Saurashtra Railway came into being in April, 1948 with the amalgamation of state railways like

Bhavnagar State Railway Bhavnagar State Railway (BSR) was a metre gauge railway line in Bhavnagar State, now part of Gujarat in India. History In November 1878, on the instance of Maharaja Takthasinhji of Bhavnagar State, the Governor of Bombay Sir Richard Temple sanc ...

, Gondal Railway,

Porbandar Railway Porbandar State Railway was a metre gauge in the Porbandar State in Gujarat during the 19th century. History The Porbandar State Railway was owned by the State of Porbandar, which was then ruled by Vikramatji Khimojiraj. Later railways wer ...

Jamnagar & Dwarka Railway Jamnagar & Dwaraka Railway was a metre gauge in the Nawanagar State in Gujarat during 19th century. History After the death of Vibhoji Ranmalji in 1895 Jashwantsinhji Vibhoji who came on to throne on 28 April 1895 started the first section ...

, Morvi Railway,

Dhrangadhra Railway Dhrangadhra Railway was a metre gauge in the Dhrangadhra state in Gujarat during the 19th century. History Dhrangadhra Railway was owned by Ghanshyamsinhji of Dhrangadhra state, who ruled from 1889 to 1942. It was opened to traffic in 1898. A ...

Okhamandal State Railway The Okhamandal State Railway was a metre gauge railway financed by the Okhamandal State. History The line between Kuranga and Arthara was sanctioned in 1913. In 1918, work on this line was stopped due to the war.Junagadh State Railway The Junagadh State Railway (JunSR) was a metre gauge railway owned by the Junagadh State and initially worked by the Bhavnagar–Gondal–Junagadh–Porbandar Railway. From 1911 the JunSR worked itself as an independent system, owned by the Juna ...

Baria State Railway Baria may refer to: Places * Baria, Barisal, Bangladesh * Baria, Chittagong, Bangladesh * Baria, Gazipur Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh ** Baria massacre, 1971 * Devgadh Baria, Dahod district, Gujarat, India ** Baria State, one of the princely states ...

, Rajpipla Railway etc. Upon the

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

and the merger of various

princely states 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 ...

into the Union of India, it became necessary to merge various state railways owned by these princely states into one. As the various states of Saurashtra and Kathiawar were merged to make

Saurashtra State Saurashtra, also known as United State of Kathiawar, was a State of India that existed between 1948 and 1956, on Saurashtra alias Kathiawar peninsula, with Rajkot as its capital, History Formation as United State of Kathiawar Saurashtra ...

, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, similarly merged the various state railways of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

into a separate entity called Saurashtra Railway. On 5 November 1951, Saurashtra Railway,

Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (reporting mark BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing railway lines between Bombay to the erstwhile Baroda State, that became the present-day Baroda (Vadoda ...

, Rajputana Railway, Jaipur State Railway, and

Cutch State Railway Cutch State Railway (CSR) was an isolated narrow gauge railway in Cutch State, one of the princely states allied to Britain in India. History The railway was financed by the Maharao Khengarji Bawa of Cutch State. The laying of first rails st ...

were merged and Western Railway came into existence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saurashtra Railway Saurashtra (region) Defunct railway companies of India History of rail transport in Gujarat 1951 disestablishments in India Indian companies established in 1948 Railway companies established in 1948 Railway companies disestablished in 1951