The Solapur–Guntakal section (also known as Solapur–Guntakal line) is part of the

Mumbai–Chennai line The Mumbai–Chennai line is a railway line connecting Chennai and Mumbai cutting across southern part of the Deccan Plateau. It covers a distance of across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Mumbai–Chennai ...

. It connects 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 ...

and in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

History

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 ...

, opened the Pune–Raichur sector of the Mumbai–Chennai line in stages: the portion from Pune to Barshi Road was opened in 1859, from Barshi Road to Mohol in 1860 and from Mohol to Solapur also in 1860. Work on the line from Solapur southwards was begun in 1865 and the line was extended to Raichur in 1871. Thus the line met the line of

Madras Railway The Madras Railway (full name Madras Railway Company) played a pioneering role in developing railways in southern India and was merged in 1908 with Southern Mahratta Railway to form Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway. The Madras Railway was ...

thereby establishing direct Mumbai–Chennai link.

extended its trunk route to Beypur / Kadalundi (near Calicut) and initiated work on a north-western branch out of

Arakkonam Arakkonam () is a railway town and suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a population of 78,395 per the census 2011. It is in the newly created Ranipet district, about from Ranipet head ...

in 1861. The branch line reached Renigunta in 1862, and to in 1871, where it connected to the

line from Mumbai. The Wadi–Secunderabad line was built in 1874 by the

Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway (NGSR) was a railway company operating in India from 1879 to 1950. It was owned by the Nizams of Hyderabad State, and its full name was ''His Exalted Highness, The Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway''. The company ...

. The

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

Gadag–Hotgi section was opened in 1884 by the

Southern Mahratta Railway Southern Mahratta Railway (SMR) was a railway company in British India founded in 1882. History Captain C. C. Johnson, officiating as constructing engineer of railways in 1858, forwarded the proposal for a railway to be constructed and called ...

. The line was converted 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 ...

in 2008. The Vikrabad–Bidar -wide

line was opened in 1932. The long Raichur–Gadwal railway track was opened in 2013. Gadwal is on the Dhone–Kacheguda line. The long Gulbarga–Bidar railway track was opened in 2017.

Electrification

The electrification of the Bhigwan-Hotgi section is in progress with completion expected by May 2021. The Kalaburgi-Hotgi section got electrified in March 2021. The Kalaburgi-Wadi section was electrified in 2018 and electrification between Guntakal–Wadi section was completed in the year 2015. With this, the Mumbai Chennai section is fully electrified. In September 2022, the entire Mumbai-Chennai section was also doubled.

Speed limit

The Kalyan–Pune–Daund-Wadi–Secunderabad–Kazipet line and the Wadi–Adoni-Arrakonam–Chennai Central line are classified as 'Group B' lines and can take speeds up to .

Sheds

Guntakal diesel loco shed was started as a metre-gauge shed but after gauge conversions in Guntakal and Hubli divisions, it was converted to broad-gauge shed in 1995. It houses

WDM-2 The Indian locomotive class WDM-2 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1962 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine, ...

, WDM-3A, WDM-3D and WDG-3A locos. There is a routine overhaul depot for wagon maintenance at Raichur and a coaching maintenance depot at Guntakal. A new electric shed is under construction and almost complete at Guntakal. Gooty has now a Diesel cum Electric shed and now homes around 30 high-power freight 3-phase WAG-9 locos.

Passenger movement

is the only station on this line which is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.

References

External links

Trains at Solapur Trains at Wadi Trains at Raichur Trains at GuntakalTrains at Gulbarga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solapur - Guntakal section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Maharashtra Rail transport in Karnataka Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh * * Transport in Guntakal Transport in Solapur