Central Railway (abbreviated CR) is one of the 19 zones of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

. Its headquarters is in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST (suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The terminus was ...

. It has the distinction of operating the first passenger railway line in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, which opened from

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven taluka ...

on .

History

The railway zone was formed on 5 November 1951 by grouping several government-owned railways, including the

Great Indian Peninsula Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...

, the Scindia State Railway of the former

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, t ...

, Nizam State Railway, Wardha Coal State Railway and the Dholpur Railways.Rao, M.A. (1988). ''Indian Railways'', New Delhi: National Book Trust, p.42 The Central Railway zone formerly included large parts of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

and part of southern

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

, which made it the largest railway zone in India in terms of area, track mileage and staff. These areas became the new West Central Railway zone in April 2003. The Central Railway General Manager's official residence (erstwhile GIPR agent's residence), 'Glenogle'-a Grade II-B heritage bungalow, is located on Bhausaheb Hire Marg (Mount Pleasant Road), adjacent to the Maharashtra Chief minister's official residence 'Varsha' in Malabar Hill, Mumbai.

Routes

Main/Long Routes of Central Railway

** Mumbai CSMT-Kalyan-Igatpuri-Nashik road-Manmad-Jalgaon-Bhusawal-Akola-Badnera-Wardha-Nagpur ** Mumbai CSMT-Kalyan-Karjat-Lonavala-Pune ** Mumbai CSMT-Kurla-Vashi-Panvel-Roha ** Manmad-Aurangabad-Nanded (south central railway line) ** Pune-Daund-Solapur-Wadi-Tandur ** Pune-Satara-Sangli-Miraj-Kolhapur ** Miraj-Pandharpur-Kurduvadi-Barshi-Osmanabad-Latur-Latur Road ** Ballarshah-Majri-Sevagram (formerly Wardha East Jn.)-Nagpur-Amla-Itarsi ** Dadar-Solapur-Dadar One of the oldest and important railway project of central railway zone was Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project which was in planning stage since British regime. It was referred to as 3rd ghat project. A survey was carried out in 1973, 2000, 2006, 2014 etc, and the project was in the Railways Board pink book in 2010 but unfortunately the project was not started. The alignment length of this project was 184 km and it could have been shortest route for Marathwada, Andhra and Telangana. The major challenge for this project is 18.96 km long tunnel in Malshej Ghat section. Malshej Kriti samiti is following for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-Murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.

Branch/Short routes of Central Railway

** Mumbai CSMT-Wadala Road-Bandra-Goregaon ** Thane-Vashi-Panvel ** Daund-Manmad ** Bhusawal-Khandwa ** Amaravati-Narkher ** Vasai Road-Diva-Panvel ** Panvel-Karjat ** Badnera-Amravati ** Daund-Baramati ** Puntamba-Shirdi ** Chalisgaon-Dhule ** Pachora-Jamner (NG) ** Pulgaon-Arvi (NG) ** Murtijapur-Yavatmal (NG) ** Murtijapur-Achalapur (NG) ** Jalamb-Khamgaon ** Majri jn-Pimpalkutti ** Neral-Matheran

Utilization

High

* Mumbai-Thane-Kalyan-Karjat/Kasara sub-urban section * Mumbai-Bhusawal-Akola-Nagpur * Mumbai-Bhusawal-Khandwa * Itarsi-Nagpur-Sevagram-Majri-Balharshah * Mumbai-Pune-Daund-Solapur-Kalaburgi-Wadi * Mumbai-Pune-Miraj-Hubli-Bengaluru-Chennai * Daund-Ahmednagar-Manmad

Low

* Puntamba-Sai nagar Shirdi * Miraj-Kurduwadi * Latur-Kurduwadi

Connections

Central railway zone connects to other Zones of Indian railways as at:

Western Railway Zone

Bandra Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was ano ...

Goregaon Goregaon ( �oːɾeɡaːʋ is a suburb of Mumbai city, in the Mumbai Suburban district of India. It has a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Line. An extension of the Harbour Line was completed in 2018 because of ...

Dadar Dadar ( ̪aːd̪əɾ is a densely populated residential and shopping neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also a prominent railway and bus service hub with local and national connectivity. Dadar holds the distinction of being Mumbai’s first planne ...

Vasai Road Vasai Road Junction (station code: BSR) is a railway station on the Western line and Vasai Road–Roha line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Vasai is a historical suburban town north of Mumbai and it is located in Palghar district. ...

Konkan Railway Zone

Roha Roha () is a town and taluka in the Raigad district of the Maharashtra state of India. It is located 120 km southeast of Mumbai. It is the starting point of Konkan railways and end point of central railways (Mumbai). Many chemical indus ...

South Central Railway zone

= Secunderabad railway division

= * Balharshah * Latur road Jn

= Guntakal Railway Division

= * Wadi Jn

= Nanded railway division

= * Pimpalkutti * Akola Jn * Khandwa Jn * Ankai Jn (MMR-AWB-PBN-NED route)

South East Central Railway zone

= Nagpur SEC railway division

= * Nagpur Jn * Chhindwara Jn

South Western Railway zone

= Hubballi railway division

= * Hotgi Jn - For Pune-

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch line ...

-vijayapura-Gadag line. * Miraj Jn - For Pune -Miraj-Londa-Bangalore line

Western Central Railway zone

= Bhopal division

= * Itarsi Jn * Khandwa Jn

Matheran Hill Railway

Constructed in 1907, the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

Matheran Hill Railway connects Neral on the

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of t ...

main line with the

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

Matheran Matheran is an automobile-free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat, Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Re ...

in the Western Ghats, east of

. Neral is linked to

by frequent suburban trains. Steam engines have now been replaced by diesel locomotives. The route is noted for its sharp curves.

Divisions

Mumbai CR railway division Mumbai CR railway division is one of the five railway divisions under Central Railway zone of Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India' ...

* Solapur railway division *

Bhusawal railway division Bhusawal railway division is one of the five railway divisions of the Central Railway (India) zone of Indian Railways, located at Bhusawal in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra state in western India. The other railway divisions are: Mumbai CSM ...

* Pune railway division * Nagpur CR railway division

Organisation

The central railway covers a large part of the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country sub ...

and small part of Southern

and North-Eastern

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karn ...

. It is organized into five divisions:

Bhusawal Bhusawal is the largest municipal council (established in 1882) in the Jalgaon district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated along the banks of the river Tapi. The city emerged as a major railway junction during the British Raj, and sti ...

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

and

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. The details of the network divisionwise are as follows Central Railway Headquarters

Mumbai Division

* Mumbai CSMT-Dadar-Kurla-Thane ** Mumbai CSMT-Wadala Road-Kurla (

Harbour Line The Harbour line is a branch line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway operated by Central Railway. It was named so because it catered to the eastern neighbourhoods along the city's natural harbour. Its termini are Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Termin ...

) *** Wadala Road-Bandra-Goregaon (Inclusive) ** Kurla-Trombay (Goods) ** Kurla-Vashi-Nerul-Panvel (

) ** Thane-Vashi-Panvel (Trans-Harbour line) *** Thane-Turbhe-Vashi ( Trans-Harbour Line) *** Thane-Turbhe-Nerul ( Trans-Harbour Line) * Thane-Diva Jn-Kalyan ** Diva Jn-Panvel-Roha *** Panvel-Jasai-Uran **** Jasai-JNPT ** Diva Jn-Vasai Road * Kalyan Jn-Kasara-Igatpuri (Inclusive) * Kalyan Jn-Karjat Jn-Lonavala (Inclusive) ** Neral Jn-Matheran (Narrow Gauge) ** Karjat Jn-Panvel ** Karjat Jn-Khopoli Malshej Kriti Samiti is following for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-Murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.

Pune Division

Lonavala Lonavala ( ISO: Loṇāvaḷā) is a hill station town and a Municipal Council in the Pune district, Maharashtra, India. It is about west of Pune and to the east of Mumbai. It is known for its production of the hard candy ''chikki'' and is also ...

Jn-

Daund Daund is a city, municipal council and headquarters of the Daund tehsil in the Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. In ancient times a sage, 'Dhaumya Rishi' used to stay here, hence people started calling this place after him: 'Dha ...

Jn * Pune Jn- Satara-

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks o ...

Miraj Miraj (Pronunciation: iɾəd͡z ) is a city in Sangli District and also in Maharashtra, India, that was founded in the early 10th century. It was an important jagir of the Adil Shahi court of Bijapur. Shivaji Maharaj stayed in Miraj f ...

Jn-

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

Jn -

Baramati Baramati ( aːɾamət̪iː is a city, a tehsil and a municipal council in Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is about 100 KM (62 miles) southeast of the city of Pune and about 250 KM from Mumbai. Baramati is located ...

* Phaltan - Baramati ( to be completed by 2022) * Pune Jn- Rajgurunagar- Sangamner- Sinnar-

Nashik Road Nashik Road (sometimes referred to as Nasik Road) is a suburb of Nashik that contains the city's railway station. The name 'Nashik Road' was originally used for the town surrounding the station (about 8 km or 5 miles southwest from the heart o ...

(Project Scrapped) *

Karad Karad is a city in Satara district of Indian state of Maharashtra and it is 320 km (180.19 miles) from Mumbai and 159 km from Pune. It lies at the confluence of Koyna River and the Krishna River known as the "Priti sangam". T ...

Chiplun Chiplun ( ͡ʃipɭuːɳ is a city in Ratnagiri district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is the financial and commercial Hub of Ratnagiri, and the headquarters of Chiplun taluka. It is about 320 km south of Mumbai in the Konkan ...

(scrapped)

Nagpur Division

'' * Badnera Jn (Exclude)- Pulgaon Jn-

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bo ...

Jn- Butibori Jn-

Jn ** Pulgaon Jn- Arvi (Narrow Gauge) ** Butobori Jn- Umrer * Sewagram- Majri Jn- Tadali Jn-

Chandrapur Chandrapur (earlier known as ''Chanda'', the official name until 1964) is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India. It is the district headquarters of Chandrapur district. Chandrapur is a fort city ...

Balharshah Ballarpur (formerly Balharshah) is a city and a municipal council in Chandrapur district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is the second largest city in the district. History In Sirpur, today in Telangana, where the king Surajā Ballālas ...

Jn (include) ** Wardha Jn-Chitoda Jn (on Sewagram-Balharshah line) *** Majri Jn-

Wani Wani may refer to: * Vani (custom), a child marriage custom in tribal areas of Pakistan *Wani (dragon), a Japanese dragon translated as "sea monster", "crocodile", or "shark" *Wani (scholar), a legendary scholar, sent from Korea to Japan during th ...

Jn- pimpalkutti ** Wani Jn- Rajur ** Tadali Jn-

Ghugus Ghugus (also Ghuggus) is a census town in Chandrapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plate ...

** Balharshah Jn-Chanda Fort * Nagpur- Amla Jn- Itarsi Jn (exclude) ** Amla Junction-

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

(exclude) * Nagpur-

sevagram Sevagram (meaning "A town for/of service") is a town in the state of Maharashtra, India. It was the place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948. After Sabarmati, Sevagram Ashram holds immense importance d ...

- majri jn Balharshah

Solapur Division

* Manmad (exclude)-

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1 ...

Jn * Daund Jn-

* Miraj Jn (exclude)-Pandharpur-Kurudwadi Jn-Barshi-

Latur Latur(लातूर) is a city in Indian state of Maharashtra, and is one of the largest cities of the Marathwada region. It is the administrative headquarters of Latur district and Latur Taluka. The city is a tourist hub surrounded by many ...

-Latur Road (excluding) *

Jn- Hotgi Jn-

Gulbarga Kalaburagi, formerly known as Gulbarga, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kalaburagi district and is the largest city in the region of North Karnataka ( Kalyana-Karnataka). Kalaburagi is ...

-Wadi Jn (Include)

Bhusawal Division

* Manmad-Indore (project scrapped) * Bhusawal-Badnera-Nagpur (exclude) * Bhusawal-Khandwa-Itarsi (exclude) * Jalgaon-Nandurbar-Udhna (exclude) * Chalisgaon-Dhule * Khamgaon - Jalamb * Pachora-Jamner * Manmad-Aurangabad (exclude) * Manmad-Daund (exclude) * Mandmad-Nasik-Igatpuri (exclude) * Akola-Nanded (exclude) The number of stations category-wise under these five railway divisions under the Central Railway Zones are as follows (as of 2008) : A-1 : 7, A : 20, B : 10, C : 80, D : 45, E : 221, F : 93, Total : 476

Ongoing Projects

New lines

Jn -Tuljapur-

Osmanabad Osmanabad (; pronounced as ''Usmānābād''),is a city and a municipal council in Osmanabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Osmanabad derives its name from the last ruler of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. Osmanabad city is the adm ...

. (New Rail Line survey completed but work yet to start) * Ashti-Parli Vaijnath line (work under progress). Ahmednagar-Ashti 67 km completed. (Project :- Ahmedanagar- Beed - Parli) * Phaltan - Baramati (New line with Electrification Project Approved,but work yet to start) * Kolhapur-Vaibhavwadi line (survey under progress) * Aurangabad-Shani shingnapur-Ahmednagar line ( Survey completed,but work yet to start) * Khamgaon-Jalna (survey completed, but work yet to start) * Latur-Latur Road-Ahmedpur-Nanded (survey completed, but work yet to start) * Latur Road-Jalkot-Mukhed-Biloli-Bodhan (announced but not yet taken up) * Latur-Ausa-Nilanga-Omerga-Aland-Gulbarga (survey under progress)

Doubling

* Bhigvan-Vakav (Earth work started) Solapur - Bhalwani doubling work completed * Tilati-Gulbarga (Earth work started) * Roha-Panvel (work completed) * Daund-Manmad (doubling in progress plus electrification) * Bhigvan-Solapur-Gulbarga * Pune-Miraj-Londa-Hubli (Doubling in progress) * Pune-Miraj-Kolhapur (Electrification 100% completed) * Panvel-Karjat * Karjat-Khopoli

Tripling

* Kalyan-Kasara * Kalyan-Karjat * Sewagram Jn-Balharshah Jn

Quadrupling

* Nagpur-Wardha * Jalgaon-Bhsawal * Manmad-Igatpuri

Hexupling

* Mumbai CSMT-Kalyan

Electrification

* Manmad-Daund (Electrification) (Work completed) * Bhigvan-Solapur-Gulbarga (Electrification) (Work is ongoing) * Kurduwadi-Barshi-Latur-Latur Road (Electrification) (Announced but not yet taken up) * Pune-Miraj-kolhapur (Electrification) (Work in progress)

Trains

Some of the major trains operated by Central Railway zone are as follows:

Loco Sheds

* Electric Loco Shed, Ajni * Electric Loco Shed, Kalyan * Electric Loco Shed, Bhusawal * Diesel Loco Shed, Pune * Diesel Loco Shed, Kalyan * Diesel Loco Shed, Kurla * Electric Loco Shed Daund(Under Construction)

References

External links

Bhusawal Division

Central, Western and Harbour railway timetable

Detailed Mumbai Local Train Time Table

{{coord, 18, 58, 30, N, 72, 49, 33, E, display=title Zones of Indian Railways 1951 establishments in Bombay State

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...