Context:

• RPF played an important role in reuniting more than 601 children with their families under Operation Nanhe Farishte.

 Key Points: 

• Operations launched by RPF:
• Operation Nanhe Farishte – Saving Lost Children.
• Operation Jeevan Raksha.
• Meri Saheli Initiative – Empowering women passengers.
• Operation Upalabdh - Cracking down on brokers.
• Operation Narcos – combating drug-related crimes.
• Operation Yatri Suraksha
• Operation Seva – Helping the needy
• Operation Satark– curbing illegal goods transportation.

 Indian Railways:

• Indian Railways was started in the year 1853.
• The first passenger train ran from Bombay to Thane (34 km).
• The Indian Railways Act was passed in the year 1890.
• Indian Railways was nationalized in the year 1950.
• The zonal system was introduced in the year 1952 with six zones.
• Indian Railways is the largest government undertaking in the country.
• Four sites of the Indian Railways, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (1999), Nilgiri Mountain Railway (2005), Kalka Shimla Railway (2008) and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai (2004) are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
• The length of the Indian Railway network is 67,956 km. (Railway Yearbook 2019-20).
• There are a total of 19 railway zones in India (including Metro Railway, Kolkata). For convenience of administration and operation, the country has been divided into these zones.
• Central Railway - Mumbai
• Eastern Railway - Kolkata
• East Central Railway - Hajipur
• East Coast Railway - Bhubaneswar
• Konkan Railway - Navi Mumbai
• Northern Railway - New Delhi
• North Central Railway - Allahabad
• North Eastern Railway - Gorakhpur
• North Western Railway - Jaipur
• Northeast Frontier Railway - Guwahati
• Southern Railway - Chennai
• South Coast Railway - Visakhapatnam
• South Central Railway - Secunderabad
• South Eastern Railway - Kolkata
• South East Central Railway - Bilaspur
• South Western Railway - Hubli
• Western Railway - Mumbai CST
• West Central Railway - Jabalpur
• Metro Railway-Kolkata

 Exam oriented Static facts

RPF

• RPF is a central armed force.
• Ministry: Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways
• 1957: Recognition as having legal force
• Declared as an armed force of the Union of India in the year 1985.