1. Indian Railways
First ever passenger train in England between Stockton and Darlington in 1825
earliest proposal for laying railways in India was made some time around in the 1830s
First Railway Company  the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company [G.I.P.R]
first train in India (and in Asia) was flagged off on April 16, 1853, a Saturday, at 3:35 pm between Boree Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane, a distance of 34 kms. 
first train between Royapuram and Wallajah Nagar steamed out on June 26,1856.
 Acworth Committee (1920) separation of railway finances from general finances

2. Partition and its effect
Getting things organised
June 1950 itself that the Railway Board put forward a plan to
divide the railways in India into six zones
On March 31, 1978, the railways were split into nine zones.
Statistics
Indian Railways are today divided into nine zones and 59 divisions
fourth-largest railway network in the world by size
Indian Railways is the world’s eighth largest employer with a total of 1.4 million employees.
IR runs more than 9,200 trains daily.
IR runs more than 13,000 passenger trains daily, on both long-distance and suburban routes, from 7,349 stations across India
121,407 kilometres (75,439 mi) of total track over a 67,368-kilometre 

3. Busiest junction in the country is Howrah junction in Kolkata with as many as 974 trains stopping there daily.
The longest tunnel in the country is Pir Panjal Railway tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir which is kms long.
Indian Railways is constructing the world’s highest rail bridge over Chenab. 
The mascot for Indian Railways is Bholu, or Bholu the guard elephant, which was designed by National Institute of Design. It was unveiled on 16th April 2002.
Thirty eight percent of the routes are electrified with 25 KV AC electric traction while thirty-three percent of them are double or multi-tracked 
IR is projected to carry 8.26 billion passengers and transport 1.16 billion tons of freight
Indian Railways is headed by a seven-member Railway Board whose chairman reports to the Ministry of Railways. IR is divided into 17 zones, headed by general managers
1987, IR began using a computerised ticketing system.

4. UNESCO World Heritage Sites
 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai.
three rail lines in different parts of India the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a 610 mm (2 ft) narrow-gauge railway in the Lesser Himalayas of West Bengal;
the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge rack railway in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu 
the Kalka-Shimla Railway, a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow-gauge railway in the Siwalik Hills of Himachal Pradesh.

5. Issues
IR carries an annual debt of over 200 billion 
Safety projects include the elimination of an average of 1,217 unguarded level crossings per year by building
15,000 persons get killed each year by what is called unlawful trespassing.