Indian Railways Migrated to 5 Digit Number Scheme

Indian Railways on 20 December 2010 migrated to a five digit number scheme. The migration to five digit number initiated by the rail Ministry was necessary as the earlier four digit numbering scheme had got exhausted with the Indian Railways running more than 10000 trains every day. The initiative was introduced by the Indian railways with an objective to monitor movement of passenger trains more effectively and facilitate management of train information scientifically for public convenience. The pan-India 139 rail enquiry system added a new number 7 in the system to enable passengers find the new train numbers. To make the transition to 5 digit train number smooth and simple, Indian Railways decided to add prefix of the digit 1 (one) to the four-digit numbers of the existing trains. The special trains run by the Railways during holiday and festival season will also be numbered on the pattern of the mail and express trains. However for the special trains the prefix of the digit 0 (zero) and not 1 (one) will be made.