The Indian Railway system is divided into how many zones?

Seventeen zones

The correct answer is Option (3) → Seventeen zones

Indian Railways is the largest government undertaking in the country. The length of Indian Railways network was 67,956 km (Railway yearbook 2019-20). Its very large size puts a lot of pressure on a centralised railway management system. Thus, in India, the railway system has been divided into 17 zones.

Note: This question was based on pre-rationalised NCERT in which the no of railway zones have been mentioned as 16. The NTA answer was 16. However, in the new NCERT book (2025-26), the number of zones have been mentioned as 17. Therefore, the correct answer has been marked as 17.