On 16th April 1853, at 3:35 pm, India's first train, with 14 carriages and 400 guests ran from Bombay's Bori Bunder to Thane after a 21-gun salute. The 21-mile-long historic journey that took about forty-five minutes to complete was hauled by three locomotives - Sultan, Sahib and Sindh.

Trains had been running even before 1853, but were mostly used for transporting raw materials. This was the first commercial passenger service in India.

In 1835, a short rail line was laid out near Chintadripet (Chennai). Some believe this used to be the practice line for the Red Hill Railroad line. While the line was intended for carrying granite stone, by 1845, a railway line was built to carry stone and construction materials for irrigation works and a dam over Godavari.