WORLD'S LARGEST EMPLOYER

Indian Railways (abbreviated as IR) is the world's largest commercial or utility employer,
with more than 1.6 million employees.

The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country; the routes cover a total length
of 63,465 km with more than 7,000 stations. As of 2005, IR owned a total of 222,379 wagons,
42,125 coaches and 7910 locomotives and ran a total of 14,444 trains daily, including about 8,702 passenger trains. All these make it the world's largest railway network. There are more than five billion passenger journeys on the railways each year.

Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 by the British colonial rulers. In modern India, Indian Railways is a Department of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Railways, and is tasked with operating the rail network in India. The Ministry is headed by a cabinet rank Railways Minister, while the Department is managed by the Railway Board. Indian Railways is not a private corporate body; however, of late IR has adopted a corporate management style.