10 interesting things about Indian Railways

India has one of the world's largest railway networks carrying millions of passengers everyday. We bring you 10 interesting facts about the Indian Railways:

#1 Fastest & slowest train

The New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India. The train runs at an average speed of 91kmph and touches a top speed of 150kmph on the 195km Delhi-Agra stretch.

The Nilgiri Express with an average speed of 10kmph has the distinction of being India’s slowest train.

#2 Longest route & shortest run

The Vivek Express — from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari — travels 4,273km, making it the longest-run in terms of total time and distance. Train services between Nagpur and Ajni, situated just 3km apart, form the shortest route. The scheduled services are primarily meant for crew to travel from Nagpur station to the workshop at Ajni.

#3 longest non-stop run & most halts

The Trivandrum-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express that travels the 528km stretch between Vadodara and Kota non-stop comes at the top. The Howrah-Amritsar Express has the most number of halts at 115.

#4 Two stations, one location

Srirampur and Belapur are two different stations in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, at the same location on the railway route but on opposite sides of the track.

#5 Least punctual train

The Guwahati-Trivandrum Express is said to be the most unreliable long-distance Indian train. There’s an average delay of 10-12 hours per trip on the scheduled journey time of 65 hours and 5 minutes.

#6 Longest & shortest station names

The record for the longest station name: Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta on the Arakkonam-Renigunta section near Chennai. The shortest station names are Ib, near Jharsuguda in Odisha and Od, near Anand in Gujarat.

#7 Oldest loco

India’s oldest working locomotive is the Fairy Queen, manufactured in 1855. It is also the oldest functioning steam engine in the world.

#8 Tunnel track

The longest rail tunnel in India is the Pir Panjal tunnel at a length of 11.215 km. It was completed in December 2012 in J&K.

#9 Potty train-ing

Toilets were introduced in 1909 in the lower classes of trains in India after a letter by one Okhil Babu that described the ordeal he faced owing to absence of lavatories.