Rudrastra - Longest Freight Train
Date of Run: Thursday, August 7, 2025 — Indian Railways successfully operated its longest freight train to date.
Train Name: Rudrastra, a record-breaking freight train.
Composition: 6 BOXN rakes coupled together. Total of 354 wagons.
Hauled by 7 locomotives (engines).
Length: Approximately 4.5 km long.
Route & Distance: Ran from Ganjkhwaja (DDU division) to Garhwa Road, spanning ~200 km.
Part of the journey was on the Dedicated Freight Corridor, then continued on regular tracks.
Duration & Speed: Covered the distance in about 5 hours with an average speed of ~40 km/h.
Record Status: Now holds the title of India’s longest freight train, surpassing the previous record (e.g., “Super Vasuki” at ~3.5 km).
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रुद्रस्त्र
चलाने की तिथि: गुरुवार, 7 अगस्त, 2025 — भारतीय रेलवे ने अब तक की अपनी सबसे लंबी मालगाड़ी का सफलतापूर्वक संचालन किया।
ट्रेन का नाम: रुद्रस्त्र, एक रिकॉर्ड तोड़ने वाली मालगाड़ी।
संरचना: 6 BOXN रेक एक साथ जुड़े हुए। कुल 354 वैगन।
7 लोकोमोटिव (इंजन) द्वारा खींची गई।
लंबाई: लगभग 4.5 किमी।
मार्ग और दूरी: गंजख्वाजा (डीडीयू डिवीजन) से गढ़वा रोड तक लगभग 200 किमी की दूरी तय की।
यात्रा का कुछ हिस्सा डेडिकेटेड फ्रेट कॉरिडोर पर था, फिर नियमित पटरियों पर जारी रहा।
अवधि और गति: लगभग 40 किमी/घंटा की औसत गति से लगभग 5 घंटे में दूरी तय की।
रिकॉर्ड स्थिति: अब भारत की सबसे लंबी मालगाड़ी का खिताब अपने नाम कर लिया है, जिसने पिछले रिकॉर्ड (जैसे, लगभग 3.5 किमी लंबी "सुपर वासुकी") को पीछे छोड़ दिया है।
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Super Vasuki
Named as “Super Vasuki” - runs on 15th August, 2022 (75th Independence Day Anniversary)
As per mythology, Vasuki is famous for coiling around Shiva's neck, who blessed and wore him as an ornament. Vasuki took part in the incident of Samudra Manthana by allowing both the devas and the asuras to bind him to Mount Mandara, so that they could use him as their churning rope to extract the amrita from the ocean of milk.
By amalgamating Five rakes of freight trains as One Unit
Length of the Train - 3.5 KMs
Operated by SECR - South Eastern Central Railways, which is the most profitable Zonal Railway in IR.
Covered the distance of 224 KMs between Bhilai and Korba in 11 Hours.
6 Locomotives and 295 Wagons - 25,962 Tonnes of Coal carried
One Loco Pilot, One Assistant Loco Pilot and One Train Manager (Guard)
Using the Latest technology i.e., DPCS - Distributed Power Control System. That is the leading (front) diesel loco (engine) controlled the entire train along with the simultaneous functioning of the rear loco through electronic transmission while running on the rail network.
Earlier Records
Super Anaconda - 2 KMs long - 3 Locomotives -177 Loaded Wagons
Shesh-Naag - 251 empty wagons - 2.8 KMs long - 4 Locomotives -260 Kms from Nagpur to Korba
Material for MCQ
India’s Longest freight train so far (as on 14.08.2025) -Rudrastra
DPCS stands for Distributed Power Control System
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