Railway ministry commemorates 166th anniversary one of India's national treasures: Celebrates country's first ever passenger train, from Bombay to Thane

The Ministry of Railways commemorated the 166th anniversary of India's first passenger train on April 16, Tuesday. The 14-carriage train carrying 400 guests took its first journey from Bombay's Bori Bunder to Thane on April 16 1853, at 3:35 PM, after a 21-gun salute.

The train took the historic 21-mile-long journey for about forty-five minutes which hauled by three locomotives namely Sultan, Sahib and Sindh.

The Ministry of Railways posted a message on social media informing the same:

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In 1845, a short railway line was built to carry stone and construction materials for irrigation works and a dam over the Godavari. It was then eight years later in 1853 when the first passenger line was started in the country to carry people from one part of the country to another.

Reportedly, none of the guests actually bought the ticket for the first passenger train as all 400 of them were invited to travel in the initial journey.

After 166 years, the Indian Railways as a mode of transport has become the largest rail network in Asia and the second largest in the world, taking around 2.5 crore passengers daily to their desired destinations. It effectively runs 11,000 trains a day to make sure everyone reaches their destination. 

The backbone to country's public transportation system, the Indian Railways function across 16 zones covering a route of 65,808 km with over 7,112 stations. It also features in the top 10 list of the world's largest employers, providing jobs to 1.4 million people across the nation. 

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