Southern Mahratta Railway (SMR) was a railway company in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

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 it the Southern Mahratta Railway. The Southern Mahratta Railway company was formed on 1 June 1882 with its headquarters at

Dharwar Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

. Southern Mahratta Railway's first line was a metre gauge line of 40.5 mile long from

Bellary Bellary, officially Ballari, in the eponymous Bellary district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. History Bellary was a part of Rayalaseema (Ceded Districts) which was part of Madras Presidency till 1 November 1956. The Ball ...

Hospet Hospet also known as Vijayanagara is the largest city and district headquarters of the Vijayanagara district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River and is 13 km from Hampi. The present day Ham ...

. This line was opened for traffic on 24 March 1884. In 1886 the

Mysore State Railway Mysore State Railway (MSR) was a railway which operated in Mysore state, India. MSR became a part of Southern Railway on 14 April 1951. History In 1879, the Madras Railway Company Constructed a railway line from Madras Royapuram to Bangalor ...

's management was also taken by the Southern Mahratta Railway company. In 1888, a line was extended from Londa towards

Portuguese Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ci ...

where it connected with the

Marmagao Mormugao is a seaport city situated in the eponymous Mormugao taluka (municipality) of the South district, in the Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 191 ...

line at Castle Rock. In 1889-90 the Southern Mahratta Railway company constructed the first coast to coast line from Marmagoa to Beswada. The Londa - Castle Rock line was later taken over by

West of India Portuguese Railway West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. SMR was later merged with

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 ...

to form the

Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway. Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in Ma ...

. The merger took place on 1 January 1908.

Conversion to broad gauge

The railway lines were 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 1997.All set for doubling of Londa–Hospet rail line
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Mahratta Railway Transport in Vasco da Gama, Goa Transport in Hubli-Dharwad Metre gauge railways in India Defunct railway companies of India History of Karnataka Rail transport in Goa Rail transport in Karnataka Railway companies established in 1882 Railway companies disestablished in 1908 1908 disestablishments in India Indian companies established in 1882