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hide options panelBroad Gauge
26 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
Most of the Indian network was built to a broad gauge of 1676mm or 5'6" after an 1850 directive from the East India Company, concerned about the stability of trains in high winds. This included most major routes and many connecting lines. Many MG and NG lines have also been converted to BG in recent years.
Metre Gauge
6 photos
updated : 2024-12-03
In 1986 the metre gauge network ran to almost 24,000 route km or 39% of the country's total and steam still handled much of the traffic. There was more variety than on the broad gauge with a handful of older types still in use alongside the standard YP Class Pacifics and YG Class Mikados.
Narrow Gauge
27 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
In the context of India, narrow gauge refers to lines of less than metre gauge, principally 762mm and 610mm gauges. These varied from short branches to extensive networks hundreds of km in length. Steam operation was a feature of many lines into the 1980s and 1990s with a wide variety of loco types in use.
India is a vast country with a rail network to match. Nowadays electrified broad gauge lines are the norm but in the mid 1980s there was still plenty of metre and narrow gauge as well. Not only that, there were still a large number of steam locomotives on all gauges. Most of these pictures were taken on a 1986 trip.
