With a history of nearly two centuries and a network of thousands of kilometres, Indian Railways is often referred to as the lifeline of the country. This vast railway network has connected some of the farthest places in the country. The Indian Railways has covered the farthest distance of 4,247 kms by a single route.
The longest rail route in the country and this route is marked on the network as Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari. Such a large distance between a station located in the North-East of India and a station located in the southernmost point of the country is covered by Vivek Express.
The Vivek Express, running from Dibrugarh in Assam to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, currently holds the title of longest rail route in the country both in terms of distance and time. The train crosses a total of nine states on its way. With 58 stops, the train passes through Assam, Nagaland, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
The Vivek Express route was established to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari was one of the four routes that were inscribed on the Indian map under the Vivek Express initiation. Other routes of Vivek Express are Okha, Gujarat to Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu; Bandra, Mumbai to Katra, Jammu; Howrah, West Bengal to Mangaluru, Karnataka.
Although the longest in the country, the Vivek Express still lags far behind the longest rail route in the world. One train journey that takes six days and measures a total of 9,250 kilometers (nearly twice the distance covered by the Vivek Express) is the Trans-Siberian Railway that connects Moscow and Vladivostok. The Russian rail route connects the western part of the country with the far eastern parts. The train crosses several time zones during its journey.