title: Neverland

text: Mermaids live in the lagoon. They enjoy the company of Peter Pan but keep their distance from everyone else on the island, including the fairies. They are not sociable creatures and do not speak nor interact with outsiders. They are malevolent, hedonistic and frivolous; yet they sing and play "mermaid games" in which they "rise to the surface in extraordinary numbers to play with their bubbles," "made in rainbow water." They also "love to bask out on Marooners' Rock, combing their hair in a lazy way."


title: Neverland

text: At first glance, Wendy is enchanted by their beauty, but finds them vain and irritating, as they would "splash her with their tails, not accidentally, but intentionally" when she attempted to steal a closer look. Their homes are "coral caves underneath the waves" to which they retire at sunset and rising tide, as well as in anticipation of storms. When one mermaid tries to pull Wendy into the water and drown her, Peter intervenes and hissesrather than crowsat them and they quickly dive into the water and disappear. Barrie describes the mermaids' "haunting" transformation at the "turn of the moon" while "uttering strange wailing cries" at night as the lagoon becomes a very "dangerous place for mortals". The Mermaids' Lagoon is a favourite "adventure" for the children, and where they take their "midday meal". Peter gives Wendy one of the mermaids' combs as a gift.


title: Neverland

text: The 2003 "Peter Pan" film briefly describes mermaids as different from those in traditional story books, but as "dark creatures in touch with all things mysterious," and who will drown humans who get too close, but do not harm Peter who seems to be the only one who can speak the mermaids' language. They always seem to know Hook's whereabouts on the island at any given time and tell Peter.


title: Neverland

text: Animals (referred to as beasts) live throughout Neverland, such as bears, tigers, lions, wolves, flamingoes and crocodiles. In Barrie's original novel, these "beasts" hunt the Piccaninny tribe, who hunt the Pirates, who are themselves hunting the Lost Boys, who in turn hunt the beasts, creating a chain of prey and murder in the Neverland that only ends when one party stops or slows down, or when Peter redirects the Lost Boys to other tasks and activities. Like all the agencies of the Neverland, the animals do not need to eat, nor are they eaten when killed, nor do they reproduce (as they enjoy the same immortality as all other inhabitants), so their presence is a paradox. There are also a variety of birds, whose societies are present in the proto-Neverland described in Barrie's "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens".


title: Neverland

text: Other inhabitants of Neverland are suggested by Barrie in his original novel, such as a "small old lady with a hooked nose,", "gnomes who are mostly tailors," and princes "with six elder brothers"reminiscent of European fairy tales. There are also some briefly described locations without inhabitants, but the narrator hints at their former presence, such as a "hut fast going to decay."


title: Neverland

text: In the 1989 Japanese anime series, "", the individual characters of the pirates, "redskins," and mermaids are expanded, and new characters such as the schizophrenic spellcaster princess Luna and the witch Sinistra are added.


title: Bobbi Starr

text: Bobbi Starr is an American former pornographic actress. Starr also became a director for Evil Angel. Her directorial debut was "Bobbi's World", a female POV movie.


title: Bobbi Starr

text: Starr expressed an ambition to study pre-med, with the aim of becoming a gynecologist. Her intent was to work within the adult entertainment industry, where she identified a lack of female gynecologists.


title: Bobbi Starr

text: Starr was a finalist for the reality show "America's Next Hot Porn Star," a series set up similarly to "America's Next Top Model." She blogged for "Popporn.com" and wrote a column for "Fox Magazine" called "Adventures in Porny Land", and was featured in a book by Frederick Community College professor Rich Moreland about feminists in the pornography industry.


title: Bobbi Starr

text: Starr has said she does not label her sexual orientation, but considers herself "more gay than straight" and that she chooses to only "experiment" with men.


title: Bobbi Starr

text: In 2013, Starr announced on her blog that she was expecting a child and had "found someone that I can spend the rest of my life with".


title: Damsel in distress

text: The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motivation or compulsion to initiate the narrative. The female character herself may be competent, but still finds herself in this type of situation. The helplessness of these fictional females, according to some critics, is linked to views outside of fiction that women as a group need to be taken care of by men. The evolution of the trope throughout history has been described as such: "What changes through the decades isn’t the damsel (the woman is always the weak victim in need of the male savior) – it’s the attacker. The faces of the attacker in popular media are legion: monsters, mad scientists, Nazis, hippies, bikers, aliens... whichever group best meets the collective fears of a culture gets the role".


title: Damsel in distress

text: The word "damsel" derives from the French "demoiselle", meaning "young lady", and the term "damsel in distress" in turn is a translation of the French "demoiselle en détresse". It is an archaic term not used in modern English except for effect or in expressions such as this. It can be traced back to the knight-errant of Medieval songs and tales, who regarded protection of women as an essential part of the chivalric code, which includes a notion of honour and nobility. The English term "damsel in distress" itself first seems to have appeared in Richard Ames' 1692 poem "Sylvia’s Complaint of Her Sexes Unhappiness."


title: Damsel in distress

text: The damsel in distress theme featured in the stories of the ancient Greeks. Greek mythology, while featuring a large retinue of competent goddesses, also contains helpless maidens threatened with sacrifice. For example, Andromeda's mother offended Poseidon, who sent a beast to ravage the land. To appease him Andromeda's parents fastened her to a rock in the sea. The hero Perseus slew the beast, saving Andromeda. Andromeda in her plight, chained naked to a rock, became a favorite theme of later painters. This theme of the princess and dragon is also pursued in the myth of St George.


title: Damsel in distress

text: European fairy tales frequently feature damsels in distress. Evil witches trapped Rapunzel in a tower, cursed Snow White to die in "Snow White", and put the princess into a magical sleep in Sleeping Beauty. In all of these, a valorous prince comes to the maiden's aid, saves her, and marries her (though Rapunzel is not directly saved by the prince, but instead saves him from blindness after her exile).


title: Damsel in distress

text: The damsel in distress was an archetypal character of medieval romances, where typically she was rescued from imprisonment in a tower of a castle by a knight-errant. Chaucer's "The Clerk's Tale" of the repeated trials and bizarre torments of patient Griselda was drawn from Petrarch. The Emprise de l'Escu vert à la Dame Blanche (founded 1399) was a chivalric order with the express purpose of protecting oppressed ladies.


title: Damsel in distress

text: The theme also entered the official hagiography of the Catholic Church – most famously in the story of Saint George who saved a princess from being devoured by a dragon. A late addition to the official account of this Saint's life, not attested in the several first centuries when he was venerated, it is nowadays the main act for which Saint George is remembered.


title: Damsel in distress

text: Obscure outside Norway is Hallvard Vebjørnsson, the Patron Saint of Oslo, recognised as a martyr after being killed while valiantly trying to defend a woman – most likely a slave – from three men accusing her of theft.


title: Damsel in distress

text: In the 17th century English ballad "The Spanish Lady" (one of several English and Irish songs with that name), a Spanish lady captured by an English captain falls in love with her captor and begs him not to set her free but to take her with him to England, and in this appeal describes herself as "A lady in distress".


title: Damsel in distress

text: The damsel in distress makes her debut in the modern novel as the title character of Samuel Richardson's "Clarissa" (1748), where she is menaced by the wicked seducer Lovelace. The phrase "damsel in distress" is found in Richardson's "The History of Sir Charles Grandison" (1753):


title: Damsel in distress

text: Reprising her medieval role, the damsel in distress is a staple character of Gothic literature, where she is typically incarcerated in a castle or monastery and menaced by a sadistic nobleman, or members of the religious orders. Early examples in this genre include Matilda in Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto", Emily in Ann Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho", and Antonia in Matthew Lewis' "The Monk".


title: Damsel in distress

text: The perils faced by this Gothic heroine were taken to an extreme by the Marquis de Sade in "Justine", who exposed the erotic subtext which lay beneath the damsel-in-distress scenario.


title: Damsel in distress

text: One exploration of the theme of the persecuted maiden is the fate of Gretchen in Goethe's "Faust". According to the philosopher Schopenhauer:


title: Damsel in distress

text: "The great Goethe has given us a distinct and visible description of this denial of the will, brought about by great misfortune and by the despair of all deliverance, in his immortal masterpiece Faust, in the story of the sufferings of Gretchen. I know of no other description in poetry. It is a perfect specimen of the second path, which leads to the denial of the will not, like the first, through the mere knowledge of the suffering of the whole world which one acquires voluntarily, but through the excessive pain felt in one's own person. It is true that many tragedies bring their violently willing heroes ultimately to this point of complete resignation, and then the will-to-live and its phenomenon usually end at the same time. But no description known to me brings to us the essential point of that conversion so distinctly and so free from everything extraneous as the one mentioned in Faust" ("The World as Will and Representation", Vol. I, §68)


title: Damsel in distress

text: The misadventures of the damsel in distress of the Gothic novel continued in a somewhat caricatured form in Victorian melodrama. According to Michael Booth in his classic study "English Melodrama", the Victorian stage melodrama featured a limited number of stock characters: the hero, the villain, the heroine, an old man, an old woman, a comic man and a comic woman engaged in a sensational plot featuring themes of love and murder. Often the good but not very clever hero is duped by a scheming villain, who has eyes on the damsel in distress until fate intervenes to ensure the triumph of good over evil.


title: Damsel in distress

text: Such melodrama influenced the fledgling cinema industry and led to damsels in distress being the subject of many early silent films, especially those that were made as multi-episode serials. Early examples include "The Adventures of Kathlyn" in 1913 and "The Hazards of Helen", which ran from 1914 to 1917. The silent film heroines frequently faced new perils provided by the Industrial Revolution and catering to the new medium's need for visual spectacle. Here we find the heroine tied to a railway track, burning buildings, and explosions. Sawmills were another stereotypical danger of the Industrial age, as recorded in a popular song from a later era:


title: Damsel in distress

text: During the First World War, the imagery of a Damsel in Distress was extensively used in Allied propaganda (see illustrations). Particularly, the Imperial German conquest and occupation of Belgium was commonly referred to as The Rape of Belgium - effectively transforming Allied soldiers into knights bent on saving that rape victim. This was expressed explicitly in the lyrics of "Keep the Home Fires Burning" mentioning the "boys" as having gone to help a "Nation in Distress".


title: Damsel in distress

text: A form of entertainment in which the damsel-in-distress emerged as a stereotype at this time was stage magic. Restraining attractive female assistants and imperiling them with blades and spikes became a staple of 20th century magicians' acts. Noted illusion designer and historian Jim Steinmeyer identifies the beginning of this phenomenon as coinciding with the introduction of the "sawing a woman in half" illusion. In 1921 magician P. T. Selbit became the first to present such an act to the public. Steinmeyer observes that: "Before Selbit's illusion, it was not a cliche that pretty ladies were teased and tortured by magicians. Since the days of Robert-Houdin, both men and women were used as the subjects for magic illusions". However, changes in fashion and great social upheavals during the first decades of the 20th century made Selbit's choice of "victim" both practical and popular. The trauma of war had helped to desensitise the public to violence and the emancipation of women had changed attitudes to them. Audiences were tiring of older, more genteel forms of magic. It took something shocking, such as the horrific productions of the Grand Guignol theatre, to cause a sensation in this age. Steinmeyer concludes that: "beyond practical concerns, the image of the woman in peril became a specific fashion in entertainment".


title: Damsel in distress

text: The damsel-in-distress continued as a mainstay of the comics, film, and television industries throughout the 20th century. Imperiled heroines in need of rescue were a frequent occurrence in black-and-white film serials made by studios such as Columbia Pictures, Mascot Pictures, Republic Pictures, and Universal Studios in the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. These serials sometimes drew inspiration for their characters and plots from adventure novels and comic books. Notable examples include the character Nyoka the Jungle Girl, whom Edgar Rice Burroughs created for comic books and who was later adapted into a serial heroine in the Republic productions "Jungle Girl" (1941) and its sequel "Perils of Nyoka" (1942). Additional classic damsels in that mold were Jane Porter, in both the novel and movie versions of "Tarzan", and Ann Darrow, as played by Fay Wray in the movie "King Kong" (1933), in one of the most iconic instances. The notorious hoax documentary "Ingagi" (1930) also featured this idea, and Wray's role was repeated by Jessica Lange and Naomi Watts in remakes. As journalist Andrew Erish has noted: "Gorillas plus sexy women in peril equals enormous profits". Small screen iconic portrayals, this time in children's cartoons, are Underdog's girlfriend, Sweet Polly Purebred and Nell Fenwick, who is often rescued by inept Mountie Dudley Do-Right. On the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV series, the television newswoman April O'Neil was repeatedly held captive by the evil Shredder and often needed to be rescued by the titular turtles.


title: Damsel in distress

text: The James Bond novels of Ian Fleming, originally published in the 1950s and 1960s, would sometimes feature the ‘Bond Girl’ tied up by a villain and needing to be rescued by Bond, and this theme continued into a number of the films, produced from the early 1960s onward, including "Dr. No", "The Spy Who Loved Me", "Octopussy", and "Spectre", all of which show Bond rescuing the female lead, who has been tied up. In some films Bond and a female character are tied up together (for example, in "Live and Let Die" and "Moonraker"). In other films Bond is show tied up and in peril (examples include "Goldfinger", "You Only Live Twice", "The World Is Not Enough", "Casino Royale" and "Skyfall") and in some cases is rescued by the female lead (such as in "Licence To Kill" and "Spectre").


title: Damsel in distress

text: Frequently cited examples of a damsel in distress in comics include Lois Lane, who was eternally getting into trouble and needing to be rescued by Superman, and Olive Oyl, who was in a near-constant state of kidnap, requiring her to be saved by Popeye.


title: Damsel in distress

text: Damsels in distress have been cited as an example of differential treatment of genders in literature, film, and works of art. Feminist criticism of art, film, and literature has often examined gender-oriented characterisation and plot, including the common "damsel in distress" trope, as perpetrating regressive and patronizing myths about women. Many modern writers and directors, such as Anita Sarkeesian, Angela Carter and Jane Yolen, have revisited classic fairy tales and "damsel in distress" stories or collected and anthologised stories and folk tales that break the "damsel in distress" pattern.


title: Damsel in distress

text: Films featuring an empowered damsel date to the early days of filmmaking. One of the films most often associated with the stereotypical damsel in distress, "The Perils of Pauline" (1914), also provides at least a partial counterexample, in that Pauline, played by Pearl White, is a strong character who decides against early marriage in favour of seeking adventure and becoming an author. Despite common belief, the film does not feature scenes with Pauline tied to a railroad track and threatened by a buzzsaw, although such scenes were incorporated into later re-creations and were also featured in other films made in the period around 1914. Academic Ben Singer has contested the idea that these "serial-queen melodramas" were male fantasies and has observed that they were marketed heavily at women. The first motion picture serial made in the United States, "What Happened to Mary?" (1912), was released to coincide with a serial story of the same name published in McClure's "Ladies' World" magazine.


title: Damsel in distress

text: Empowered damsels were a feature of the serials made in the 1930s and 1940s by studios such as Republic Pictures. The "cliffhanger" scenes at the end of episodes provide many examples of female heroines bound and helpless and facing fiendish death traps. But those heroines, played by actresses such as Linda Stirling and Kay Aldridge, were often strong, assertive women who ultimately played an active part in vanquishing the villains.


title: Damsel in distress

text: C.L. Moore's 1934 story "Shambleau" – generally acknowledged as epoch-making in the history of science fiction – begins in what seems a classical damsel in distress situation: the protagonist, space adventurer Northwest Smith, sees a "sweetly-made girl" pursued by a lynch mob intent on killing her and intervenes to save her, but finds her not a girl nor a human being at all, but a disguised alien creature, predatory and highly dangerous. Soon, Smith himself needs rescuing and barely escapes with his life.


title: Damsel in distress

text: These themes have received successive updates in modern-era characters, ranging from 'spy girls' of the 1960s to current film and television heroines. In her book "The Devil With James Bond" (1967) Ann Boyd compared James Bond with an updating of the legend of St. George and the "princess and dragon" genre, particularly with Dr. No's dragon tank. The damsel in distress theme is also very prominent in "The Spy Who Loved Me", where the story is told in the first person by the young woman Vivienne Michel, who is threatened with imminent rape by thugs when Bond kills them and claims her as his reward.


title: Damsel in distress

text: The female spy Emma Peel in the 1960s television series "The Avengers" was often seen in "damsel in distress" situations. The character and her reactions, portrayed by actress Diana Rigg, differentiated these scenes from other film and television scenarios where women were similarly imperiled as pure victims or pawns in the plot. A scene with Emma Peel bound and threatened with a death ray in the episode "From Venus with Love" is a direct parallel to James Bond's confrontation with a laser in the film "Goldfinger". Both are examples of the classic hero's ordeal as described by Campbell and Vogler. The serial heroines and Emma Peel are cited as providing inspiration for the creators of strong heroines in more recent times, ranging from Joan Wilder in "Romancing the Stone" and Princess Leia in "Star Wars" to "post feminist" icons such as Buffy Summers from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Xena and from "", Sydney Bristow from "Alias", Natasha Romanoff from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kim Possible from the series of the same name, Sarah Connor from the "Terminator" franchise, and Veronica Mars, also from the series of the same name.


title: Damsel in distress

text: Reflecting these changes, Daphne Blake of the "Scooby-Doo" cartoon series (who throughout the series is captured dozens of times, falls through trap doors, etc.) is portrayed in the "Scooby-Doo" film as a wisecracking feminist heroine (quote: "I've had it with this damsel in distress thing!"). The 2009 film "Sherlock Holmes" includes a classical damsel in distress episode, where Irene Adler (played by Rachel McAdams) is helplessly bound to a conveyor belt in an industrial slaughterhouse, and is saved from being sawn in half by a chainsaw; yet in other episodes of the same film Adler is strong and assertive – for example, overcoming with contemptuous ease two thugs who sought to rob her (and robbing them instead). In the film's climax, it is Adler who saves the day, dismantling at the last moment a device set to poison the entire membership of Parliament.


title: Damsel in distress

text: In the final scene of the 2007 Walt Disney Pictures film "Enchanted" the traditional roles are reversed when male protagonist Robert (Patrick Dempsey) is captured by Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) in her dragon form. In a "King Kong"-like fashion, she carries him to the top of a New York skyscraper, until Robert's beloved Giselle climbs it, sword in hand, to save him.


title: Damsel in distress

text: A similar role reversal is evident in Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", in whose climactic scene the male protagonist is captured by a serial killer, locked in an underground torture room, chained, stripped naked, and humiliated when his female partner enters to save him and destroy the villain. Still another example is "Foxglove Summer", part of Ben Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London" series - where the protagonist Peter Grant is bound and taken captive by the Queen of the Faeries, and it is Grant's girlfriend who comes to rescue him, riding a Steel Horse.


title: Damsel in distress

text: Another role reversal is in "Titanic", directed by James Cameron. After Jack is handcuffed to a pipe in a master-at-arms office to drown, Rose leaves her family to rescue him.


title: Damsel in distress

text: In Robert J. Harris' 2017 WWII spy thriller " The Thirty-One Kings" , the chivalrous protagonist Richard Hannay takes time off from his vital intelligence mission to help a beautiful young woman, harassed on a Paris street by two drunken men. She laughingly thanks him though saying she could have dealt with the men by herself. Hannay has no suspicion that she is herself the dangerous Nazi agent he had been sent to apprehend, and that she recognized him and knows his mission. Unsuspectingly he drinks the glass of brandy she offers him - whereupon he loses consciousness and wakes up securely bound. Gloating and jeering, the girl mocks Hannay for his sense of chivalry proving to be his undoing. Destined to an ignominious watery death, it is the would be rescuer who is in very big distress; fortunately, his friends show up in the nick of time to save him from the clutches of the femme fatale.


title: Damsel in distress

text: In computer and video games, female characters are often cast in the role of the damsel in distress, with their rescue being the objective of the game. Princess Zelda in the early "The Legend of Zelda" series and who has been described by Gladys L. Knight in her book "Female Action Heroes" as "perhaps one [of] the most well-known 'damsel in distress' princesses in video game history", the Sultan's daughter in "Prince of Persia", and Princess Peach through much of the "Mario" series are paradigmatic examples. According to Salzburge Academy on Media and Global Change, in 1981 Nintendo offered game designer Shigeru Miyamoto to create a new video game for the American market. In the game the hero was Mario, and the objective of the game was to rescue a young princess named Peach. Peach was depicted as having a pink dress and blond hair. The princess was kidnapped and trapped in a castle by the villain Bowser, who is depicted as a turtle. Princess Peach appears in 15 of the main Super Mario games and is kidnapped in 13 of them. The only main games in which Peach was not kidnapped were in the North America release of "Super Mario Bros. 2" and "Super Mario 3D World", where she is instead one of the main heroes. Zelda became playable in some later games of the "Legend of Zelda" series or had the pattern altered.


title: Damsel in distress

text: In the "Dragon's Lair" game series, Princess Daphne is the beautiful daughter of King Aethelred and an unnamed queen. She serves as the series' damsel in distress. Jon M. Gibson of GameSpy called Daphne "the epitome" as an example of the trope.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Rail transport in India is an important mode of conveyance for people and goods in India. Indian Railways (IR) is the primary operator of rail operations throughout the country. IR is a state-owned organisation of the Ministry of Railways, which historically had its own government budget. Between 2019 and 2020, 22.15 million passengers used the Indian Railways network daily. In the same period, 3.32 million metric tons of freight was also shipped daily on the IR network.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Other locally owned public corporations operate various suburban and urban railways throughout the country, such as Chennai Metro and the trams in Kolkata. Private sector operations currently exist only for freight trains and railroads, exclusively for non-passenger usage, but there were renewed efforts in 2020 to encourage private sector involvement in the running of passenger trains.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In March 2020, the national rail network comprised of track over a route of and 7,325 stations. India's national rail network is the fourth-largest in the world (after those of the United States, Russia, and China). 36.83% of routes are double or multi-tracked. As of April 2022, or 80% of the broad-gauge routes have been electrified with 25 KV AC electric traction. It is one of the busiest networks in the world, transporting 8.086 billion passengers and 1.208 billion tonnes of freight annually. IR is the world's eighth largest employer, with more than 1.254 million employees as of March 2020. As of March 2020, IR's rolling stock consisted of 293,077 freight wagons, 76,608 passenger coaches and 12,729 locomotives.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Successive administrations of the Government of India have worked on improving the railways. Projects include the electrification of the entire IR network by 2023, new trains that can operate on existing rail infrastructure at 200 km/h, and new high-speed railways that can operate at speeds in excess of 300 km/h.


title: Rail transport in India

text: India has also played a supporting role in the improvement of rail infrastructure overseas. , India has invested over $1 billion towards upgrading railways and trains in Sri Lanka using 'Make in India' technology. As of 2020, only three rail connections to foreign countries were functioning, two to Nepal and three to Bangladesh, though an 18 km railway link to Bhutan is also under construction and there have been efforts to reinstate the historic Boat Mail train to Sri Lanka.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The first proposals for railways in India were made in Madras in 1832. The first train in India ran from Red Hills to Chintadripet bridge in 1836–1837. It was called the Red Hill Railway and used a rotary steam locomotive manufactured by William Avery. The railway was built by Sir Arthur Cotton and was mainly used for transporting granite stones for road-building work in Madras. In 1845, Cotton built the Godavari Dam Construction Railway at Dowleswaram in Rajahmundry, used to supply stone for construction of a dam on the Godavari River.


title: Rail transport in India

text: On 8 May 1845, the Madras Railway was incorporated, and the East Indian Railway Company (EIR) was incorporated the same year. On 1 August 1849, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) was incorporated by an Act of Parliament. A "guarantee system" providing free land and guaranteeing five-percent rates of return to private English companies building railways was finalised on 17 August 1849. In 1851, the Solani Aqueduct Railway was built in Roorkee; freight was hauled by a steam locomotive called "Thomason", after a British officer. It was used for transporting construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani river. In 1852, the Madras Guaranteed Railway Company was incorporated.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The first passenger train in India ran between Bombay (Bori Bunder) and Thane on 16 April 1853. The 14-carriage train was hauled by three steam locomotives"Sahib", "Sindh" and "Sultan"; it carried 400 people and ran on a line of built and operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. This line was built in broad gauge, which became the standard for railways in the country. In May 1854, the Bombay–Thane line was extended to Kalyan by India's first railway bridges, the Thane viaducts, over Thane Creek. In Eastern India, the first passenger railway train ran from Howrah (near Calcutta) to Hoogly on 15 August 1854. The line was built and operated by EIR. In August 1855, the EIR Express and Fairy Queen steam locomotives started hauling trains. The first passenger train in South India ran from Royapuram and Veyasarapady to Wallajah Road on 1 July 1856 on a line built and operated by Madras Railway.


title: Rail transport in India

text: On 24 February 1873, the first tramway, a horse-drawn tramway, opened in Calcutta between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street. On 9 May 1874 a horse-drawn tramway began operation in Bombay between Colaba and Parel. In 1880 Calcutta Tramways Company was incorporated.


title: Rail transport in India

text: GIPR started its first workshops in Byculla in 1854 and Madras Railway set up their first workshop at Perambur in 1856. The railway boom continued with the incorporation of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway (BB&CI) in 1855, Eastern Bengal Railway in 1858, and the East Coast State Railway in 1890. The Great Southern of India Railway (GSIR) and the Carnatic Railway merged in 1874 to form the South Indian Railway.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced by many railway companies. In 1902, the Jodhpur Railway became the first to introduce electric lights as standard fixtures. In 1920, electric lighting of signals was introduced between Dadar and Currey Road in Bombay.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The first railway budget was presented in 1924. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway was merged with the East Indian Railway Company (EIR) in the same year. In 1930, the route of the Grand Trunk Express was changed to Delhi–Madras.


title: Rail transport in India

text: On 3 February 1925, India's first electric passenger train ran between Victoria Terminus (VT) and Kurla on 1500 V DC overhead traction with locomotives provided by the Cammell Laird and Waggonfabrik Uerdingen companies. Later that year the VT–Bandra section was electrified with an elevated platform at Sandhurst Road. Kurla–Kalyan and lines to Poona and Igatpuri were electrified in 1926 and the Bandra–Virar section was electrified by January 1928. On 1 June 1930, the Deccan Queen began running, hauled by a WCP-1 ( 20024, old No. EA/1 4006) with seven coaches, on the GIPR's electrified route from Bombay VT to Poona.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The Frontier Mail made its inaugural run between Bombay VT and Peshawar in 1928. In 1929, the Grand Trunk Express began running between Peshawar and Mangalore and the Punjab Limited Express began running between Bombay and Lahore. Technical advancements led to automatic colour-light signals become operational on GIPR's lines between Bombay VT and Byculla in 1928. This was extended to the Byculla–Kurla section in the following year.


title: Rail transport in India

text: India's railways were re-organised into regional zones beginning in 1951 with the creation of the Southern Railway on 14 April and the Central Railway and Western Railways on 5 November. The post of Chief Commissioner of Railways was abolished and the Railway Board adopted the practice of making its senior-most member chairman. In the same year, the government of West Bengal entered into an agreement with Calcutta Tramways Co. to take over its administrative functions. On 14 April 1952, the Northern Railway, the Eastern Railway and the North-Eastern Railway were created. On 1 August 1955 the South-Eastern Railway was split from the Eastern Railway, and, the following year, divisional systems of administration were set up for the various regional zones. In 1958, the North-Eastern Railway split to form a new Northeast Frontier Railway.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In 1952, fans and lights were mandated for all compartments in passenger accommodation and sleeping accommodation was introduced in coaches. In 1956 the first fully air-conditioned train was introduced between Howrah and Delhi. In 1966 the first containerised freight services began, between Bombay and Ahmedabad.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In 1957 India Railways decided to adopt 25 kV AC electrification and chose the SNCF (French National Railway) as its technical consultant. The Main Line Electrification Project was established in the same year. Raj Kharswan–Dongoposi became the first section to be electrified with 25 kV AC traction, with the first train running on 11 August 1960. In 1966 electrification of several suburban tracks around Delhi, Madras and Calcutta was completed with the 25 kV AC system. In 1979 the Main Line Electrification Project was reconstituted into the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE).


title: Rail transport in India

text: The Calcutta Metro became the first metro in the country with the 24 October 1984 line between Esplanade and Bhowanipore. In 1988 the first Shatabdi Express was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi (later extended to Bhopal), and was the fastest train in India at the time. In 1993, air-conditioned third-tier coaches were introduced as well as a sleeper class separate from second class. In 1999, the South East Central Railway zone was established. On 6 July 2002, the East Coast, South Western, South East Central, North Central, and West Central zones were created. On 5 April 2016, Gatimaan Express, then India's fastest train with a maximum speed of , made its first run from Delhi to Agra.


title: Rail transport in India

text: India's first computerised ticketing and reservation was introduced in New Delhi in 1986. In 1990, the first self-printing ticket machine (SPTM) was introduced. In September 1996, the CONCERT computerised reservation system was fully deployed at New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The project was completed nationwide on 18 April 1999. In 1998, coupon validating machines (CVMs) were introduced at Mumbai CST. Credit cards could be used to book tickets and reservations starting in 1999, and in February 2000, the Indian Railways launched its web site and began taking online train reservations and ticketing on 3 August 2002, which was extended to many cities in December. On 26 September 2013, the Tatkal system of ticketing extended to ordinary trains.


title: Rail transport in India

text: On 16 January 1995, the first regularly scheduled services using the 2 × 25 kV system of traction started on Bina–Katni. On 5 February 2012, Western Railway switched completely to 25 kV AC traction, ending its use of 1.5 kV DC traction. On 11 April 2016, Central Railway completed switching to 25 kV AC traction, ending the use of DC traction on the country's main-line rail network. Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the entire rail network would be electrified by 2022.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Route km : The distance between two points on the railway irrespective of the number of lines connecting them, whether single line or multiple line.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Total track km: The length of all running tracks and tracks including tracks in sidings, yards and crossings.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Locomotives in India largely consist of electric and diesel locomotives. The world's first compressed natural gas (CNG) locomotives are also used. Steam locomotives are used only in heritage trains.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In India, locomotives are classified according to their gauge, motive power, the work they are suited for and their power or model number. The class name, composed of four or five letters, encodes this information. The first letter denotes the track gauge; the second denotes their motive power, diesel or alternating current (electric); the third letter denotes the type of traffic for which they are suited (goods, passenger, multi or shunting). The fourth letter used to denote the chronological model number, but from 2002 it denotes the horsepower range for diesel locomotives. Electric locomotives are not covered by this scheme and not all diesels are covered; for these, the fourth letter denotes their chronological model number.


title: Rail transport in India

text: A locomotive may have a fifth letter in its class name which denotes a technical variant, subclass or subtype, indicating a variation in the basic model or series, possibly different motors or a different manufacturer. With the modern scheme for classifying diesel locomotives the fifth letter further refines the horsepower indication in increments: 'A' for 100 hp, 'B' for 200 hp, 'C' for 300 hp, etc.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Under this scheme, a 'WDM-3A', for example, refers to a wide-gauge diesel multi-use 3100 hp locomotive, while a 'WDM-3D' would be a 3400 hp locomotive and 'WDM-3F' would be 3600 hp locomotive.


title: Rail transport in India

text: A new wagon numbering system was adopted by Indian Railways in 2003. Wagons are allocated 11 digits, making identification easier and allowing for computerisation of a wagon's information. The first two digits indicate the type of wagon, the third and fourth digits indicate the owning railway, the fifth and sixth digits indicate the year of manufacture, the seventh through tenth digits indicate the "Individual Wagon Number," and the last digit is a "check digit."


title: Rail transport in India

text: IR's bulk requirement of wagons is met by wagon manufacturing units both in public and private sectors as well as other public sector units under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways.


title: Rail transport in India

text: On long-distance routes and also on some shorter routes, IR uses two primary types of coach design types. ICF coach, in production from 1955 until January 2018, constitute the bulk of the current stock. These coaches, considered to have inadequate safety features, are slowly being phased out. , around 40,000 coaches are still in operation. These coaches are being replaced with LHB coach. Introduced in mid '90s, these coaches are lighter, safer and are capable of speeds up to .


title: Rail transport in India

text: IR has introduced new electric multiple unit (EMU) train sets for long-distance routes. One such, Train-18 is under operation and another, Train-20 is expected to run from 2020. These train sets are expected to replace locomotive-hauled trains on long-distance routes.


title: Rail transport in India

text: On regional short-distance routes, IR runs Mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) or Diesel electrical multiple unit (DEMU) trains, depending on the traction available. These train sets are self-propelled with capability for faster acceleration or deceleration and are expected to reduce congestion on dense routes. Passenger locomotive-hauled trains, having frequent stops, are slowly being replaced with train sets across India.


title: Rail transport in India

text: On suburban commuter routes around large urban centers, IR runs trains with normal electric multiple unit (EMU) coaches. These are popularly called "local trains" or simply "locals".


title: Rail transport in India

text: EMUs are also used in metros. All train sets used in metros are air-conditioned. Kolkata trams almost always consist of a single motor coach. A new twin coach tram was introduced in Kolkata in 2019.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in Chittaranjan and Banaras Locomotive Works in Varanasi make electric locomotives. The Integral Coach Factory in Perambur, Chennai, makes integral coaches. These have a monocoque construction, and the floor is an integral unit with the undercarriage. The Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala also makes coaches. The Titagarh Wagons builds freight wagons. The Rail Wheel Factory at Yelahanka, Bangalore, and the Rail Wheel Plant, Bela, in Chhapra, Bihar, manufactures wheels and axles. Diesel-Loco Modernisation Works, Patiala upgrades the diesel locomotives. Some electric locomotives have been supplied by BHEL, Jhansi and Palakkad, and locomotive components are manufactured in several other plants around the country.


title: Rail transport in India

text: As of 31 March 2020, IR network spans of track length, while the route length is . Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from , though the maximum speed attained by passenger trains is 180 km/h (110 mph) during trial runs. Almost the entire broad-gauge network is equipped with long-welded, high-tensile strength 52 kg/60 kg 90 UTS rails and pre-stressed concrete (PSC) sleepers with elastic fastenings.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The tracks and and narrow gauge tracks are present on fewer routes. All of these routes, except the heritage routes, are being converted to broad gauge. The metre gauge tracks were (4.21% of total route network) and narrow gauges tracks were (2.50% of total route network)


title: Rail transport in India

text: Urban rail transit systems in India mostly use standard gauge tracks. These systems are operated by metro/tram rail corporations which are independent of Indian Railways. Trams in Kolkata, the only remaining tram service in the country, uses standard gauge tracks. Line 1 of the Kolkata Metro and Delhi Metro use the same broad gauge tracks as main-line railways. All other metro linesconstructed, under construction and futureuse standard gauge tracks. Metro trains operate in Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Gurgaon has a Metro system operated by a private organisation. Metro tracks are being constructed or planned in all million-plus cities in the country.


title: Rail transport in India

text: , IR has electrified 80% or of the total broad-gauge route. India uses 25 kV 50 Hz AC traction on all its electrified tracks.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Railway electrification in India began with the first electric train, between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Kurla on the Harbour Line, on 3 February 1925 on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) at 1500 V DC. Heavy gradients in the Western Ghats necessitated the introduction of electric traction on the GIPR to Igatpuri on the North East line and Pune on the South East line. On 5 January 1928, 1500 V DC traction was introduced on the suburban section of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway between Colaba and Borivili, and between Madras Beach and Tambaram of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway on 11 May 1931, to meet growing traffic needs. The 3000 V DC electrification of the Howrah-Burdwan section of the Eastern Railway was completed in 1958. The first 3000 V DC EMU service began on the Howrah-Sheoraphuli section on 14 December 1957.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Research and trials in Europe, particularly on French Railways (SNCF), indicated that 25 kV AC was an economical electrification system. Indian Railways decided in 1957 to adopt 25 kV AC as its standard, with SNCF their consultant in the early stages. The first 25 kV AC section was Raj Kharswan–Dongoaposi on the South Eastern Railway in 1960. The first 25 kV AC EMUs, for Kolkata suburban service, began service in September 1962. For continuity, the Howrah–Burdwan section of the Eastern Railway and the Madras Beach–Tambaram section of the Southern Railway were converted to 25 kV AC by 1968. Because of limitations in the DC traction system, a decision was made to convert the electric traction system of the Mumbai suburban rail network of WR and CR from 1.5kV DC to 25 kV AC in 1996–97. The conversion from DC to AC traction was completed in 2012 by the Western Railway, and in 2016 by the Central Railway. Since then, the entire electrified mainline rail network in India uses 25 kV AC, and DC traction is used only for metros and trams.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the country's entire rail network would be electrified by 2022. Though not a new concept, the electrification in India has now been committed to with an investment of to electrify the entire network and eliminate the cost of fuel for transportation, which will amount to a savings of overall. These savings will allow the government channel funds to invest in the modernisation of the railway infrastructure. Close to 30 billion units of electricity will be required for railway electrification on an annual basis by 2022, which will lead to opportunities for IPPs of conventional power.


title: Rail transport in India

text: All metro routes, as well as the Kolkata tram, are electrified with DC traction. Many metro routes employ the third rail method for electric traction.


title: Rail transport in India

text: IR uses a range of signalling technologies and methods to manage its train operations based on traffic density and safety requirements.


title: Rail transport in India

text: , around of the route uses automatic block signalling for train operations – concentrated in high density routes, large cities and junctions. Remaining routes are based on absolute block signalling with trains manually controlled by signalmen from the signal boxes typically located at stations. Few low density routes still use manual block signalling methods with communication on track clearance based on physical exchange of tokens. In a few sections, intermediate block signalling is provided to further enhance line capacity with minimal investment. , 602 block sections have intermediate block signals on IR.


title: Rail transport in India

text: IR primarily uses coloured signal lights, which replaced semaphores and disc-based signalling (dependent on position or colour). IR uses two-aspect, three-aspect and four (or multiple) aspect colour signalling across its network.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Signals at most stations are interlocked using panel interlocking, route-relay interlocking or electronic interlocking methods, which eliminate human error. IR uses track circuiting, and block proving axle counters for train detection. , 5,886 stations across IR have interlocked stations and multi-aspect signalling. Around 99% of key routes (A, B, C and D) have track circuitry or block proving axle counters for automated train detection. IR has about 59,105 route kilometers of optical fiber cable network across India, that is used for train control, voice and data communication. Around of the route is covered by GSM-R based Mobile Train Radio Communication.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In December 2017, IR announced that it will implement ETCS Level 2 system for signalling and control on key routes with an investment of . Currently IR uses Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) on the busy Ghaziabad – Kanpur route and real-time train monitoring systems on Mumbai and Kolkata suburban routes.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Bangladesh is connected by the biweekly Maitree Express, which runs from Kolkata railway station to Dhaka Cantonment, the Bandhan Express, which began running commercial trips between Kolkata railway station and Khulna railway station and Mitali Express connecting New Jalpaiguri railway station with Dhaka Cantonment railway station which started commercial services from 1 June 2022.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Indian and Bangladeshi governments planned to start work by January 2015 on a new rail link to ease surface transport. India will build a railway linking Tripura's capital Agartala with Bangladesh's southeastern city of Akhaura, an important railway junction connected to Chittagong port, resource-rich Sylhet and Dhaka. An agreement to implement the railway project was signed between India's former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to India in January 2010. The total cost of the proposed project is estimated at 252 crore (2.5 billion). The Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) would lay the new railway tracks on both sides of the border. Of the rail line, of tracks fall in Indian territory.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) is laying tracks to connect Tripura's southernmost border town, Sabroom, south of here. From Sabroom, the Chittagong international sea port is .


title: Rail transport in India

text: No rail link exists with Myanmar but a railway line is to be built from Jiribam (in Manipur) to Tamu through Imphal and Moreh. The construction of this missing link, as per the feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs through RITES Ltd, is estimated to cost .


title: Rail transport in India

text: Two rail links to Nepal exist: A passenger service between Jainagar and Janakpur which is run and operated by Nepal Railways and freight services between Raxaul and Birganj.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Two trains were operated to Pakistan: the Samjhauta Express between Delhi and Lahore, and the Thar Express between Jodhpur and Karachi. Since 2019, both services have been shut down.


title: Rail transport in India

text: From December 2017, stations are categorised into the Non-Suburban Group NSG1 to NSG6, the Suburban Group SG1 to SG3, and the Halt Group HG1 to HG3 based on the earnings, passenger footfall and strategic importance.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Before December 2017, stations were classified into A1, A, B, C, D, E and F categories, based only on the passenger earnings from the sales of platform tickets, thus limiting the ability of IR to better focus its investments in passenger amenities.


title: Rail transport in India

text: IR has several classes of travelwith or without air conditioning; a train may include just one or several of these. Slow passenger trains have only unreserved seating class whereas Rajdhani, Duronto, Shatabdi, Garib Rath and Yuva trains only have air-conditioned classes. The fares are different for each class, with unreserved seating class being the cheapest. The fare of Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains includes food served in the train, but for other trains food has to be bought separately. In September 2016, the IR introduced dynamic fares for all accommodation classes for Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains (except 1AC and EC classes) to shore up revenue. In long-distance trains a pantry car is usually included and the food is served at the berth or seat itself. Luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels have separate dining cars but fares are comparable to a five-star hotel.


title: Rail transport in India

text: A standard passenger train has four unreserved (also called "general") coaches, two at the front and two at the end, of which one may be exclusively for women. The number of other coaches varies according to the demand and route. A luggage coach may be included at the front or end. In some mail trains, a separate mail coach is attached. Lavatories are communal and feature both the Indian style as well as the Western style.


title: Rail transport in India

text: At the rear of the train is a special compartment known as the guard's cabin. It is fitted with a transceiver and is where the guard usually gives the all-clear signal before the train departs.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Trains are sorted into categories which dictate the number of stops on a route, their priority on the network and their fare structure. Each express train is identified by a five-digit number. If the first digit is one or two, they are long-distance express trains. If the first digit is zero, the train is a special train which will operate for a limited period of time with a different fare structure. A first digit of five denotes a passenger train.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The second digit indicates the zone operating the train. However, for high-speed trains, the second digit is either zero or two (the first remains one or two). The third digit denotes the division within the zone which is responsible for maintenance and cleanliness, and the last two digits are the train's serial number. The train numbering system was changed from four digits from December 2010, to accommodate an increasing number of trains.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Trains traveling in opposite directions along the same route are usually labelled with consecutive numbers. However, there is considerable variation in train numbers; some zones, such as the Central Railway, have a less-systematic method of numbering trains.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Trains are classified by average speed. A faster train has fewer stops (halts) than a slower one, and is usually used for long-distance travel. Most express trains have special names to identify them easily. The names of the trains usually denote the regions they connect; the routes they traverse; a famous person; or a tourist spot connected with the train.


title: Rail transport in India

text: India has some of the lowest train fares in the world. Basic passenger traffic is heavily subsidised by more-expensive higher-class fares. Until the late 1980s, Indian Railways ticket reservations were done manually. In 1987 the Railways started using a computerised ticketing system. The entire ticketing system went online in 1995 to provide up-to-date information on status and availability. The ticketing network is computerised to a large extent, with the exception of some remote places. Computerised tickets can be booked for any two points in the country, through the Internet and via mobile phones, though this method carries an additional surcharge.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Discounted tickets are available for senior citizens (above 60 years) and some other categories of passengers including the disabled, students, athletes, persons affected by serious diseases, or persons appearing for competitive examinations. One compartment of the lowest class of accommodation is reserved for women in every passenger-carrying train. Some berths or seats in sleeper class and second class are also reserved for women. Season tickets permitting unlimited travel on specific sections or specific trains for a specific time period may also be available. Foreign tourists can buy an Indrail Pass, which is modelled on the Eurail Pass, permitting unlimited travel in India for a specific time period.


title: Rail transport in India

text: For long-distance travel, reservation of a berth can be made up to 120 days before departure. Details such as name, age and concession (if eligible) are required and are recorded on the ticket. The ticket price usually includes the base fare, which depends on the classification of the train (example: super-fast surcharge if the train is classified as super-fast), the class in which one wishes to travel and the reservation charge for overnight journeys.


title: Rail transport in India

text: If a seat is not available then the ticket is given a waitlist number; otherwise the ticket is confirmed and a berth number is printed on the ticket. A person receiving a wait-listed ticket may be able to obtain a confirmed ticket if there are sufficient cancellations. Some of the tickets are assigned to the Reservation against Cancellation (RAC), which is between the waiting list and the confirmed list. These allow the ticket holder to board the train and obtain an allotted seat decided by a ticket collector, after the ticket collector has ascertained that a seat is vacant.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Reserved railway tickets can be booked through the website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and also through mobile phones via SMS. Tickets booked through this site are categorised into iTickets and eTickets. iTickets are booked by a passenger and then printed and delivered to the passenger. eTickets are printed by the passenger and carried while travelling. While travelling on an eTicket, one must carry an authorised valid photo identity card. Cancellation of eTickets is done online, without the requirement for the passenger to go to any counter. Unreserved tickets are available for purchase on the platform at any time before departure. An unreserved-ticket holder may only board the general-compartment class. All suburban networks issue unreserved tickets valid for a limited time. For frequent commuters, a season pass (monthly or quarterly) guarantees unlimited travel between two stops.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In the freight segment, IR ferries various commodities and fuels in industrial, consumer, and agricultural segments across India. IR has historically subsidised the passenger segment with income from the freight business. As a result, freight services are unable to compete with other modes of transport on both cost and speed of delivery, leading to continuous erosion of market share. To counter this downward trend, IR has started new initiatives in freight segments including the upgrade of existing goods sheds, attracting private capital to build multi-commodity multi-modal logistics terminals, changing container sizes, operating time-tabled freight trains, and tweaking with the freight pricing/product mix. Also, end-to-end integrated transport solutions such as roll-on, roll-off (RORO) service, a road-rail system pioneered by Konkan Railway Corporation in 1999 to carry trucks on flatbed trailers, is now being extended to other routes across India.


title: Rail transport in India

text: A potential game-changer for IR in the freight segment are the new dedicated freight corridors that are expected to be completed by 2020. When fully implemented, the new corridors, spanning around , could support hauling of trains up to 1.5 km in length with 32.5 ton axle-load at speeds of . They will also free-up capacity on dense passenger routes and allow IR to run more trains at higher speeds. Additional corridors are being planned to augment the freight infrastructure in the country.


title: Rail transport in India

text: India currently has 13 metro systems. The first modern rapid transit in India is the Kolkata Metro, which started operations in 1984 as the 17th Zone of Indian Railways. The Delhi Metro which started in 2002, is the largest metro system which connects to few other nearby cities in the National Capital Region. As of January 2021, India has of operational metro lines and 540 stations across 13 systems. A further 578.34 km of lines are under construction. Metro rail lines in India are composed of mainly standard gauge. Projects like the Kolkata Metro and Delhi Metro used broad gauge for their earliest lines but all new projects in India are on standard gauge as rolling stock is of standard gauge.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The Mumbai Suburban Railway is India's first commuter rail system and transports 7.5 million passengers daily, the highest passenger-density in the world. The Kolkata Suburban Railway was established in Kolkata in 1854.


title: Rail transport in India

text: The operational suburban rail systems in India are: the Mumbai Suburban Railway, the Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Chennai Suburban Railway, the Lucknow–Kanpur Suburban Railway, the Delhi Suburban Railway, the Pune Suburban Railway, the Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System, the Barabanki–Lucknow Suburban Railway


title: Rail transport in India

text: Other planned systems are Bengaluru Commuter Rail, Nagpur broad-gauge Metro, Ahmedabad Suburban Railway and Coimbatore Suburban Railway.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Regional Rapid Transit systems in India are passenger rail services that operate beyond the limits of urban areas, and either connect similarly sized cities, or metropolitan cities and surrounding towns/cities, outside at the outer rim of a suburban belt. The following list excludes Passenger Train services provided by Indian Railways.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Monorail is generally considered a feeder system for the metro trains in India. The Mumbai Monorail, which started in 2014, was the first operational monorail network in India (excluding the Skybus Metro) since Patiala State Monorail Trainways closed in 1927.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Other planned systems are: the Chennai Monorail, the Kolkata Monorail, the Allahabad Monorail, the Bengaluru Monorail, the Delhi Monorail, the Indore Monorail, the Kanpur Monorail, the Navi Mumbai Monorail, the Patna Monorail, the Pune Monorail, the Ahmedabad Monorail, the Aizawl Monorail, the Bhubaneswar Monorail, the Jodhpur Monorail, the Kota Monorail, the Nagpur Monorail and the Nashik Monorail.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Like monorail, light rail is also considered a feeder for the metro systems. The planned systems are Kolkata Light Rail Transit and Delhi Light Rail Transit.


title: Rail transport in India

text: In addition to trains, trams were introduced in many cities in the late 19th century, though almost all of these were phased out. The trams in Kolkata are currently the only tram system in the country. Trams in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), West Bengal are operated by the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC). It is the only operating tram network in India and the oldest operating electric tram in Asia, running since 1902. There are 257 trams in total, of which 125 used to run daily on the Kolkata streets, but now only 35 trams run daily. The single-deck articulated cars can carry 200 passengers (60 seated).


title: Rail transport in India

text: Though state-owned companies like Indian Railways and the various metro companies enjoy a near monopoly in India, a few private railways do exist. These private railway lines are used exclusively for freight.


title: Rail transport in India

text: There are railway lines owned and operated by companies including plantations, sugar mills, collieries and other mines, dams, harbours and ports. Private railways are operated by the Mumbai Port Trust, the Chennai Port Trust, the Kolkata Port Trust, the Visakhapatnam Port Trust and the Bhilai Steel Plant. The Tata Group operate funicular railways at Bhira and at Bhivpuri Road (as well as the Kamshet–Shirawta Dam railway line). The Pipavav Rail Corporation holds a 33-year concession for building and operating a railway line from Pipavav to Surendranagar. The Kutch Railway Company, a joint venture of the Gujarat state government and private parties, is involved (alongside the Kandla Port Trust and the Gujarat Adani Port) to build the Gandhidham–Palanpur line.


title: Rail transport in India

text: There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites on Indian Railways, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and the Mountain Railways of India. The latter consists of three separate railway lines located in different parts of India: the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow gauge railway in Lesser Himalayas in the state of West Bengal, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a rack railway in the Nilgiri Hills in the state of Tamil Nadu and the Kalka–Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge railway in the Siwalik Hills in the state of Himachal Pradesh.


title: Rail transport in India

text: IR's Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) undertakes research, design and standardisation. The railway has undertaken several initiatives to upgrade its ageing infrastructure and improve its quality of service. The Indian government plans to invest to upgrade IR by 2020.


title: Rail transport in India

text: Infrastructure modernisation projects include high-speed rail, with the first Ahmedabad-Mumbai train in operation for 2022; the redevelopment of 400 stations by monetizing of spare railway land under a plan; doubling tracks to reduce congestion and delays while improving safety; the refurbishing of 12- to 15-year-old coaches at the Carriage Rehabilitation Workshop in Bhopal to enhance passenger amenities and fire safety; use of Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled tracking of trains to improve safety and service; Digital India-driven digitalisation of the railway to improve efficiency and reduce cost; rainwater harvesting, with 1885 systems installed by December 2016; and reforestation of railway land and along the tracks.


title: Rail transport in India

text: All routes will be electrified to save on imported-fuel costs. Off-the-grid solar-powered trains are planned with the installation of one gigawatt of solar and 130 megawatts of wind power between 2017 and 2022; India introduced the world's first solar-powered train and 50 coaches with rooftop solar farms in June 2017. Initial assessments of this experiment have been positive. Rooftop solar electricity is planned at stations to reduce long-term fuel costs and protect the environment. and Sustainable LED lighting at all the stations was completed by March 2018 which saves Rs 500 million per annum in electricity bills. Locomotive factories have been modernised, including two new factories in Bihar: an electric locomotive factory in Madhepura and a diesel locomotive factory in Marhaura, and 2,285 bio-toilets were introduced from April to July 2014. A partnership with Alstom to supply 800 electric locomotives from 2018 to 2028 was announced.


title: Rail transport in India

text: All the unmanned level crossings were eliminated by January 2019, and manned level crossings are being progressively replaced by overbridges and underbridges. Other safety projects include the extension of an automated fire alarm system, first introduced on Rajdhani Express trains in 2013, to all air-conditioned coaches; and 6,095 GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System railway signalling devices (replacing the practice of placing firecrackers on tracks to alert train drivers) installed in 2017 in four zones: Northern, North Central, North Eastern and North Western; and replacing ICF coach with LHB coach.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Wesley Paul William Streeting (; born 21 January 1983) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since 2021, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford North since 2015.


title: Wes Streeting

text: He served as Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty from May to November 2021, as Shadow Minister for Schools from 2020 to 2021, and as Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from April to October 2020. He was also president of the National Union of Students (NUS), and Deputy Leader of Redbridge London Borough Council.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Streeting was born in Stepney, London, on 21 January 1983. Streeting’s parents were teenagers when he was born. He has five brothers, a sister and a stepsister. His maternal grandfather was an armed robber who spent time in prison, and his grandmother became embroiled in his crimes and ended up in Holloway jail, where she met Christine Keeler (a key figure in the Profumo affair). “They stayed in touch, they became friends”, according to Streeting. His grandmother was released from prison to give birth to his mother at Whittington Hospital. Streeting’s two grandfathers, both named Bill, were key figures in his youth. His maternal grandfather was also familiar with the infamous East End Krays. He was “really well read and well informed” and engaged his grandson in lively discussions about religion and politics. Streeting’s paternal grandfather served in the Second World War in the Royal Navy and later in the merchant navy before becoming a civil engineer. “He was the grandad I was closest to. He was a traditional working-class Tory”.


title: Wes Streeting

text: He grew up in poverty living in a council flat. He recalls Conservative politicians in the 1990s “denigrating single-parent families like mine, which I took quite personally”. He attended Westminster City School, a comprehensive state school in Victoria, London. He went on to study history at Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Streeting previously had left the Labour Party because he opposed its decision to enter the Iraq War; however, he says Tony Blair did not act with malign intent. Streeting came out as gay in his second year of university. Streeting served as Selwyn College's Junior Common Room (JCR) President, in which capacity he was a member of Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU) Council. He was subsequently elected CUSU President for the 2004–05 academic year, a sabbatical officer role. As CUSU President, he campaigned against the proposed closure of Cambridge's architecture department.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Streeting was elected as President of the National Union of Students (NUS) in April 2008 as a candidate from Labour Students, with the support of the Union of Jewish Students. He had been a member of the NUS National Executive Committee since 2005, having previously held the post of Vice-President (Education) from 2006 to 2008. In April 2009, he was elected to a second term as President of the NUS. He also served as a member of the National Committee of Labour Students for four years during this time.


title: Wes Streeting

text: As President of the NUS, Streeting was a strong proponent of his predecessor Gemma Tumelty's proposed reforms to the NUS governance structures, which had been denounced and narrowly defeated by many left-wing groups in NUS as an attack on NUS democracy. His election was reported by "The Guardian" as "a move that will lend weight to the fight to modernise the union". As NUS President, Streeting was a non-executive director of the NUS's trading arm, NUS Services Ltd, and of Endsleigh Insurance. He was also a non-executive director of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), as well as the Higher Education academy, having served on their board as Vice President (Education) when he was also a non-executive director of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE). Shortly after his election as NUS President, Streeting was appointed as a member of the government's Youth Citizenship Commission, chaired by Professor Jonathan Tonge of the University of Liverpool, which published its report in June 2009. Streeting supported university tuition fees as President, consistent with UK government policy during the New Labour years.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Streeting worked for the Labour Party-related organisation Progress for a year. After completing his term as President of the NUS, Streeting served as Chief Executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation, an educational charity that promotes access to higher education for students from further education colleges. He went on to serve as head of education at Stonewall, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity, where he led their Education for All campaign to tackle homophobia in schools. He was subsequently a public sector consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which he gave up on election as a councillor, because Redbridge Council was a "current audit client" of the firm; this forced him to choose between keeping his job or forcing a second by-election. In 2010, shortly after leaving PwC, Streeting was appointed as Head of Policy and Strategic Communications for Oona King's unsuccessful bid to win the Labour Party's nomination to be its candidate in the 2012 London Mayoral election.


title: Wes Streeting

text: In a July 2010 by-election, Streeting was elected as a Labour councillor for the Chadwell ward on Redbridge London Borough Council. He held the seat for Labour by 220 votes, winning with 31.5% of the vote (a fall of 1.4% for Labour in the ward) on a 25.5% turnout (a fall of 34.5% in turnout). The by-election had been triggered by a previously elected candidate subsequently being found to be ineligible to serve on the council. Streeting was elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group in October 2011. In 2014, he contested the Aldborough ward on Redbridge Council, winning 2,100 votes and defeating Conservative opponent Ruth Clark.


title: Wes Streeting

text: At a public meeting of the Redbridge Citizens' Assembly on 6 May 2014, Cllr Streeting promised on behalf of his group that, if elected, he would not reduce the level of Council Tax Support provided to low-income working-age residents. Once elected, the Labour council cut the level of support, so as to treble the amount of Council Tax paid by supported residents from April 2016; the council made a further reduction from April 2017, and made a third reduction from April 2018. In May 2014, Labour took control of Redbridge Council for the first time and Streeting was appointed Deputy Leader of the Council. He resigned the latter in May 2015, shortly after being elected Member of Parliament for Ilford North. Whilst he remained a backbench councillor following his election to Parliament, he chose not to claim his councillor allowance. Streeting did not stand for re-election after being elected to Parliament, and ceased to be a councillor on Monday 7 May 2018.


title: Wes Streeting

text: In the 2015 general election, Streeting was elected as the Member of Parliament for Ilford North. Representing the Labour Party, he overturned a Conservative majority of 5,404, winning by 589 votes. After being elected to Parliament, Streeting was elected Honorary President of the British Youth Council. He is also a Vice President of the Local Government Association and a Patron of LGBT Labour.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Following his election, Streeting was described as a "long-time critic" of Jeremy Corbyn, who was leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. He accused Corbyn of a "flat-footed and lackadaisical attitude" to tackling antisemitism which is "simply unacceptable". Prior to the 2017 general election he stated that he was "not going to pretend to have had a damascene conversion" with regard to Corbyn's suitability as Prime Minister. His views provoked a response from Corbyn's supporters such as Ken Livingstone and the trade union leader Len McCluskey. Livingstone described him as "consciously undermining Jeremy and damaging the Labour party" while McCluskey said his reason for raising issues had been "about attacking Jeremy Corbyn". Streeting was among the 70 per cent of Labour MPs who nominated Owen Smith in the 2016 party leadership election.


title: Wes Streeting

text: In 2016 Streeting criticised the Labour Party for refusing a £30,000 donation from McDonald's. According to Labour, the refusal was due to the company's poor record on worker's rights and hostile stance towards trade unions. Streeting campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union in the run-up to the 2016 EU membership referendum. His constituency subsequently voted by a small-margin in favour of leaving the European Union. Afterwards, Streeting campaigned for a People's Vote, a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Ilford North has among the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in the UK. Streeting is a vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism, a co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews and a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel. He is also a co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims and a supporter of Labour Friends of Palestine and Middle East. In September 2018, he held the last in a series of London-wide consultations to create the Working Definition of Islamophobia. In July 2018, Streeting called for “targeted economic sanctions” against Israeli settlements in the West Bank in response to the Israeli government “grossly infringing on the human rights of Palestinians”. In July 2019, Streeting was reported in the media as using abusive language towards a non-Jewish antisemitism campaigner.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Shortly before the 2019 general election, Streeting told a Labour First meeting that the party faced electoral oblivion in any snap poll due to the leadership's poor handling of Brexit and allegations of antisemitism. Following Labour's defeat in the general election, Streeting nominated Jess Phillips and Rosena Allin-Khan in the 2020 Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership elections, and endorsed Ian Murray for the deputy leadership.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Until the 2019 general election, Streeting was a member of the Treasury Select Committee. After the election of Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party, Streeting was appointed Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. On 16 October 2020, Streeting became Shadow Minister for Schools in succession to Margaret Greenwood, who had resigned the previous day following her opposition to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. Abena Oppong-Asare replaced Streeting as Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. In the May 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, Streeting was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty. He was promoted to the post of Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in the November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle.


title: Wes Streeting

text: On 9 November 2022, Streeting was criticised after being overheard describing Jeremy Corbyn as "senile" in the House of Commons. Streeting said the comment was made "in jest" and apologised to Corbyn for the comment later that day.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Streeting is considered to be on the right of the Labour Party; however, he objects to being labelled a “Blairite”. “There’s no future for the Labour party if it’s locked in a battle between two competing visions of the past,” he says. “I don’t like being pigeonholed.”


title: Wes Streeting

text: On health, in December 2021, in response to growing waiting times in the NHS, Streeting said the way to reduce waiting times was better pay and conditions, while keeping a check on the six figure salaries of managers and management consultants. He added: “The biggest priority is to recruit, train and retain staff for the long term" whilst also placing an emphasis on investment and reform. He said that the government should concentrate on boosting wages for the lowest paid in the health sector. Streeting said that a Labour government would use whatever means necessary to ensure patients receive treatment, including using private health providers. Following a visit to Israel in May 2022, Streeting suggested that the UK should embrace new technologies in the health sector that are commonplace in Israel to improve outcomes. Streeting said he would stress to the Treasury that investment in health and social care would boost the economy and focusing on prevention could save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Following his election, Streeting was described as a "long-time critic" of Jeremy Corbyn, who was leader of the Labour Party from 2015 until 2020. He accused Corbyn of a "flat-footed and lackadaisical attitude" to tackling antisemitism which was "simply unacceptable". Streeting was among the 70 per cent of Labour MPs who nominated Owen Smith in the 2016 party leadership election. He claimed that “I always thought that Jeremy Corbyn was unelectable and there was a fundamental moral objection to where he was on anti-Semitism.”


title: Wes Streeting

text: Streeting campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union in the run-up to the 2016 EU membership referendum. In 2018, he claimed that a hard Brexit would address voters' concerns regarding sovereignty and migration but would provoke significant economic harm. Streeting appeared in the Sun newspaper and tweeted a link to the article saying he would be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”. On immigration, in 2018, Streeting said that "I regularly make the point that we need better education and training for our own people, but we should be honest with our country that we also rely on attracting people from overseas, particularly with our ageing population and shrinking working age population."


title: Wes Streeting

text: Streeting is also pro-devolution of power to give local authorities greater control over public policy. Streeting promoted the establishment of a Good Work Commission to bring together the relevant stakeholders to negotiate a new employment rights settlement. He also said he suggested "working with the best of British business to reform the worst of British capitalism". Streeting wants to tax capital gains on the same basis as income and suggested replacing inheritance tax with a lifetime gifts tax. He also supports an increase in corporation tax. Streeting has also strongly criticised those campaigning against LGBT+ education in schools.


title: Wes Streeting

text: Streeting lives in Redbridge, London. He is in a relationship with Joseph Dancey, a communications and public affairs adviser. The couple are currently engaged to get married. Streeting, who is a practising Anglican, says his faith is “about compassion, not walking by on the other side”. He says it caused serious problems when it came to his sexuality: “My faith was a really big obstacle to accepting myself.”


title: Wes Streeting

text: In May 2021, Streeting revealed he had been diagnosed with kidney cancer and would be stepping back from frontline politics while he received treatment for it. He had received a phone call from his urologist informing him that tests, initially for kidney stones, revealed he had kidney cancer. He was on a campaign visit at the time. However, because the cancer was noticed early, his prognosis was good even though he needed surgery to remove the kidney. On 27 July 2021, Streeting announced that he had been declared cancer-free, following an operation to remove one of his kidneys.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Watch Dogs (stylized as WATCH_DOGS) is a 2014 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the first installment in the "Watch Dogs" series. The game is played from a third-person perspective, and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Set within a fictionalized version of the Chicago area in 2013, the single-player story follows grey hat hacker and vigilante Aiden Pearce's quest for revenge after the killing of his niece. An online multiplayer mode allows up to eight players to engage in cooperative and competitive gameplay.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Development of the game began in 2009, and continued for over five years. Duties were shared by many of Ubisoft's studios worldwide, with more than a thousand people involved. The developers visited Chicago to conduct field research on the setting, and used regional language for authenticity. Hacking features were created in consultation with the cyber-security company Kaspersky Lab, and the in-game control system was based on SCADA. The score was composed by Brian Reitzell, who infused it with krautrock.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Following its announcement in June 2012, "Watch Dogs" was widely anticipated. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U in 2014. The game received generally favorable reviews; praise was directed at the gameplay, mission and open world design, combat system, hacking elements and mission variety, while criticism was expressed concerning technical issues, the discrepancy in graphical quality between marketing and the real game, plot, and protagonist. "Watch Dogs" was a commercial success, breaking the record for the biggest first-day sales of a Ubisoft game and becoming the biggest launch of a new intellectual property in the United Kingdom at the time. The game has shipped over 10 million copies. A sequel, "Watch Dogs 2", was released in November 2016, and a third game, "", was released in October 2020.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: "Watch Dogs" is an action-adventure game, played from a third-person view. The player controls hacker Aiden Pearce, who uses his smartphone to control trains and traffic lights, infiltrate security systems, jam cellphones, access pedestrians' private information, and empty their bank accounts. System hacking involves the solving of puzzles. The game is set in a fictionalized version of Chicago ("Windy City"), an open world environment which permits free-roaming. It has a day-night cycle and dynamic weather system, which changes the behavior of non-player characters (NPCs). For melee combat, Aiden has an extensible truncheon; other combat uses handguns, shotguns, sniper rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers. There is a slow motion option for gunplay, and the player can use proximity IEDs, grenades, and electronic lures. Lethal and non-lethal mission approaches can be enacted.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Aiden can scale vertical surfaces, hack forklifts and aerial work platforms to reach places otherwise unreachable, and can crouch behind walls to hide from enemies. The player has an array of vehicles with which to navigate the setting, including motorcycles, muscle cars, off-road vehicles, SUVs, luxury vehicles, sports cars, and speedboats. The car radio is customizable, with about fifty songs. If the player steals a car, its driver can summon the police; if the player has a good reputation, the driver may acquiesce. A good reputation may be gained by detecting (and stopping) crimes, and a bad reputation results from committing crimes. The skill tree is upgraded with points earned from hacking, combat, driving, and crafted items. Money can be used to purchase guns, outfits, and vehicles. There are several minigames, ranging from killing aliens to controlling a large, robotic spider. QR codes and audio logs are included as collectibles; ctOS towers unlock map icons and side missions. Multiplayer mode can host up to seven other free-roaming players, with whom the player may complete hacking contracts and engage in races. The player can also be hacked by others, who will perceive the target as an NPC (leaving the target to find the perpetrator). In-game invasions can be disabled, but this will reset the multiplayer skill rank to zero. Free-roaming with multiple players and decryption mode, where two teams of four are tasked with acquiring and holding data, were excluded from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: The game's recreation of the Chicago metropolitan area is anchored by six regions on the map: Parker Square, which resembles the city's northern and western areas; the Loop, based on the Chicago Loop; Brandon Docks, a loose recreation of the south side's industrial district; the Wards, based on Englewood; Mad Mile, based on the Magnificent Mile; and Pawnee, a faux rural town resembling some of the city's suburbs.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: In 2012, Chicago becomes the first city in the world to implement ctOS (Central Operating System) – a computing network connecting every device together into a single system, developed by technology company Blume. While conducting an electronic heist at the high-end Merlaut Hotel, hacker Aiden Pearce and his mentor and partner, Damien Brenks, trigger a silent alarm set by another hacker. Damien tries to find the hacker, giving himself and Aiden away. Fearing for his family, Aiden drives them to safety in the guise of a surprise trip to the country. On the way, hitman Maurice Vega attacks them, resulting in a car crash that kills Aiden's six-year-old niece Lena.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: A year later, Aiden tracks down Vega at a baseball stadium - but is unsuccessful in learning the identity of his contractor. Leaving Vega in the hands of his partner, hired fixer Jordi Chin, Aiden visits his sister Nicole and nephew Jackson for the latter's birthday but learns someone is harassing them. With the help of Clara Lille, a member of the hacking syndicate DedSec that is trying to expose Blume's corruption, Aiden tracks down the harasser, revealed to be Damien, who wanted to get Aiden's attention so that he will help him find the other hacker from the Merlaut job. Aiden refuses but, after dealing with a witness from the stadium, he learns that Damien kidnapped Nicole to force him to comply. After setting up a new hideout in the Bunker – an undetectable former Blume base with access to ctOS – Aiden tracks down the hacker with Clara's help: gang leader and Army veteran Delford 'Iraq' Wade. To reach Iraq's servers, Aiden infiltrates a human auction he is attending to copy his access key, and blackmails his cousin Tyrone "Bedbug" Hayes into acting as his inside man. Bedbug manages to obtain a data sample revealing that Iraq has information on almost every citizen of Chicago, protecting his gang from the authorities via blackmail.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: When Aiden and Clara come across encrypted data beyond their abilities, they track down legendary hacker and former Blume whistleblower Raymond "T-Bone" Kenney, who caused the Northeast blackout of 2003 while trying to expose the dangers of ctOS, which he had helped to create. Aiden infiltrates the Blume headquarters to erase Kenney's identity from ctOS and allow him to return to Chicago. However, Damien gives up Kenney's location in exchange for full access to ctOS, forcing Aiden to rescue him before he is killed by Blume's private security forces. Afterward, he assaults Iraq's compound to finish downloading its server data and kills Iraq when he confronts him.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Aiden, Kenney, and Clara are unable to decrypt the data because another hacker, JB "Defalt" Markowicz, infiltrates their system, steals it, and deletes it from their servers. Defalt also reveals that Clara was hired to track down Aiden after the Merlaut job, therefore being indirectly responsible for Lena's death, which causes Aiden to angrily dismiss her. Meanwhile, annoyed with Aiden's lack of progress, Damien reveals his identity to the authorities. After retrieving the data from Defalt, Kenney helps Aiden track down Nicole, allowing him to rescue her and take her and Jackson out of Chicago for their safety.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: As Kenney finishes decrypting the data, he informs Aiden of who ordered the hit on him: Irish Mob boss and Merlaut owner Dermot "Lucky" Quinn. Aiden confronts Quinn, who reveals he ordered the hit because he believed Aiden was searching for secret video footage of Mayor Donovan Rushmore killing his secretary after she learned of his dealings with Quinn, which the latter had used to blackmail Rushmore. After killing Quinn by hacking his pacemaker, Aiden is informed by Damien that Quinn sent hitmen after Clara for being a liability. Unable to save Clara, Aiden makes all the blackmail material public, enraging Damien, who begins to wreak havoc in Chicago using ctOS. Aiden shuts down the system using a virus created by Kenney and tracks down Damien to a lighthouse. Jordi arrives, having been hired to kill both men, but Aiden injures him and kills Damien. Later, Jordi calls Aiden one last time to tell him where Vega is kept; Aiden heads there and decides his fate.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: In 2014, a year after the main events of "Watch Dogs", Kenney decides to leave Chicago after performing what he thinks is his last hacking job: removing more data about him from the Blume servers and planting a fake trail to lead Blume away from him. However, after rescuing his former colleague Tobias Frewer from some Fixers who had kidnapped him, Kenney decides to stay in Chicago until he learns who is out to get him and Frewer. The pair investigate the Fixers trying to capture them and eventually discover that they were hired by Defalt, who is working with Blume to exact revenge on Kenney.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Kenney manages to track down Defalt, but while investigating his hideout, he finds mannequins representing the people who died during the blackout he had caused eleven years ago. Among them is a mannequin wearing a mask similar to Defalt's, which leads Kenney to realize the true reason for Defalt's vendetta against him: his brother was among the blackout victims. This enrages Kenney, as he had no intention for anyone to die during the blackout and he has been living with remorse ever since. After fending off Fixers sent by Defalt to kill them, Kenney and Frewer infiltrate his hideout, but are eventually separated and Kenney becomes trapped in a room where he is forced to confront Defalt and the families of the other blackout victims. Defalt holds a vote to decide Kenney's fate and the majority choose for him to die, causing the room he is in to be filled with gas. Kenney begins to asphyxiate, but manages to hack the building's ventilation system through Frewer's phone, rerouting the gas to Defalt's room and seemingly killing him. Kenney is rescued by Frewer and decides to stay in Chicago to fight Blume with his help, hoping to recruit Aiden into their team as well.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Beginning in 2009 with ten people and expanding to over a thousand, "Watch Dogs" was developed over five years (from prototype to finished game) on a budget of about $68million. Before its announcement in 2012, the game had the working title of "Nexus". The initial sales pitch was the notion that one could control an entire city with the push of a button.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: "Watch Dogs" runs on the game engine Disrupt, which developer Ubisoft Montreal created for it (although it was originally intended for another game in the "Driver" franchise). According to producer Dominic Guay, Disrupt has three pillars: simulation of the environment and its contents, how the environment can be affected, and the connectivity of a seamless online experience. Director Jonathan Morin said that the PlayStation 4 technology allowed for better wind and water simulations and artificial intelligence.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Regional colloquialisms specific to Chicago were added to give the game authenticity. The developer traveled to the city several times for field research, photos, recording audio, meeting people, and interviewing the Chicago Police Department to gain insight. Landmarks were designed to only resemble their real-life counterparts, because their artistic rights would have tripled the budget. Fictionalizing Chicago allowed them to fit several district themes on one map. The city was chosen as the setting for its contradictory nature, with great wealth and abject poverty. Morin said that after it was chosen, Chicago became the most-surveilled city in America.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: The developers noted that character movements in games like "Assassin's Creed" were the same in every situation, and attempted to rectify this in "Watch Dogs" to contextualize protagonist Aiden Pearce. The in-game control system ctOS was based on the SCADA system, and the story was inspired by the cyber-attack by the computer worm Stuxnet on SCADA. The developers consulted the cyber-security company Kaspersky Lab (which discovered the Stuxnet worm) about the hacking features to increase their authenticity. To create hacking factions in the game (like DedSec), the developer was influenced by the hacktivist group Anonymous, state-sponsored hackers, and tales of corporate espionage.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: "Grand Theft Auto" and "Saints Row" were studied to develop complex controls, so the core hacking mechanic was reduced to a single button. When the game was delayed, ideas long set aside (like the hacking of a headset) could be implemented. The score, by Brian Reitzell, was released on vinyl and CD by Invada Records in partnership with Ubisoft Music on July 28, 2014. Reitzell began composing by reading the script, concluding that krautrock would suit "Watch Dogs". The game was released to manufacturing in May 2014.


title: Watch Dogs (video game)

text: Ubisoft announced "Watch Dogs" at its June 4, 2012 E3 press conference, confirming it for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. A QR code that appeared in the first gameplay demonstration as viral marketing led to a website called DotConnexion, which contained information about the in-game world. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U were announced in early 2013 as additional platforms for "Watch Dogs", which was scheduled for release later that year. Originally set to be released that November, the developer delayed it until early 2014 to "not compromise on quality". The final release date was set for May 27, 2014, before its release for the Wii U on November 18 in North America, November 20 in Australia and New Zealand, and November 21 in Europe. A free mobile app was released for iOS and Android devices, with "Watch Dogs" players connecting with console or PC users for two racing modes.