First Indian railway line was not from Mumbai to Thane

Indian railway was always part of modern-day Indian culture. Busy bustling India can only be managed by the mighty iron beast. The history of Indian railways is long lots of sacrifice and looting. This story takes you through one of the wrong interpretation of Indian railway history

Most of the history quiz programs in India have a cliche question “What the first railway line in India” and the answer is always “Mumbai (Bombay) to Thane in 1853”. This gets repeated in all history books in India and is synonyms fact among people in India. The fact can be further from the truth. The first railway line ran between Red Hills to Chintadripet Bridge in Madras, modern-day Chennai

Red hill railway formed in 1836 to transport granite from Red Hills to Chintadripet. The rocks from Red Hill used to lay roads in Madras. The Madras Gazette on May 4, 1836, edition quoted.

“A small piece of the railway has been laid down near the Chintadrapettah Bridge, which is worth the inspection of the good people of Madras who have not visited England since railways have been common. To show how little labor is required on a road of this description, a cart is placed upon the rails, loaded with stones, which is easily moved up a slightly inclined plane by one hand from where it returns by its own weight from the place it was…