UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — South Indian Railway
Q1. The amalgamation of the Great Southern of India Railway Company with the Carnatic Railway Company, which brought the South Indian Railway Company into existence, took effect from which one of the following dates?
- A. 16 April 1853
- B. 1 July 1874
- C. 1 January 1890
- D. 1 April 1951
Q2. Consider the following statements regarding the territorial spread of the South Indian Railway and of present-day Indian Railways:
1. The South Indian Railway operated across the erstwhile Madras Presidency, covering areas in present-day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh.
2. The regrouping of Indian Railways into six zonal systems was approved by the Central Advisory Committee for Railways in 1950, a year before the Southern Railway was established.
3. Zonal and divisional boundaries of Indian Railways today are, without exception, drawn so as to coincide with State boundaries.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The South Indian Railway operated across the erstwhile Madras Presidency, covering areas in present-day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh.
- The regrouping of Indian Railways into six zonal systems was approved by the Central Advisory Committee for Railways in 1950, a year before the Southern Railway was established.
- Zonal and divisional boundaries of Indian Railways today are, without exception, drawn so as to coincide with State boundaries.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The principal administrative seat of the South Indian Railway Company, from which its Agent headed the system after the company's re-registration in London in 1890, was located at which one of the following?
- A. Madras, where the company's committee sittings were customarily held
- B. Calicut, the company's principal port terminus on the western seaboard
- C. Trichinopoly, in the interior of the erstwhile Madras Presidency
- D. Secunderabad, the administrative centre of the Deccan railway network
Q4. The network of the erstwhile Pondicherry Railway Company, absorbed into the South Indian Railway in 1891, is today operated by which one of the following?
- A. The Southern Railway zone, headquartered at Chennai
- B. The South Central Railway zone, headquartered at Secunderabad
- C. The South Coast Railway zone, headquartered at Visakhapatnam
- D. The South Western Railway zone, headquartered at Hubli
Q5. Consider the following statements:
1. The Pondicherry Railway Company was merged into the South Indian Railway seventeen years after the latter was itself constituted.
2. The Mysore State Railway and the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway were merged with the South Indian Railway to constitute the Central Railway zone.
3. Unlike the South Indian Railway, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway operated India's first passenger train service, run between Bombay and Thane.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Pondicherry Railway Company was merged into the South Indian Railway seventeen years after the latter was itself constituted.
- The Mysore State Railway and the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway were merged with the South Indian Railway to constitute the Central Railway zone.
- Unlike the South Indian Railway, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway operated India's first passenger train service, run between Bombay and Thane.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q6. The regrouping of Indian Railways approved by the Central Advisory Committee for Railways in 1950, under which the South Indian Railway lost its separate identity, provided for how many zonal systems?
- A. Four
- B. Six
- C. Nine
- D. Seventeen
Q7. Which one of the following is the most recently created zone of Indian Railways?
- A. South Coast Railway, headquartered at Visakhapatnam
- B. South East Central Railway, headquartered at Bilaspur
- C. South Central Railway, headquartered at Secunderabad
- D. South Western Railway, headquartered at Hubli
Q8. On Indian Railways, 'Broad Gauge' — the standard to which erstwhile metre-gauge systems such as that of the South Indian Railway have been converted — denotes a track width of which one of the following?
- A. 1.676 metre
- B. 1.435 metre
- C. 1.000 metre
- D. 0.762 metre
Q9. As recognised by the Ministry of Railways, Narrow Gauge on Indian Railways comprises how many distinct track widths?
- A. One
- B. Two
- C. Three
- D. Four
Q10. Consider the following statements regarding the Local Advisory Committee system of the South Indian Railway as compared with the company's executive management:
1. Decisions taken by the Local Advisory Committee were binding on the Agent and had to be implemented in their entirety.
2. The Agent functioned as the chief executive-type officer of the company and presided over the Committee.
3. Matters before the Committee, such as the re-introduction of a train service, could be referred to bodies outside the railway administration, including Chambers of Commerce and the postal authorities.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Decisions taken by the Local Advisory Committee were binding on the Agent and had to be implemented in their entirety.
- The Agent functioned as the chief executive-type officer of the company and presided over the Committee.
- Matters before the Committee, such as the re-introduction of a train service, could be referred to bodies outside the railway administration, including Chambers of Commerce and the postal authorities.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q11. When Indian Railways was formed in 1947 by combining the railway systems then operating in the country, including those of the former princely states, how many such systems were brought together?