🇮🇳 Operator
Train routes operated by Indian Railways
23 routes · classic 12 · night train 4 · scenic 6 · heritage 1
Indian Railways runs 23 of the routes in the World Train Map atlas, 23,502 km of railway across 1 country. The longest is the Vivek Express at 4,154 km; the fastest is the Bhopal Vande Bharat, running up to 160 km/h; the oldest line it runs over here opened in 1881.
The company itself dates to 1845, filed on Wikidata as a national railway. What this page says about the company comes from Indian Railways's own Wikidata item, checked against the countries its routes here actually cross before any of it is used; everything about the railway is counted from this atlas. Official site ↗ · Wikipedia ↗ · Wikidata Q819425 ↗
Open the world railway map →- Routes here
- 23
- Total length
- 23,502 km
- Countries
- India
- Fastest
- Bhopal Vande Bharat · 160 km/h
- Longest
- Vivek Express · 4,154 km
- Oldest line here
- 1881
- Company founded
- 1845
- Type
- national railway
Classic (12)
- Vivek Express
India’s longest train journey: 4,154 km and roughly 75 hours from Assam’s tea country to the subcontinent’s southern tip.
Wikipedia ↗ - Himsagar Express
From the Himalayan foothills at Jammu to the very tip of India at Kanyakumari: about 3,785 km through a dozen states, one of the country’s longest single journeys.
Wikipedia ↗ - Grand Trunk Express
Running since 1929, the “GT” hauls down the spine of India through Bhopal and Nagpur to Chennai: 2,180 km in a day and a half.
Wikipedia ↗ - Golden Temple Mail
Born 1928 as the Frontier Mail to Peshawar: the Raj’s most glamorous train still runs daily, Mumbai to the Golden Temple’s city, 1,890 km up the map.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
First of India’s home-built semi-high-speed EMUs (2019), skimming the Gangetic plain from the capital to Hinduism’s holiest city in eight hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bhopal Vande Bharat
India’s fastest timetabled train: a home-built Vande Bharat touching 160 km/h past Agra and Gwalior, capital to Bhopal in seven and a half hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
India’s second Vande Bharat, launched 2019 to carry pilgrims 655 km from Delhi to the Vaishno Devi base town of Katra.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
South India’s first Vande Bharat (India’s 5th), linking Chennai, Bengaluru’s tech hub and the palace city of Mysuru.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
India’s third Vande Bharat: a fully-AC self-propelled set gliding the Mumbai–Ahmedabad corridor at up to 130 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Swarna Shatabdi
The Swarna Shatabdi day train (1994) speeds from the capital to the Golden Temple city of Amritsar in a shade over six hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Gatimaan Express
India’s first 160 km/h train: the “Speedy” express dashes Delhi to Jhansi via Agra’s Taj and the fort city of Gwalior.
Wikipedia ↗ - Deccan Queen
Maharashtra’s beloved “Queen” since 1930. India’s first deluxe electric express, still climbing the monsoon-soaked Bhor Ghat with the network’s last dining car.
Wikipedia ↗
Night train (4)
- Duronto Express
An all-AC, near-non-stop “Duronto” linking India’s two biggest cities across the central heartland in about 27 hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Howrah Rajdhani
India’s first Rajdhani (1969): the all-air-conditioned overnight flagship racing the Grand Chord from the capital to Kolkata, dinner and bedrolls at your berth.
Wikipedia ↗ - Mumbai Rajdhani
India’s first Rajdhani: the overnight flagship linking the capital with the financial capital, now in bright Tejas livery.
Wikipedia ↗ - Island Express
Kerala’s workhorse since 1940: overnight from Bengaluru’s plateau down the palm-and-backwater coast to the subcontinent’s southernmost station at Kanniyakumari.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (6)
- Konkan Railway
Monsoon country: 2,000 bridges and 91 tunnels down the palm-fringed cliffs of India’s west coast, the full run from Mumbai to Mangalore.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
Crosses the Chenab Rail Bridge: 359 m above the river, the world’s highest railway arch bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Wikipedia ↗ - Kangra Valley Railway
The world’s longest 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge line, curling 164 km below the snow-capped Dhauladhar range on nearly 1,000 bridges.
Wikipedia ↗ - Kalka–Shimla Railway
102 tunnels and 864 bridges to the Raj’s summer capital: a UNESCO line where the guard still waves flags.
Wikipedia ↗ - Darjeeling Toy Train
A two-foot-gauge UNESCO marvel looping up to 2,200 m: steam engines older than the tea gardens they pass.
Wikipedia ↗ - Matheran Hill Railway
A 1907 two-foot-gauge toy train corkscrewing 21 km up to a car-free hill station: 281 curves, the “One Kiss Tunnel”, and monkeys pacing the carriages.
Wikipedia ↗
Heritage (1)
- Fairy Queen Express
Hauled by the 1855 Fairy Queen, the world’s oldest working steam locomotive, on a heritage run from Delhi out to the tiger country around Alwar.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons — each route page credits the author & licence
How many train routes does Indian Railways run?
23 of the routes in this atlas are Indian Railways services, covering 23,502 km across 1 country (India). That is what this atlas draws, not the operator's whole network — a national railway runs thousands of local services no map of notable journeys would list.
What is the fastest Indian Railways train?
The Bhopal Vande Bharat, New Delhi to Bhopal, at up to 160 km/h. Its fastest scheduled run takes 7 h 30 min over 702 km.
Does Indian Railways run night trains?
Yes — 4 sleeper services in this atlas: Duronto Express (Mumbai – Kolkata (Howrah)), Howrah Rajdhani (New Delhi – Kolkata), Mumbai Rajdhani (New Delhi – Mumbai), Island Express (Bengaluru – Kanniyakumari).
When was Indian Railways founded?
Wikidata records the company's inception as 1845, and files it as a national railway. The oldest railway it runs over in this atlas opened in 1881 — the line and the company are rarely the same age, and this page dates both.
Countries Indian Railways runs in
- 🇮🇳 Train routes in India 31 routes
Other operators in India
- Indian Railways (Southern Railway) 2 routes
- IRCTC 2 routes