly devising
improvements in the coaches as well as locomotives. This is in sharp
contrast to the earlier British conviction that only minor repairs
would be possible in India, so all spare parts including nuts and
bolts for locomotives would have to be imported from England.
Since the last 80 years
India has been producing her own locomotives. Whereas till 1950-51
she imported 23% of the railway equipment and stores, the figure has
now dwindled down to 7%. India has progressed to become an exporter
of railway equipment and know-how to a number of African and Asian
countries.
Indian Railways received
a strong impetus for development when India won her Independence in
1947. The process of merging which started in 1920s was completed in
the early 50s. The major railways belonging to British investors
combined with the State railways belonging to Indian Maharajas,
forming a single network throughout the country.
Earlier, the Indian
Maharajas used to have some interesting preferences and prejudices
projected to their railway systems. The Maharaja of Patiala had
commissioned a brilliant railway engineer, Colonel Bowles, to design
the unique Patiala State Monorail trainway for him. This is the only
known Trainway in the world in which the load-carrying wheels run on
a monorail underneath the carriages. The train was held upright by
means of huge wheels running alongside on the road. The Trainway was
originally lugged by mules taken from 500 miles maintained by the
Maharajas army. But two years later these were replaced by
locomotives (manufactured by the German firm Orenstein and Koppel at
the cost of Rs.7,000 each) which could haul eight coaches at eight
miles per hour.
The Maharaja of Mysore
traveled with a whole retinue of servants in a pleasure saloon which
could be lifted and fitted with different undercarriages to travel on
rail-tracks of different widths, depending on the route the Maharaja
cared to follow. The saloon was made from the finest quality
teakwood adorned with the silver crest of the State of Mysore. There
were intricate bronze railings on he verandahs. Inside as
wall-to-wall carpeting, a four-poster bed with an eight-inch
mattress, velvet upholstered chairs and a folding table.
The private saloon of the
Nizam of Hyderabad in comparison was a picture of simplicity. Though
the Nizam was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world, his
saloon was not furnished with even a chair.
There was only a
wall-to-wall carpet on which he did his daily prayers, read the Quran
and performed other activities. The Nizams lucky number was 13,
so his saloon was also numbered 13. He only traveled in this coach
and none other.
A number of the private
saloons of erstwhile princes along with other rare railways relics
can be viewed today at the Rail Transport Museum in New Delhi.
A fascinating sight at
the Rail Museum is a pair of rail motors or motors cars that have
been converted to travel on rails. These rail motors ran on their
original petrol engines. Being light, heap and better maneuverable
than locomotives, rail motors were used for inspecting hill tracks,
which were unapproachable, by road. Some such rail motors are still
in service.
The hill railways of
India, though they do not compete with Europeans ones in speed,
height or gradient, are certainly more romantic. The narrow tracks
zigzag up the hills on what might have once been cart tracks. An
antique steam engine hauls up the train slowly, huffing and puffing
all the way. You feel you could make it faster on foot.
At the end of 15 minutes
the train suddenly comes to a stop. You get down to investigate. Why,
the engine is reversing on a sidetrack! Within seconds it reaches the
tail end of the trains and starts pushing upwards. You run and heave
yourself in. The next time the train stops you know you can get down
to take pictures. Within a few hours you reach a colourful hill
station surrounded by Himalayan peaks, waiting to be conquered
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