India
Country Details
See Wikipedia
National Railway System
National Railway Operator
Indian Railways: a state-owned enterprise that is a department of the Ministry of Railways. Note that the website appears not to be accessible from Europe.
Timetable
- Printed: summary timetables are available in some editions of the European Rail Timetable.
Information is available at the Man in Seat 61.
Maps
Web-based Maps
An interactive map of India Railways is available.
Plus basic Line Diagram Maps of metro systems.
Infrastructure
Gauges
- Main lines:-
- 1,676 mm (5 feet 6 inches) broad gauge
- 1,000 mm (3 feet 3+3⁄8 inches) metre gauge
All metre gauge lines in India, except the UNESCO World Heritage Nilgiri Mountain Rack Railway, will be converted to broad gauge under project Unigauge See Wikipedia.
- Metros:-
- 1,435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches) standard gauge
- 1,676 mm (5 feet 6 inches) broad gauge - on 3 lines in Delhi and 3 lines in Kolkata
- Minor and tourist lines:-
- 762 mm (2 feet 6 inches)
- 610 mm (2 feet)
Electrification
- 25 kV AC
- 750 V DC - 3rd rail - on some metros.
- 550 V DC for Kolkata trams
Rule of the road
Left
Tourist Lines
- Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.610 mm gauge, length 83.9 km
- Kalka–Shimla Railway.762 mm gauge, length 96.9 km
- Kangra Valley Railway. 762 mm gauge, length 164 km
- Matheran Hill Railway. 610mm gauge, length 21 km
- Nilgiri Mountain Railway. 1000 mm gauge, length 46 km
Metro and light rail systems
There are 17 operational metros systems in 12 Indian cities with 11 at more various stage of implementation. See Active Metros in India and Urban Rail.Net.
Metros listed by Region:
Delhi / National Capital Region (NCR)
- Delhi
- Gurgaon
- Noida
Northern
- Jaipur
- Lucknow
- Kanpur
Eastern
- Kolkata
Western
- Mumbai
- Navi Mumbai
- Pune
- Ahmedabad
- Nagpur
South
- Hyderabad
- Bengaluru
- Chennai
- Kochi
In Kolkata only 2 of the 50 tram lines still remain in operation
Recent and Future Changes
Recent Changes
The 272km Udhampur - Srinagar - Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) was ceremonially opened on 6 June 2025. It connects Kashmir to the Indian Railways (IR) network for the first time. The project was approved in 1995. The line passes through 36 tunnels and crosses 943 bridges including the 359m-high Chenab viaduct, described as the world’s highest single-arch railway bridge.
The first 12·7 km section of Mumbai Metro’s Aqua Line, or Line 3, was officially opened on 5 October 2024. Public services started on 7 October 2024.
Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services
Kerala
Ernakulam Junction to Cochin Harbour Terminus IN1
This approximately 6km branch lost its passenger service in 2004 but has been used by occasional tourist trains since. In December 2019, the ultra luxury train Deccan Odyssey arrived at Cochin Harbour Terminus during its Kerala Itinerary. In November 2022, another luxury train The Golden Chariot carrying 25 tourists reached the station. Report created: February 2025
Border Crossings
India - Pakistan
Prior to the partition of India into India and Pakistan, at midnight on 14/15 August 1947, there were of course a number of lines across the future border. Trains apparently continued running across the border for a few years, but no details are known. In more recent times, only two have remained in use but these were not infrequently closed at times of tension between the two countries. As at 2025, neither line is in use.
(Amritsar -) Attari IR - Wagah PR (- Lahore)
Following the Shimla Accords, a weekly train, the ‘Samjhauta [=‘understanding’] Express’ was started in 1976 between Amritsar and Lahore. This ceased in the late 1980s when IR terminated their service at Attari. The PR service ran to and from Attari, where border procedures were carried out. Originally daily, the train became twice weekly in 1994, with the border section being traversed on Mondays and Thursdays.
The service was discontinued several times following incidents: 1 January 2002 - 15 January 2004; from 27 December 2007 for an unknown period and finally on 9 August 2019.
(Jodhpur -) Munabao IR - Zero Point Khokhropar PR (- Mirpur Khas - Hyderabad(Sindh))
This was originally a metre gauge line. It remained open after partition until the war of 1965, in which part of it was destroyed. It was later reconstructed and converted to the standard 'Indian' gauge: Jodhpur - Munabao (IR) was completed in 2004 and Mirpur Khas - Khokhropar (PR) in 2006, whereupon services resumed. Escalating tensions resulted in the service being withdrawn on 9 August 2019.
Other Border Crossings
This is a list of former lines across the border, listed from north to south:
- Suchetgarh (Jammu & Kashmir) - Sialkot (Punjab)
- (Amritsar -) Dera Baba Nanak - Narowal (- Sialkot)
- (Ferozepur -) Kasur - Raiwind (- Lahore)
(INCOMPLETE)