The iconic colours of Indian trains: What’s the story behind them?
The experience of a train journey in our country is something worth remembering, both for the good and not-so-good reasons. Well, managing railway networks of India is no mean task given the sheer size of our country and population. Nevertheless, the network of Indian Railways is the second largest in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. The concept of railways emerged in India in 1850, and the first train ran in 1853 with only 14 coaches! However, today Indian Railways, is the largest employer in the world, running approximately 22,593 trains on a daily basis, excluding the ones that run only on special occasions!
Apart from these statistics, there is another reason that makes this statutory government body: The unique designs and colours of its trains. Yes, in order to cater to the huge population, the rail network is divided into multiple zones, types and sections. To make each of these identifiable from miles away, unique patterns and colours are attributed to the trains. Let’s explore their significance.
Trains with different colours: What do the colours hint at?
The Indian Railways has done an outstanding job of colour coding its numerous trains and keeping the colour schemes simple and characteristic.
You might have noticed that the bulk of the railway coaches are blue. The Mail Express (first mail express launched in 1912) and Superfast trains have these coaches and they travel at speeds between 70 and 140 kilometres per hour. These trains, belonging to Integral Coach Factory (ICF) situated in Perambur (Chennai) where they were first designed, are air brake-equipped and built of solid iron.
The red coaches of Indian Railways are referred to as Link Hoffmann Bush. Earlier designed by a Polish company and manufactured in Germany, these coaches can speed up to 200km/h. Being made of aluminum, they are lighter than the ICF ones. They are currently made at Kapurthala, Punjab. To enable these trains to run at high speeds, trains like the Rajdhani Express (launched in 1969), primarily use these red coaches.
Garib Rath, on the other hand, uses green coaches. Launched in 2005, these basic air conditioned trains offer discounted long-distance travel to passengers who cannot not afford fares of air-conditioned coaches. The metre gauge trains also have brown-colored coaches!
Trains with different stripes: What do the stripes imply?
In addition to different colours, even the stripe colours on the coaches' side indicate something extremely significant. The ICF coaches are painted with distinctly coloured stripes. To distinguish some coaches from the rest, their windows are painted with different colours too. For instance, unreserved second-class railcars of a train are identified by white stripes painted on blue coaches. Similarly, coaches that are just for women are grey with green stripes. In contrast, first-class cabins in EMU/MEMU (electrical multiple units) trains are identified by red stripes on grey coaches. All of these tricks are used by Western Railways for local trains in Mumbai to help passengers identify their coach even from a distance!
Special trains with an eye-catching look
Most passenger train coaches, including mails and fast trains are typically blue. But there are some distinctive trains with their own colours! The Rajdhani Express is red-coloured and connects various cities states with the National Capital Delhi. Shatabdi express has light blue and grey coaches and is among the fastest trains covering short and medium distances. Tejas Express is an automated, air conditioned, semi-high speed train in hues of yellow and orange colour with modern facilities like CCTV. The Double Decker Express, a series of express trains composed of bi-level seating arrangements meant for shorter routes, are yellow and orange in colour. The iconic Duronto Express covers long distances and has a unique vinyl wrapping of yellow-green. On the other hand, the Humsafar Express, running between Howrah and Tirupati, is a premium train with sky blue vinyl colours and orange and green stripes at the bottom. It boasts of amenities like tea/coffee vending machines and a special linen facility. Lastly, the Gatimaan Express, a semi-high speed train that runs between Delhi and Jhansi, is the latest high-speed train that has blue coaches with grey bottom stripes.