Different Travelling Classes in Indian Railways

1A

Rajdhani 1A First class AC: This is the most expensive class, where the fares are almost at par with air fare. There are eight cabins (including two coupes) in the full AC First Class coach and three cabins (including one coupe) in the half AC First Class coach. The coach has an attendant to help the passengers. Bedding is included with the fare in IR. This air conditioned coach is present only on popular routes and can carry 18 passengers (full coach) or 10 passengers (half coach). The sleeper berths are extremely wide and spacious. The coaches are carpeted, have sleeping accommodation and have privacy features like personal coupes. This class is available on broad gauge and metre gauge trains.

2A

AC-Two tier: These air-conditioned coaches have sleeping berths across eight bays. Berths are usually arranged in two tiers in bays of six, four across the width of the coach and two berths longways on the other side of the corridor, with curtains along the gangway or corridor. Bedding is included with the fare. A broad gauge coach can carry 48 passengers (full coach) or 20 passengers (half coach). This class is available on broad gauge and metre gauge trains.

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Types of Passenger Service on Indian Railways

1	Duronto Express	Duronto Express These are the non-stop (except for operational stops) point to point rail services introduced for the first time in 2009. They connect the metros and major state capitals of India and are faster than Rajdhani Express. They provide first AC, two-tier AC and three-tier AC accommodation. Some of them provide Sleeper Class accommodation.
2	Rajdhani Express	These are air-conditioned trains linking major cities to New Delhi. They have high priority and are one of the fastest trains in India, travelling at an average speed of 130 km/h (82 mph). They have only a few stops. In the Railway budget of 2014, the it was proposed that the speed of Rajdhani express, and Shatabdi Expresses would be increased up to 200 km/h. Rajdhani Express
3	AC Express	These are fully air-conditioned trains linking major cities in the country. They have high priority and are one of the fastest trains in India, travelling at about 130 km/h (82 mph). They have only a few stops.

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Know about Railways Zones

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Facts about Indian Railways

Facts about Indian Railways

First Passenger Train Ran On: 16th April 1853 (between Bombay to Thane)
First Railway Bridge: Dapoorie Viaduct on the Mumbai-Thane route
First Rail Tunnel: Parsik Tunnel
First Ghats Covered by Rail Lines: Thal and Bhore Ghats
First Underground Railway: Calcutta METRO
First Computerized Reservation System Started In: New Delhi (1986)
First Electric Train Ran On: 3rd Feb' 1925 (between Bombay VT and Kurla)

Longest Run for Daily Train: Kerala Express (3054 km in 42.5 hrs)
Longest Non-Stop Run (Distance): Trivandrum Rajdhani (528 km in 6.5 hrs)
Longest Railway Platform in the World: Kharagpur (2,733 ft in length)
Longest Railway Bridge: Nehru Setu on Sone River (10044ft in length)
Longest Tunnel: Karbude Tunnel of the Konkan Railway (6.5 km)
Toilets on Trains Introduced In: 1891 (1st Class) & 1907 (lower classes)

Shortest Station Name: Ib (Orissa)
Train with Maximum Number of Halts: Howrah-Amritsar Express (115 halts)
Longest Station Name: Sri Venkatanarasimharajuvariapeta (Tamil Nadu)
Busiest Railway Station: Lucknow (64 trains everyday)
Longest Run (Time): Himsagar Express (3751 km in 74 hrs and 55 min)
Shortest Run: Route between Nagpur and Ajni (3km)

Classes of Travel on Indian Railway: Ist AC, 2nd AC, 3rd AC, AC Chair Car 2nd sleeper & 2nd ordinary
Oldest Preserved Locomotive: Fairy Queen (1855), still in working order
Gauges of Track: 4 Gauges; BG (5'6"), MG (1 metre), NG (2)
IR Daily Runs: About 14,000 trains
IR Daily Carries: More than 11 million passengers & 1 million tonnes of freight
IR's Only Line with Rack & Pinion System: From Mettupalayam to Conoor
IR's Fastest Train: Bhopal-Shatabdi (runs at a speed up to 140 Km/ph)
Railway Station with all the Three Gauges: Siliguri Railway Station
Route Kilometers of Track: More than 62,000 kms
People Employed in IR: About 1.6 million people

Trains without Commercial Halts: Sampoorna Kranti Express, Howrah Rajdhani, Bombay Rajdhani, Pragati Express and Pune Shatabdi
Stations across State Lines: Navapur (Maharashtra and Gujarat), Bhawani Mandi (Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan)

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History of Indian Railways

Indian Railways state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India It is one of the world's largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km of track over a route of 65,436 km and 7,172 stations.

Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Bombay to Thane. In 1951 the systems were nationalized as one unit, the Indian Railways.
Indian Railways is the world's seventh largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.307 million employees.
The history of rail transport in India started in the mid-nineteenth century.  In 1848, there was not a single kilometer of railway line in India. The country's first railway, built by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), opened in 1853, between Bombay and Thane. A British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onward. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the GIPR, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km (4,000 mi). Hence it became possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta. This route was officially opened on 7 March 1870 and it was part of the inspiration for French writer Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days.By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in India guaranteed railways. By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km , mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. 

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