Gondia Junction (station code: G) serves

Gondia Gondia (also spelled Gondiya) is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Maharashtra which serves the administrative headquarters of the eponymous administrative district. Gondia is also known as ''Rice City'' due to the abundance ...

in Gondia district in the Indian state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. It is one of the important railway stations in India of South East central railways zone railways. This station is India's third and first in Vidarbha to get mist cooling system.Its falls under nagpur division

History

The

Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway was a line owned by the provincial government and operated by the state railways. The line ran from Nagpur via Tumsar - Gondia and Dongargarh to Rajnandgaon. The initial section from Nagpur to Tumsar was opened on 6 ...

started construction of the Nagpur–Rajnandgaon section in 1878, after surveys were started in 1871. The Nagpur–Tumsar Road section was opened in April 1880 and the Tumsar Road–Rajnandgaon section in December 1880. The

Bengal Nagpur Railway The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway. History The opening of the ...

was formed in 1887 for the purpose of upgrading the

and then extending it via to

Asansol Asansol is a (Tier-II) metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest and most populated city of West Bengal and the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Bar ...

. The Bengal Nagpur Railway main line from Nagpur to Asansol, on the

Howrah–Delhi main line The Howrah–Delhi main line is a railway line connecting Delhi and Kolkata cutting across northern India. The railway line was opened to traffic in 1866 with the introduction of the "1 Down/2 Up Mail" train. Sections The long trunk line, ha ...

, was opened for goods traffic on 1 February 1891. The Gondia–Nagbhir–Nagpur line was opened for traffic in 1908. The Gondia–Nainpur line of the

Satpura Railway The Satpura Railway was a narrow-gauge railway in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in central India. History After the Great Famine of 1876–78 in central India, the Bengal Nagpur Railway began planning to open a low-cost rai ...

was opened on 13 April 1903.

Gauge conversion

Work for conversion to

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

of 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 ...

Gondia–Chanda Fort line started in December 1992. The first phase covering Gondia–Wadsa section was inaugurated on 25 September 1994. The second phase covering the Wadsa–Nagbhir section was opened on 20 February 1997. The fourth phase covering Nagbhir–Chanda Fort section was opened on 13 January 1999 and the Chandafort–

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 Ballālasi ...

section was operated from 2 July 1999. The Gondia–

Balaghat Balaghat is a city and a municipality in Balaghat district, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Balaghat District. Wainganga River flows beside the town. Geography Balaghat is located at . It has an a ...

narrow-gauge section was closed from January 2003 for conversion to broad gauge. It was opened for traffic on 6 September 2005. The route from Balaghat to Katangi was converted from narrow gauge to broad gauge in 2010 and the route from Katangi to Tirodi is now under conversion. The Gondia–Jabalpur gauge conversion project is an approved project.

Electrification

The Paniajob–Gondia and Gondia–Bhandara Road sections were electrified in 1990–91. The Gondia–Nagbhid–Balharshah section was electrified in 2018.

Jabalpur link

The Gondia–Jabalpur line has already been upgraded to

and it is single line electrified section.This is the shortest route for trains going from Allahabad/Katni side to Chennai/Hyderabad/Bengaluru side and vice versa will get a cut-down reduced distance by around 250 km. Gondia will become a meeting point of the east–west and north–south cross-country routes.

References

External links

* {{Railway stations in Maharashtra Railway stations in Gondia district Railway junction stations in Maharashtra Nagpur SEC railway division Railway stations in India opened in 1888