Latest Indian Railway Map
Indian Railway Map 2021
Indian Railways is the crucial transport network of the country and transports passengers and freight to all corners of the country. It maintains the social and economic fabric of the country. To get an idea of an extensive India Railways network, one needs to rely on the railway map of India. The rail map shows the railway network of each and every Indian state and also the major stations present in the country. The map is very beneficial for travelers who travel quite often and assists them to plan their travel routes accordingly. The Indian Railway Map pdf is free to download and is the ultimate travel companion for travelers/tourists in India. Check out the latest Indian railway map 2020, which comprises updated details related to new stations and train routes.
Indian Railways also play a prominent role in promoting tourism in the country. Several luxury trains cover various tourist destinations across the country.
Rail Gauge and Types of Rail Gauges
The railways operate in long-distance as well as in suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network. A railway gauge can be defined as the clear minimum perpendicular distance between the inner faces of two rails. It employs four gauges, namely broad Gauge, standard Gauge, meter gauge, and Narrow Gauge.
Broad Gauge: it is also called the Wide Gauge or large line; the distance two railway tracks is 1676mm (5ft 6inches). It is the most dominant track usage by Indian railways in the country.
Standard Gauge: In Standard Gauge, the distance between two rail tracks is 1435mm (4 feet 8 1/2 inches). It is mostly used for urban rail transit systems such as Monorail, Metro and Tram. The Metro lines that operate in urban areas are mostly built in urban Gauge.
Metre Gauge: The distance between two railway tracks is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3/8 in). They are built to reduce the cost.
Narrow Gauge: It is a railway track, wherein the distance between the two tracks is 762mm (2feet 6-inch/610mm (2 feet).
Railway Zones and details
The Indian Railways is managed by the government of India and has a separate department called the Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways is the chief mode of transport and connects all four regions of the country, such as North, South, West, and East. It depicts the IR network spread across various zones in the country. The Indian Railways divides its operations into zones which in turn, are divided into divisions for administrative convenience. Owing to the large size of the country and vast railway network, the Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones. Each zone is administered by a General Manager, and the divisions stay under the control of Divisional Railway Managers (DRM).
Find below the list featuring the railway zones along with their headquarters:
- East Central Zone: Hajipur
- Central Zone: Mumbai
- East Coast Zone: Bhubaneswar
- North Central Zone: Allahabad
- Eastern Zone: Kolkata
- North Eastern Zone: Gorakhpur
- Northeast Frontier Zone: Guwahati
- North Western Zone: Jaipur
- Northern Zone: Delhi
- South East Central Zone: Bilaspur
- South Central Zone: Secunderabad
- South Eastern Zone: Kolkata
- Southern Zone: Chennai
- South Western Zone: Hubli
- Western Zone: Mumbai
- West Central Zone: Jabalpur
- Konkan zone: Belapur Mumbai
The Indian Railways Atlas offers a comprehensive map of the Indian railway line map detailing the routes undergoing gauge conversion, international routes, and so on. It also highlights the capital of states, major trains, divisional headquarters, and also railway zone headquarters.
Current train location on Google Maps
You can now share your current train location through Google Maps to your family and friends. The feature is quite similar to WhatsApp's live location. Here two features are important, i.e., Last train station and ETA (Estimated time of travel). The "last train station" indicates the recent station indicates that either the train has arrived, departed, or passed the particular station. The ETA offers the approximate arrival time for the upcoming stations.