Indian Railways completes 167 years of passenger train services! Check out interesting facts

The 14-carriage first passenger train was flagged off with a 21-gun salute, which was hauled by three steam locomotives- Sindh, Sahib, Sultan, carrying 400 passengers.

Big day for Indian Railways as it completes 167 years! Today i.e., 16 April 2020, marks a very special day for the national transporter as 167 years ago, the wheels of the first passenger train from Mumbai to Thane started rolling with the zeal to ‘never to stop’. The 14-carriage first passenger train was flagged off with a 21-gun salute, which was hauled by three steam locomotives- Sindh, Sahib, Sultan, carrying 400 passengers. Even though in India, trains started running much before the year 1853, this was the first time that a passenger train was operated on Indian Railways tracks. Take a look at some little known facts about Indian Railways:

In the year 1861, the Churchgate station was opened as the new terminus for Bombay (Mumbai).
Delhi’s oldest station, Delhi Junction was set up in 1864, starting train service between Delhi-Calcutta (Kolkata).
In the month of April 1867, the first rail line from Lucknow to Kanpur was built.
The first locomotive was developed in the year 1895 in Ajmer for the Rajputana Malwa Railway.
The development of the first Indian Bridge which was built across the sea, Pamban Railway Bridge started in the year 1911 and it was commenced on 1914.
In the year 1920, Indian Railways launched electric lighting between Dadar and Currey Road.
Between the years 1924 and 1944, nationalization of Indian Railways was initiated.
The first automatic colour light signals in India was introduced in 1928 on GIPR’s rail lines between Bombay VT – Byculla.
The iconic Howrah Bridge in Kolkata was commissioned in the year 1943.
In the year 1954, sleeping accommodation was introduced in three-tier coaches.
The Taj Express between New Delhi – Agra was introduced in 1964 to allow tourists/visitors to visit Agra and return to the national capital on the same day.
Fast Freight services were introduced in 1965 across several routes.
For the first time, the Centralized Traffic Control System on railways was launched in the year 1966 between Gorakhpur-Chhapra.
The first in dedicated electric passenger loco series, WAP-1 was built by CLW to RDSO specifications and was introduced in 1980.
The computerized ticketing and reservation were introduced in 1986 in New Delhi.
In the year 1990, the first Self Printing Ticket Machine was launched in New Delhi.
In the month of June 2001, WDP-4 was started and 10 of them, operating out of Hubli, were provided by General Motors.

Due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown because of the novel Coronavirus pandemic, the passenger train services have been stopped for the first time in the history of Indian Railways.