- Northern Railway Zone (India)
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This article is about the northernmost zone of the Indian Railways. For other uses, see Northern Railway (disambiguation).
Northern Railway 
1-Northern RailwayDates of operation 1952– Track gauge Mixed Headquarters New Delhi Railway Station Website http://www.nr.indianrail.gov.in/ The Northern Railways is one of the 16 zones and the northernmost zone of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is in Delhi at New Delhi Railway Station.
Northern Railways is one of nine old zones of Indian Railways and also the biggest in terms of network having 6807 kilometre route.[1] It covers the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and the Union territories of Delhi and Chandigarh.
The railway zone was created on 14 April 1952 by merging Jodhpur Railway, Bikaner Railway, Eastern Punjab Railway and three divisions of the East Indian Railway north-west of Mughalsarai (Uttar Pradesh). It includes the first passenger railway line in North India, which opened from Allahabad and Kanpur on March 3, 1859.[2] The Zonal Headquarters Office of Northern Railways is at Baroda House, New Delhi, and divisional headquarters are located at Ambala (Haryana), Delhi, Firozpur (Punjab), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh).
Contents
History
The first passenger railway line in North India opened from Allahabad to Kanpur on March 3, 1859. This was followed in 1889, by the Delhi - Ambala - Kalka line. Northern Railways previously consisted of eight divisional zones: Allahabad, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Delhi, Moradabad, Ferozpur, Ambala, and Lucknow, spanning most of North India. With the re-organisation of zones by the Indian Railways, Northern Railway zone came to its present form on 14 April 1952 and it now consists of five divisional zones.
Infrastructure
On February 19, 1986, Northern Railways was the first zone to introduce the computerized passenger reservation system and was the first zone to do so. To facilitate the Unreserved travellers to also plan their journey ahead, Northern Railway introduced the Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) whereby the unreserved rail passenger can purchase an unreserved ticket 3 days in advance from the current booking counters.
The first diesel and electric locomotive simulators in India at the Tughlaqabad and Kanpur locomotive sheds were introduced by Northern Railways. These help upgrading the skills of the working and new drivers, providing them training for high speed train operation. All workshops, Diesel sheds and Air brake freight depts. are ISO 9000 certified. Diesel shed, Tughlaqabad has the distinction of being the first diesel shed to get ISO 14000 certification on Indian Railway.
There are eight workshops operated by Northern Railways
Workshop Location State Locomotive Workshop Charbagh Railway Station, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh Carriage & Wagon Workshop[3] Alambagh, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh Carriage & Wagon Workshop Jagadhari Railway Station, Yamunanagar Haryana Carriage & Wagon Workshop Kalka Haryana Bridge Workshop Jalandhar Cantonment Punjab Bridge Workshop Lucknow Uttar Pradesh Engineering workshop Jalandhar Punjab Signal & Telecom Workshop Ghaziabad Uttar Pradesh Zonal Railway Training Institute (ZRTI) at Chandausi, Moradabad UP is the oldest (and North India's only) Railway Training Institute, where group C railway employees like Driver, Guard, Ticket Checker, Station Master, Traffic Inspector, Commercial Inspector, JE (signal & Telecom) etc. are trained for initial, promotional and refresher courses. ZRTI is an ISO 9001 Institute. Applicants pass All India Railway Examinations to get admission into the institute. ZRTI is headed by a senior Civil Services Officer.[4]
Facilities
Several facilities are provided for the satisfaction of customers such as Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRS), Electronic Display Systems at stations, Recorded Coach Guidance Display System, Reservation Availability Position Information Display (RAPID), Self Dial Telephone Reservation Enquiry Booths, Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) and Money Changing Facilities at Stations.
Achievements
Northern Railways implemented the Route Relay Interlocked system (RRI) at New Delhi Railway Station which is a modern signaling system for enhancing efficiency and safety in the operations. This Route Relay Interlocked system at New Delhi is one of the world's largest route relay interlocking system certified by the Guinness Book of Records. Northern Railway is equipped with 40 Route Relay Interlocking systems including the system at Delhi Main.
Delhi Suburban Railway services is a commuter rail service operated by Northern Railway. It covers the city state of Delhi, along with the adjoining districts of Faridabad, Ghaziabad and other adjoining places in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. These services are mostly run using EMU and MEMU rakes. In 2009 Ladies Special trains were introduced between New Delhi and Palwal. Two more ladies special trains will be connecting from the city to Ghaziabad and Panipat.
Starting with a part of Firozpur division of the Northern Railway zone, the line has been under construction since 1983; the Jammu Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Railway Link (JUSBRL) of the Kashmir Railway is under construction in perhaps the most difficult terrain on the Indian subcontinent. The Northern Railway reached another landmark achievement by extending rail services in the Kashmir Valley on October 28, 2009 by commencing rail services between Anantnag and Qazigund of the Qazigund-Baramula rail project.[5] [[[Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel]], the 10.96 Km long railway tunnel, passes through the Pir Panjal Range of middle Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a part of its Udhampur - Srinagar - Baramulla rail link project, opened in October 2011, India's longest and Asia's second longest railway tunnel and reduced the distance between Quazigund and Banihal to only 11 km .[6]
Notable Trains
Some of the important trains connecting Delhi with other cities of India are
Luxury Trains
Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Palace on Wheels, Mahaparinirvana Express
Passenger Trains
Himsagar Express, New Delhi - Jabalpur Express, Prayagraj Express, Kashi Vishwanath Express,Bareilly-New Delhi Intercity Express
See also
- Anand Vihar Railway Terminal
References
- ^ iloveindia.com. "Northern Indian Railway". http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-railways/railway-zones/northern-railway.html.
- ^ Asiatradehub.com.com. "India - Infrastructure Railways". http://www.asiatradehub.com/India/railways.asp.
- ^ Northern Railway Carriage and wagon Workshop Lucknow
- ^ [www.zrti.in]
- ^ Sify.com. "Tracking Jammu and Kashmir's rail history". http://sify.com/news/Tracking-Jammu-and-Kashmir-39-s-rail-history-news-jk2sOdacaeg.html.
- ^ "India's longest railway tunnel unveiled in Jammu & Kashmir". The Times of India. october 14, 2011. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indias-longest-railway-tunnel-unveiled-in-Jammu-Kashmir/articleshow/10354892.cms. Retrieved october 14, 2011.
External links
Indian Railways Administration Zones Central Railway · East Central Railway · East Coast Railway · Eastern Railway · North Central Railway · North Eastern Railway · North Western Railway · Northeast Frontier Railway · Northern Railway · South Central Railway · South East Central Railway · South Eastern Railway · South Western Railway · Southern Railway · West Central Railway · Western Railway
Network Chennai Suburban Railway · Chennai MRTS · Darjeeling Himalayan Railway · Delhi Suburban Railway · Hyderabad MMTS · Kashmir Railway · Kalka-Shimla Railway · Kolkata Suburban Railway · Kolkata Metro · Konkan Railway · Mumbai Suburban Railway · Nilgiri Mountain Railway · Shoranur-Cochin Harbour section · Nilambur – Shoranur Railway Line · Howrah-Delhi main line · Grand Chord · Sahibganj Loop
Services Deccan Odyssey · Duronto · Garib Rath · Golden Chariot · Jan Shatabdi Express · Lifeline Express · Palace on Wheels · Rajdhani · Red Ribbon Express · Sampark Kranti Express · Shatabdi Express · Rajya Rani Express · Superfast Mail/Express
Categories:- Zones of Indian Railways
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