COVER N. 685 - INDIA

Postmark: 100 Years of Electrification in  Indian Railways  380001 Ahmedabad 31.12.2025

Posted on the 19th January;  Received on the 6th February 2026

_________________________________________________________________________________

A few days ago I posted a cover sent by my friend Ravidra Ratpanala on the 1st January this year. Well today I post one mailed on the very last day of 2025, this time from neighbouring India and exhibiting two lovely train stamps. आपका बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद, Piyush (I hope that Google got it right.....).

Passenger transportation in trains in India is a story that goes back to 1853, when the first  train dedicated to such an endevaour began to circulate on a 34 km stretch of  narrow gauge track between Bombay (Mumbai) and Thane.

From then on, India's railroad network would exponentially grow over the years to become what is now the 4th largest in the world, behind the USA, China and Russia.

In 1925, India would also commit to follow the worldwide trend in rail transport technology, by introducing the first electric train on a short 16 km commuter stretch between  Victoria Terminus in Bombay and Kurla, with an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) running on 1500 Volts DC electric traction fed by means of overhead electric transmission.

One hundred years have passed since that milestone and today the fastest train service in India, the Vande Bharat Express, like in many other countries around the globe, also runs on self propelling EMUs that were locally designed and built, operated in eighty services connecting cities less than 800 km apart, with a top speed of 180 km/h.

Celebrating the centenary of the electrification of Indian railways, India Post issued on 31DEC2015 the 2 x10 Rupees stamp set on the First day Cover Piyush sent me.

The two train compositions that magnificently illustrate the stamps are, (left) The First EMU train that operated in India in 1925 on its inaugural run on the 3rd February 1925 and, on the right, the current fastest train of India, the above mentioned Vande Bharat Express.

The FDC Postmark, issued at Ahmedabad , State of Gurajat, appropriately features an electric locomotive 

In order to complete postage, three 5 rupee stamps, canceled with the Ahmedabad regular day mark cancel dated of 19.01.2026 were glued on the back of the envelope.

The stamp features the portrait of Nationalist Netaji Subash Chandra Boise (1897 - 1945), and was issued in January 2016 as part of the year's issue of the definitive series "Makers of India".