Western Railway zone

Western Railway
	Western Railway-9
Overview
Headquarters	Churchgate, Mumbai
Locale	Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh
Dates of operation	1951-present–
Predecessor	Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway (BB&CI), and the Saurashtra Railway, Rajputana Railway and Jaipur State Railway
Technical
Track gauge	broad gauge, meter gauge
Other
Website	WR official website

The Western Railway is one of the 17 zones of Indian Railways, and is among the busiest railway networks in India. The major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Railways are: Ratlam - Mumbai Central, Surat - Mumbai, Surat - Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad - Vadodara and Palanpur - Ahmedabad. The railway system is divided into six operating divisions: Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Ratlam and Mumbai.Ratlam has emerged as the growing division for western railways.Vadodara railway station is the busiest junction station in western railways and one of the busiest junctions of indian railways too.

History

The Western Railway was created on November 5, 1951 by the merger of several state-owned railways, including the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway (BB&CI), and the Saurashtra Railway, Rajputana Railway and Jaipur State Railway. The narrow gauge lines of Cutch State Railway was also merged into it in 1951.

The BB&CI Railway was itself inaugurated in 1855, starting with the construction of a 29-mile (47-km) broad gauge track from Ankleshwar to Utran in Gujarat state on the west coast. In 1864, the railway was extended to Mumbai.

Subsequently, the project was further extended beyond Vadodara in a north easterly direction towards Godhra, Ratlam, Nagda and thereafter northwards towards Kota and Mathura, to eventually link with the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, now the Central Railway, which had already started operating in Mumbai in 1853. In 1883, a metre gauge railway system, initially linking Delhi with Agra, Jaipur and Ajmer, was established.

The first suburban service in Mumbai with steam traction was introduced in April 1867. It was extended to Churchgate in 1870. By 1900 45 trains in each direction were carrying over one million passengers annually.

The railways of several princely states were also integrated into the Western Railway. The Gaekwars of Baroda built the Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway (GBSR), which was merged into the BB&CI in 1949. Several railways of western Gujarat, including the Bhavnagar, Kathiawar, Jamnagar & Dwarka, Gondal, and Morvi railways were merged into the Saurashtra Railway in 1948. The Jodhpur and Bikaner Railway was taken over by Rajasthan state in 1949, after the western portion was ceded to the government of Pakistan.

In 2002, the Jaipur and Ajmer divisions of the Western Railway became part of the newly-created North Western Railway, and in April 2003 the Kota division of the Western Railway became part of the newly-created West Central Railway.

Serial Blasts in Mumbai Locals

On July 11, 2006, the Western Railway was a target of terrorist attacks. Seven explosions occurred during rush hour (6-7pm) killing 190 and injuring more than 300 people. The blasts occurred at various stations including Bhayandar, Khar, Matunga, Mahim, Jogeshwari and Borivali. Only the first-class compartments of the trains were targeted.

Present

Western Railway headquarters in Mumbai's Churchgate station and serves the entire state of Gujarat, some portions of Western Madhya Pradesh, and coastal Maharashtra. The Western coast of India served by Western Railway has a number of ports, most important among them being Kandla, Hajira, Surat, Okha, Porbandar, Bhavnagar in Gujarat state and Mumbai in Maharashtra. Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) ply between Churchgate and Virar (64 km) and is projected to extend the service till Dahanu Road, while Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMUs) service the section beyond Virar till Dahanu Road (60 km). EMUs are of 9 car, 12 car or 15 car rakes and are differentiated as slow and fast locals. Slow trains halt at all stations, while fast ones halt at important stations only and are preferable over longer distances. The first electric train on this section was introduced in 1928 between Churchgate and Borivali.

The gauge-wise kilometrage of Western Railways at present, is as under:

Gauge	Length
Broad Gauge	4,305 km
Metre Gauge	4,838 km
Narrow Gauge	877 km
Total	10,020 km

Western Line

The Western Railway has its headquarters at Churchgate in Mumbai. It also operates the Western Line of the Mumbai suburban railway system. Ratlam, which is the next big junction is 700km away from Mumbai

Major Stations

Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad Junction, Bandra Terminus, Vadodara junction, Surat, Valsad, Bhavnagar Terminus, Ratlam Junction, Indore Junction, Ujjain Junction, Rajkot junction, Gandhidham

External links

Official site

v t e Railways in Western India
National network / trunk lines	New Delhi–Mumbai main line Konkan Railway Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line Mumbai–Chennai line Jaipur–Ahmedabad line Ahmedabad–Mumbai main line
Branch lines / sections	Mathura–Vadodara section Akola–Ratlam line Nagda–Ujjain section Ujjain–Bhopal section Ahmedabad–Viramgam section Bhusawal–Kalyan section Gandhidham–Ahmedabad main line Gandhidham–Bhuj section Gandhidham–Kandla Port section Gandhidham–Palanpur section Gandhidham–Samakhiali section Jodhpur–Bathinda line Maliya Miyana–Wankaner section Marwar Junction–Munabao line Mumbai Dadar–Solapur section Nagpur–Bhusawal section Samakhiali–Maliya Miyana section Solapur–Guntakal section Surendranagar–Bhavnagar line Viramgam–Mahesana section Viramgam–Maliya Miyana section Viramgam–Okha line Dharangadhra–Surendra Nagar section Viramgam–Surendra Nagar section Wankaner–Surendra Nagar section Rajkot–Wankaner section Jamnagar–Porbandar line Porbandar–Jetalsar section Rajkot–Somnath line Palitana–Sihor section Bharuch–Dahej line Ankleshwar–Rajpipla section Anand–Khambhat line Vasad–Kathana line Kanjari Boriyavi–Vadtal line Anand–Godhra section Bilimora–Waghai section Udhna–Jalgaon line Ahmedabad–Udaipur line
Suburban lines	Ahmedabad (Planned) Mumbai (Western line Central line Harbour line Trans-Harbour line Nerul-Uran line (Under construction)) Pune
Metro rail	Mumbai Metro Navi Mumbai Metro Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad Greater Nashik Metro Surat Metro Pune Metro Nagpur Metro
Monorail	Mumbai
Defunct lines revived / under revival	Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway Barsi Light Railway
Defunct lines	Salsette–Trombay Railway Bhavnagar State Railway Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway Guntakal–Vasco da Gama section Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Cutch State Railway
Railway divisions	Bhusawal Pune
Railway companies	Central Railway Western Railway West Central Railway Konkan Railway Corporation Great Indian Peninsula Railway Saurashtra Railway Mumbai Port Trust Railway
See also	Indian Railways Ahmedabad–Prayagraj (Allahabad) Weekly Superfast Express Bholu (mascot) Urban rail transit in India Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor Bhor Ghat

v t e Railways in Central India
Trunk lines	Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line New Delhi–Chennai main line New Delhi–Mumbai main line
Branch lines/ sections	Bina–Katni line Tatanagar–Bilaspur section Bilaspur–Nagpur section Nagpur–Bhusawal section Allahabad–Jabalpur section Jabalpur–Bhusaval section Agra–Bhopal section Ujjain–Bhopal section Bhopal–Nagpur section Nagpur–Hyderabad line Narkhed–Amravati line Dalli Rajhara–Jagdalpur line Bilaspur–Katni line Indore–Gwalior line
Metro	Bhopal Metro Indore Metro
Defunct lines revived/under revival	Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway Rajputana–Malwa Railway Satpura Railway
Railway zones	South East Central Railway Western Railway West Central Railway
Railway divisions	Ratlam railway division Bhopal railway division Jabalpur railway division Bilaspur railway division Raipur railway division
Rail transport	Rail transport in Chhattisgarh Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh
See also	Indian Railways Bholu (mascot) Datia rail accident