Indian Railway is certainly the "Life Line of  The Nation" with its commendable performance since last 150 years. Indian Railway is known to be largest railway network in Asia and World's Largest system under a single management.IR employs about 1.6 million, making itself the second largest commercial employer in the world.

1. Founded:----       First introduce to India in16th April 1853 from Bombay to Thane,distance     was 34 km. The second train ran on 1854 from Howrah to Hooghly.
2. Headquarters:----      New Delhi, India.
3. Nationalisation:----     1951.
4. Parent:----      Ministry of Railway through Railway Board (India).
5. Divisions:-----      17 Railway Zones.
6. Track gauge:----      1676mm;1000mm;762;610mm
7. Electrification:----     23541 km.
8. Length:----     65000 km.
9. Stations:----     7500-8000
10. Shortest Station name:----   Ib near Jharsugda in Odisha and Od near Anand in Gujarat.
11. longest Station name:----     Venkatanarasimharajuvariipeta on the Arakkonam-Renigunta section near Chennai.
12. Oldest Station:----    Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
13. Highest Station:----     Ghoom.
14. Oldest train still running:----     Bangalore mail (1964).
15. Busiest railway Station:----     Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
16. Largest railway complex:----    Howrah Station.
17. Owner(s):----     Government of India (100%).
18. Employees:----      1.6 million, 4th largest employer in the world..
19. Revenue:----      increase INR 1256.8 billion (us$19 billion) (2012-2013).
20. Net Income:----      increase INR 104.1 billion (us$1.6 billion) (2012-2013).
21. Normal length of passenger train:----     24 coaches.
22. 1st railway bridge:----      Dapoorie viaduct (Mumbai- thane route).
23. 1st rail tunnel:----      Parsik Tunnel.
24. Longest tunnel:----    Karbude on Konkan Railway which is 6.5 km.
25. 1st metro or underground Railway:----     Kolkata or Calcutta metro rail 24th October,1984.
26. 1st reservation(computerised):----      New Delhi (1986).
27. 1st electric train:----     1929 from Mumbai to Pune.
28. Fastest train:----     (New Delhi-Bhopal)-- Shatabdi Express 150km/ph.
29. Largest zone railway:----    Northern railway.
30. Smallest zone railway:----     North-East frontier.
31. Longest platform in world:----     Gorakhpur (1300 m).
32. Longest rail route:-----     Jammu-Tavi to Kanyakumari (3,726 km)
33. First air cooling introduce:----     1874 in great Indian Peninsular Railway.
34. Toilet on train 1st introduce:-----      1891 in 1st class and 1907 in lower classes.
35. National Rail Museum setup:-----     1977 New Delhi.
36. Longest Railway Bridge:-----      Rail link between Idapalli railway station and ICTT 4.62 km.
37. Tallest Railway bridge:-----      The Ghambir Khad Bridge between Jammu Tawi and Udhampur  is 77m tall.
38. First electric train / locomotive:----     1908.
39. First double decker train:-----     Flying Rani (1905).
40. UNESCO Heritage site:-----     Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Mountain railway ( Darjeeling Himalayan railway in west Bengal).
41. Daily run train:---- about 10,000 train.
42. Oldest preserved locomotive:----     Fairy Queen (1855) still in working order.