Google doodle features India's first passenger train journey

April 16, 2013

160th anniversary of the first passenger train in India is the subject of Tuesdays' Google doodle.

The history of rail transport in India goes all the way back to 1832, when a plan for a rail system in India was first put forward. The first rail line in the Indian sub-continent came up near Chintadripet Bridge (in modern-day Chennai) in 1836 as an "experimental line". In 1837, a 5.6 km long rail line was established between Red Hills and the stone quarries near St. Thomas Mount.

However, it wasn't until 1853-54, when two new railway companies, Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) and East Indian Railway (EIR), were created, that the railways as we known it today began to take shape. GIPR was asked to setup near Mumbai, and EIR was to setup a railway line near Kolkata (Calcutta at the time). Thus, the first train in India became operational on 22 December 1851 for localised hauling of canal construction material in Roorkee.

16 April 1853 was the historic date when India's first passenger train journey took place between Bori Bunder in Mumbai and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 kilometres, it was hauled by three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan.

The Google doodle celebrates the 160th anniversary of this journey - rather inaccurately some might say - by depicting a single steam engine lugging a train towards the reader. The front part of the engine form the first 'O' in Google.

Google doodles India's first passenger train

Google doodles India's first passenger train
Visitors to the Google page on Tuesday will be taken on a short journey into the history of Indian railways, with a doodle marking "India's first passenger train".

The doodle has a train, pulled by a steam engine, chugging along over a background dotted with palm trees and a 

structure in the distance.

Indeed, 16 April, 1853, was the day on which the first commercial passenger train left Mumbai's Bori Bunder for Thane.

The train; pulled by three locomotives - Sindh, Sultan, and Sahib; was greeted by a 21 gun salute when it was pulling out of the platform.

Google Doodle marks India's first passenger train

However, this was not the first train running in India. Railway lines for hauling materials had been laid as early as 1835. Most of the earliest railways were pulled by horses or men.

The first steam locomotive in the country was Thomason, commissioned in 1951 for hauling construction material in Roorkee for the Solani viaduct. It had a short life though, and was decommissioned after a boiler explosion within nine months.

The Indian government, in 1953, released a stamp to mark the hundred year anniversary of the event.

However, this is one of the less interactive of doodles that Google has come up with in the recent past.

India's first passenger train journey featured in Google doodle

India's first passenger train journey featured in Google doodle
New Delhi: Google on Tuesday marked the 160th anniversary of the first passenger train journey in India with a doodle on its homepage. 

The search engine giant takes its visitors on a short journey into the history of Indian Railways, with a train pulled by a steam engine along the palm-lined railway track. The first 'O' of Google depicts the front part of the steam engine of the passenger train. 

On April 16, 1853, the first commercial passenger train chugged out of Bori Bunder, in Bombay to Thane, covering a distance of 34 kilometres. The train was hauled by three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan. 

Though the history of rail transportation in India goes back to 1832, it was only in 1853-54 that that first passenger train service was launched by two railway companies, Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) and East Indian Railway (EIR). 

However, the first train for localised hauling of canal construction material become operational on December 22, 1851 in Roorkee. 

India has the 4th largest railway network in the world. 

Google doodles 160 years of India's first passenger train journey

New Delhi: On April 16, 1853, that is exactly 160 years ago, India's first passenger train chugged out of Bori Bunder, in Bombay (now Mumbai), for its destination 34 kilometres away, Thane.

Google is commemorating that momentous event with a celebratory doodle on its India home page. The India's first passenger train journey shows a steam locomotive pulling a passenger train on a palm-lined railway track.

In the first railway passenger journey in India three steam locomotives, Sultan, Sindh and Sahib, took 400 invited passengers in 14 carriages on a 57 minute journey that had one halt.

On 16 April 1853, India's first passenger train chugged out of Bori Bunder for Thane.

While the Bombay-Thane line is generally seen as the birth of what is now one of the world's largest railway systems, the first railway line in India was laid a good 21 years earlier in 1832 near Chintadripet Bridge, now in Chennai.

Indian Railways has also issued ads marking the event.

Google doodle celebrates 160th anniversary of India's first passenger train journey

Google celebrates 160th anniversary of India’s first passenger train journey with a doodle

NEW DELHI: Google on Tuesday is celebrating 160th anniversary of India's first passenger train journey with a doodle on India's home page. 

On 16th April 1853, the first passenger train service was started between Bori Bunder in Bombay and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 kilometres (21 minutes), it was hauled by three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan. 

The India's first passenger train journey Google doodle shows a locomotive train which replaces the first 'O' of the word Google.