<P> India's first railway proposals were made in Madras in 1832 . The Red Hill Railway, the country's first train, ran from Red Hills to Chintadripet bridge in Madras in 1837 . It was hauled by a rotary steam - engine locomotive manufactured by William Avery . Built by Arthur Cotton, the railway was primarily used to transport granite stone for road - building work in Madras . In 1845, the Godavari Dam Construction Railway was built at Dowleswaram in Rajahmundry . Also built by Cotton, it supplied stone for the construction of a dam over the Godavari River . </P> <P> On 8 May 1845, the Madras Railway was incorporated, followed that year by the East India Railway . On 1 August 1849, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway was incorporated by an act of parliament . The "guarantee system", providing free land and a guaranteed five - percent rate of return to private British companies willing to build railways, was finalized on 17 August 1849 . In 1851, the Solani Aqueduct Railway was built in Roorkee . It was hauled by the Thomason steam locomotive, named after a British officer - in - charge of that name . The railway transported construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani River . In 1852, the Madras Guaranteed Railway Company was incorporated . </P> <P> The country's first passenger train, which ran between Bombay's Bori Bunder station and Thane on 16 April 1853, was dedicated by Lord Dalhousie . The 14 - carriage train was hauled by three steam locomotives: the Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan . Travelling 34 kilometres (21 mi), the train carried 400 people . The passenger line was built and operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR). It was built in 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge, which became the country's standard for railways . </P> <P> The first passenger train in eastern India ran from Howrah (near Calcutta) to Hoogly, a distance of 24 miles (39 km), on 15 August 1854 . The line was built and operated by the East Indian Railway Company (EIR). In May 1854, the Bombay--Thane line was extended to Kalyan with the Dapoorie viaduct over the Ulhas River (India's first railway bridge). That year, the GIPR opened its first workshops in Byculla . In 1855, the BB&CI Railway was incorporated . That August, the EIR Express and Fairy Queen steam locomotives were introduced . </P>

The first railway train in india ran in 1853 from mumbai to