1. Fastest train in India
New Delhi-Bhopal
Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India. The all air-conditioned superfast train clocks a maximum speed of 150km/h on the Faridabad-Agra section. It also has the highest commercial speed - 89.87 km/h- and covers the 704 km New Delhi - Bhopal stretch in 7 hours 50 minutes.
2. Longest, shortest run by a train
Vivek Express from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari travels a distance of 4273 km, making it the longest run in terms of total time and distance in Indian Railways. Shortest run: Scheduled services between Nagpur and Ajni stations situated just 3km from each other – primarily meant for crew to travel from Nagpur station to the workshop at Ajni.
3. Longest non-stop travel/ Trains with most stops
Trivandrum - H. Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express travels the 528km stretch between Vadodara and Kota non-stop. In second place is the Mumbai Rajdhani Express that travels nonstop between New Delhi and Kota.
The record for maximum number of stops by an Express/Mail train is held by Howrah - Amritsar Express 115 halts, followed by Delhi - Howrah Janata Express 109 halts and Jammu Tawi - Sealdah Express 99 halts.
4. Longest, shortest station names
Shortest names: Ib, near Jharsuguda in Odisha and Od, near Anand in Gujarat.
Longest name: Venkatanarasimharajuvariipeta on the Arakkonam-Renigunta section near Chennai.
5. Least punctual train
Guwahati-Trivandrum Express is said to be the most unreliable long-distance train in the country. The charted journey time is 65 hours and 5 minutes, but the average delay on a trip is about 10-12 hours.
6. Two stations at same location
Srirampur and Belapur are two different stations in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra which are both at the same location on the railway route but on opposite sides of the track.
7. Most powerful locomotive
Electric locomotive WAG-9 used for hauling heavy freight rakes is the most powerful locomotive in Indian Railways' fleet. The 6,350 horsepower beast is homed at Gomoh, Ajni,Lallaguda,Tughlakabad and Bhilai.
Modified version of WAG-9 named WAP 7 is IR’s workhouse for high speed passenger service. It is capable of hauling 24 coach trains at speeds ranging between 140 and 160 km per hour.
WAP-7 has similar horsepower as that of WAG-9 but comes with modified gear ratios for faster acceleration.
8. Last stations in North-South-East-West direction
Northernmost railway station is Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir. Westernmost is Naliya near Bhuj in Gujarat. Southernmost railway station is Kanyakumari, while the last station on the east of India is Ledo on branch line from Tinsukia.
9. Junction with most number of routes originating from it
Mathura junction with 7 routes- Broad Gauge (BG) line to Agra Cantt, BG line to Bharatpur, BG line to Alwar, BG line to Delhi, Metre Gauge (MG) line to Achnera, MG line to Vrindavan and MG line to Hathras, Kasganj.
Six route junction – Bhatinda. Five route junctions – Lucknow, Guntakal, Katni, Varanasi, Kanpur Central, Villupuram, Dabhoi, and Nagpur.
10. Most number of parallel tracks/ Three gauges at one station
Seven parallel tracks between Bandra Terminus and Andheri - 10km.
Siliguri station on NFR holds the distinction of having three different gauges present.
Compiled by Ajith Vijay Kumar
First Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 19:06