Articles on Indian Railways

On this page

• Articles by IRFCA Members
• Trip Reports and Travelogues
• Articles from Periodicals, Newspapers, and Other Publications
• Articles from the FNRM and ISRS
• Steam and Heritage News Bulletins
• Focus on Pakistan

Opinions expressed in these articles are solely the authors'. Presentation of a particular viewpoint in an article here does not constitute an endorsement for that viewpoint.

General Topics

The following are articles on various topics connected to railways in India or the subcontinent. NOTE: Many trip reports and travelogues are available in the members' trip reports section. This section is for writings other than trip reports.

• Dr. Ian Manning on the Indian Railways (1965-1969)
• Metric Musings, a series of articles by R. Sivaramakrishnan, 2006
• Indian Steam in Cinema by Harsh Vardhan, 2006
• A Closet Admirer of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway by Mohan Bhuyan
• The Station Chai-wallah, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2015
• Travelling by Train in the Days of the Raj: Restaurant Cars and Refreshment Rooms, by Ken Staynor, 2015
• Patna Junction, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2018
• When Goddess Durga Arrived by Train, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2017
• A Dream Unfulfilled, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2016
• Platform Humour - A Book Review, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2015
• Cochin Harbour Terminus by Jimmy Jose, 2003
• K R Vaidyanathan: Railwayman and Writer - a biography, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2008
• The Metre Gauge Diesel Railcar (YRD-1) - by Harsh Vardhan, 2008
• Bravest of the Brave - Winners of the Victoria Cross, by B M S Bisht, 2009
• A Journal on the Cochin State Forest Tramway by Devan Varma, 2005 (MS Word, 1MB)
• Wayside Stations of Old by Vinod Nanekar, 2007
• Working of a Junction Station by Vinod Nanekar, 2007
• Mysteries of a Defunct Ropeway, by R. Sivaramakrishnan, 2007
• Crisis in Jodhpur Division by Rajeev Shrivastava, 2004
• Solving the Water Crisis in Degana by Rajeev Shrivastava, 2004
• Mumbai EMUs Overshooting Platforms by Prakash Tendulkar, 2006
• A Disaster Recovery Operation - a Photo-Essay by S Srinivas, 2002
• Derailment at Bihta on the East Indian Railway, 17 July 1937, by Ken Staynor, 2009
• Indian Railways in Postal Stamps by Vikas Singh, 2005
• Indian Railways in Postal First Day Covers by Vikas Singh, 2005
• Indian Railways in Coins and Cards by Vikas Singh, 2005
• Philatelic Celebrations of the DHR's 125th Year by Vikas Singh, 2006
• Vernacular Languages in Indian Railways by Rajendra Aklekar, 2002
• Modelling Indian Railways in LEGO^® by Samarth Moray, 2004
• A Daily Train of Fresh Fruit from Afghanistan, by B M S Bisht, 2009
• A Railfan's Quest for Truth by Ajai Banerji, 2010
• The End of Steam - Wankaner and Morbi in 1997 by John Smith, 2010
• Romancing the Timetable by Dr Jitendra Mulky, 2010
• The Third Generation Railwayman That Wasn't by Bharat Vohra, 2010
• Bridge Across the River Saryu by Rajeev Shrivastava, 2004
• Battle Scars - A Motor Trolley Accident by Rajeev Shrivastava, 2005
• A Study of Major Accidents of IR in 2004-2005 by Ajai Banerji, 2006
• Renaming of Stations by Ajai Banerji, 2006
• The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and its Locomotives by Vikas Singh, 2007
• The Palace on Wheels by Ray Ellis, 1992
• The Patiala State Monorail Tramway - A Reappraisal by Simon Darvill, 2012
• The Patiala State Monorail Tramway (index page to other articles)
• Steam Loco Sheds, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2017
• Mechanical Signal Cabins, by Ravindra Bhalerao, 2017

Show More

Focus on Pakistan

• The Khojak Tunnel by Owais Mughal, 2006
• Meter Gauge in Sindh by Owais Mughal, 2009
• The Horse Tramway of Pakistan, by Owais Mughal, 2010
• Changa Manga Forest Railway by Owais Mughal, 2007
• The Khyber Pass Railway, by Owais Mughal, 2006
• The Chappar Rift, by Owais Mughal, 2009
• The Bolan Pass Railway, by Owais Mughal, 2006
• The Zhob Valley Railway, by Owais Mughal, 2009
• The Trans-Baluchistan Railway, by Owais Mughal, 2009
• Karachi to Kotri: The first railways in Pakistan, by Owais Mughal, 2009
• The First Locomotives in Lahore, by Owais Mughal, 2008
• The Indus Flotilla Company, by Owais Mughal, 2009
• The Lansdowne Bridge over the Indus at Sukkur, by Owais Mughal, 2007
• The Attock Bridge over the Indus, by Owais Mughal, 2009
• Quetta to Lahore in 1925, by Imanul Haque, adapted by Izaz Haque, 2010
• Pakistan in 1996, by Dr Roland Ziegler, 1996. Translated into English, 2012.
• From Scotland to Mesopotamia and Pakistan: The story of a veteran paddle steamer, by Tim Willasey-Wilsey, 2015
• A Bridge Almost Too Far, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• The Last Train To Thal, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• On The Train To The Border, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Stitching The Crack, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Kandahar State Railway (two articles) by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Railway Station Ruk - Relegated to Oblivion, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Arrow through Khwaja Amran: Chaman Extension Railway, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Alas, Sindh is now lost: Indus Valley Railway, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Blizzard Express: Zhob Valley Railway, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• As lonely a line can be: Nushki Extension Railway, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• The Lonely Line, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Worth its salt: The Sind Sagar Railway, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Mock Invincibility: Railway station, Lahore, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Once upon a line: Metre Gauge Steam, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• The 'Bumba Mail' called here, by Salman Rashid, 2013
• Trolley Travel, by Salman Rashid, 2013

Clips and Miscellany

Full listing of clips can be accessed here

• Titbits from my Archives: Jumbos on Rails by B M S Bisht
• Titbits from my Archives: A reservation fit for the record books by B M S Bisht
• Titbits from my Archives: From Kalimati to Tatanagar by B M S Bisht
• Titbits from my Archives: Neyveli by B M S Bisht
• Titbits from my Archives: 1958: The first heroes of the NFR by B M S Bisht
• The Inauguration of the Northeast Frontier Railway by B M S Bisht
• The Meter Gauge Palace on Wheels by B M S Bisht

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Trip Reports and Travelogues

Trip reports can be found under the members section.

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Articles from Newspapers, Periodicals, and Other Websites

The following articles originally appeared in newspapers or on other websites. Articles reproduced here by permission of authors or publishers, or believed to be in the public domain.

• Parlakimedi Light Railway and its Locomotives by Vikas Singh, 2007
• The Heritage of Royapuram Railway Station by Vikas Singh, 2007
• The Life-lines of Mumbai by Shirish B Paranjape, 2001
• Railways Since Independence by Shirish B Paranjape, 1998
• The Felicitous Rajdhani Journey by Shirish B Paranjape, 1997
• What's in a name! by Shirish B Paranjape, 1994
• Loco Nomenclature on IR by Shirish B Paranjape, 2000
• The Bhopal Gas Tragedy by V Anand, 2002
• An Indian "Might-Have-Been", subtitled "A Transient History of the Patiala State Monorail Tramway" by H. R. Ambler, The Railway Magazine, Feb. 1969.
• Pakistan Tour Steam Loco Report - Jan/Feb 2006, by Thomas Kautzor. Includes lists of steam locos and other rolling stock observed during a trip to Pakistan.
• Diesel vs. Electric, a presentation from IRSME (MS PowerPoint file, 1.4MB!)
• On the Right Tracks, by Manohar V Rakhe, 2010
• Third Class in Indian Railways, by Mahatma Gandhi, 1917
• Collected Op-Ed articles, part 1, by R C Acharya, 2002
• Collected Op-Ed articles, part 2, by R C Acharya, 2011
• Narrow gauge railways run again in Sri Lanka, by Asela K. Kulatunga, 2012

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Articles from the FNRM and ISRS

The articles below are from newsletters of the Indian Steam Railway Society (ISRS) and its predecessor organization, the Friends of the National Railway Museum. An (incomplete) set of newsletters for the ISRS can be found here.

Also see The Indian Steam Pages.

• Preserving the rail road by Joydeep Dutta, 1998
• Nilgiri Mountain Railway by Dr GVJA Harshavardhan, 1998
• Why I am a steam fan by R C Dubey, 1998
• Travel notes by Bill Aitken, 1998
• A dream comes true by R Thumanivannan, 1998
• A trip down memory lane by Harsh Vardhan, 1998
• Preservation priorities - A suggested top ten by Bill Aitken, 1998
• Diesel traction in India -- When did it all begin? by S Shankar, 1998
• Aspects of modern Edmondson tickets in India - Part 1 by John L King, 1998
• Aspects of modern Edmondson tickets in India - Part 2 by John L King, 1998
• Trains of fame and locos with a name - Part 1 by Joydeep Dutta and Harsh Vardhan, 1998
• Trains of fame and locos with a name - Part 2 by Joydeep Dutta and Harsh Vardhan, 1998
• Trains of fame and locos with a name - Part 3 by Harsh Vardhan and Joydeep Dutta, 1999
• The Darjeeling Streamliner - A mystery solved by David Barrie, 1999
• Our tryst with steam by Sarosh B Mehta and Viraf Mulla, 1999
• Down by the station by Bill Aitken, 2000
• The romance of steam by Joydeep Dutta, 2000
• Whither steam, the preservation moment... and the DHR itself? by Terry Martin, 2000
• Branch line to Farukh Nagar by John Lacey, 2000
• Pushpak for speed - the new WDP-2 loco by Joydeep Dutta and Harsh Vardhan, 2001
• Getting the railways back on track by M N Prasad, 2001
• Steam in History by R R Bhandari, 2004
• ISRS Newsletters

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Steam and Heritage News Bulletins

The following news bulletins on the steam survivors, heritage and preservation activities, and the National Railway Museum were published in the newsletters of the Indian Steam Railway Society and its predecessor organization, the Friends of the National Railway Museum. It is hoped that these are of some interest to railfans as they cover the period 1998-2000 when the last of normal timetabled steam was disappearing from India.

• News from the NRM -- Summer 1998
• News from the NRM -- Winter 1998
• News from the NRM -- Winter 2001
• Steam Update -- Spring 1998
• Steam Update -- Summer 1998
• Steam Update -- Winter 1998
• Steam Update -- Spring 1999
• Steam Update -- Spring 2000
• Steam Update -- Autumn 2000
• Steam runs again -- HGS #26761, 2000
• MAWD 1798 runs again! by Utpalparna Hazarika (CPRO, NFR), 2001
• Steam Update -- Winter 2001
• ISRS Newsletters