INDIAN RAILWAYS - INTRODUCTION

Indian Railways (reporting mark IR / भा. रे) is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways.

Indian Railways is the world's seventh largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.307 million employees as of last published figures in 2013 . As for rolling stock, IR holds over 239,281 Freight Wagons, 62,924 Passenger Coaches and 9,013 Locomotives (43 steam, 5,345 diesel and 4,568 electric locomotives). The trains have a 5 digit numbering system and runs 12,617 passenger trains and 7421 freight trains daily. As of 31 March 2013, 20,884 km (12,977 mi) (31.9%) of the total 65,436 km (40,660 mi) route length was electrified. Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 Volt AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.

Railway zones

Indian Railways is divided into 17 zones,which are further sub-divided into divisions. The number of zones in Indian Railways increased from six to eight in 1951, nine in 1952 and seventeen in 2003. Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-eight divisions.

Each zone is headed by a general manager, who reports directly to the Railway Board. The zones are further divided into divisions, under the control of divisional railway managers (DRM). The divisional officers, of engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal and telecommunication, accounts, personnel, operating, commercial, security and safety branches, report to the respective Divisional Manager and are in charge of operation and maintenance of assets. Further down the hierarchy tree are the station masters, who control individual stations and train movements through the track territory under their stations' administration.

Railway zones:

• Northern Railway (NR)
• North Eastern Railway (NER)
• Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR, sometimes NEFR)
• Western Railway (WR)
• Southern Railway (SR)
• South Central Railway (SCR)
• South Eastern Railway (SER)
• Eastern Railway (ER)
• Central Railway (CR)

• South Western Railway (SWR)
• North Western Railway (NWR)
• West Central Railway (WCR)
• North Central Railway (NCR)
• South East Central Railway (SECR)
• East Coast Railway (ECoR)
• East Central Railway (ECR)

Deemed zones:

• Kolkata Metro (given zonal status Dec. 29, 2010)
• Konkan Railway (deemed a zone for administrative purposes)

Production units

Indian Railways manufactures much of its rolling stock and heavy engineering components at its six manufacturing plants, called Production Units, which are managed directly by the Ministry. Popular rolling stock builders such as CLW and DLW for electric and diesel locomotives; ICF and RCF for passenger coaches are Production Units of Indian Railways. Over the years, Indian Railways has not only achieved self-sufficiency in production of rolling stock in the country but also exported rolling stock to other countries. Each of these production units is headed by a general manager, who also reports directly to the Railway Board. The production units are:-

Name	Abbr.	Year Established	Location	Main products
Bharat Wagon and EngineeringMuzaffarpur	BWEL	1978	Muzaffarpur(Bihar)	Passenger Coaches (manufacturing + maintenance).
Jamalpur Locomotive Workshop	JLW	1862	Jamalpur(Bihar)	Diesel/Electric Loco maintenance.
Golden Rock Railway Workshop	GOC	1928	Trichy(Tamil Nadu)	Diesel-electric Locomotives
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works	CLW	1947	Chittaranjan,Asansol(WestBengal)	Electric Locomotives
Diesel Locomotive Works	DLW	1961	Varanasi(Uttarpradesh)	Diesel Locomotives
Diesel-Loco Modernisation Works	DMW	1981	Patiala(Punjab)	Diesel-electric Locomotives
Integral Coach Factory	ICF	1952	Chennai(Tamil Nadu)	Passenger coaches
Rail Coach Factory	RCF	1986	Kapurthala(Punjab	Passenger coaches
Rail Spring Karkhana	RSK	1988	Gwalior( Madhya Pradesh	Passenger coach springs
Rail Wheel Factory	RWF	1984	Bangalore	Railway wheels and axles
Rail Wheel Factory	RWF	2012	Chhapra	Railway wheels
Rail Coach Factory, Raebareli	RCF	2012	Raebareli	Passenger coaches

Other subsidiaries

There also exist independent organisations under the control of the Railway Board for electrification, modernisation, research and design and training of officers, each of which is headed by an officer of the rank of general manager. A number of Public Sector Undertakings, which perform railway-related functions ranging from consultancy to ticketing, are also under the administrative control of the Ministry of railways.

There are fourteen public undertakings under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, viz.

• Bharat Wagon and Engineering Co. Ltd. (BWEL)
• Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)^[23]
• Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR)
• Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL)
• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC)
• Indian Railway Construction (IRCON) International Limited
• Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC)
• Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL)
• Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC)
• Railtel Corporation of India Limited (Rail Tel)
• Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES)
• Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL)
• High Speed Rail Corporation of India (HSRC) A subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited
• Burn Standard Company
• Braithwaite and Co. Ltd

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), that has constructed and operates Delhi Metro network, is an independent organisation not connected to the Indian Railways. Similar metro rail corporations in other cities (except Kolkata Metro in Kolkata) are not connected to the Indian Railways.

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