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Located on the Tibetan Plateau, the Tanggula railway station is one of the loneliest railway stations in the world. It is part of the Qingzang Railway, but is an unstaffed railway station located at 5068 metres above sea level, making it the highest railway station in the world. This station is 1.25 kilometres long and covers 77,002 square metres with 3 rail tracks.

Along with the Golmud to Lhasa section of the Qingzang Railway, the Tanggula railway station was also inaugurated on July 1, 2006. The trains stop here very briefly, and most often, passengers just remain on the train. Tanggula usually serves as a stop-off for repairs or emergencies, but the view from the station (or from the train as it stops or passes by) is very impressive. The region near the railway station is mostly uninhabited, and very few passengers get off at this station. A few kilometres from this station is the Tanggula Pass, which is 5071.9 metres above sea level, making it the highest point of the Qingzang Railway.

The Qingzang Railway was rewarded with a handful of world records. It was recognized as being the highest railway in the world, with the world’s highest railway tunnel (the Fenghuoshan Tunnel) and the world’s highest railway station.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is a railway network that connects Western Russia to the Russian Far East. It is the longest railway line in the world with a length of 9,289 kilometres. Expansion of this railway system is still continuing as of 2021, reaching to Mongolia, China, and North Korea. There is a plan of connecting Tokyo to this network via bridges between the mainland and the islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaido.

Planned and executed by Tsar Alexander III, its construction began in 1891 and took place in different sections from the west (Moscow) and from the east (Vladivostok) and across intermediate reaches through the Mid-Siberian Railway, the Transbaikal Railway, and other lines simultaneously. In the east, the Russians secured China's permission to build a line directly across Manchuria from the Transbaikal region to Vladivostok and this line was completed in 1901.

After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, Russia feared Japan's possible takeover of Manchuria and built a longer and complex alternative route - the Amur Railway, through this region to Vladivostok. The Amur railway line was completed in 1916. As a result, the Trans-Siberian Railroad has two completion dates.

Its completion marked a milestone in the history of Siberia, as it opened up large areas to be exploited for settlement, and industrialization.

Picture Credit : Google 

Shree Siddharoodha Swamiji Hubballi Junction, also known as SSS Hubballi Junction, of Karnataka is the longest railway platform. The platform number 1 of Hubballi Junction has a length of 1,505 metres, thus becoming the longest railway platform of the world as of March 2021. The earlier record of being the longest platform was held by the Gorakhpur Railway Station (1366 metres), but with the extension of the Hubballi railway station to include a new platform, it holds that position now.

Hubballi Junction is a premier centre for public and commercial transportation in Karnataka. It is connected to Mumbai (460 kilometres) to its northwest, to Goa (160 kilometres) to the west, to Bengaluru (410 kilometres) to the south, and to Hyderabad (450 kilometres) to the east. It is one of the busiest railway stations in Karnataka after Bengaluru City.

Picture Credit : Google