Neral is a town in
Raigad district
Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ¾aËjɡəɖ, previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India.
The district was renamed to Raigad fort, Raigad after the fort that ...
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 ...
.
[, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency][2011 Census Village code = 909444, ] It is 83 km+ developing city of
Raigad district
Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ¾aËjɡəɖ, previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India.
The district was renamed to Raigad fort, Raigad after the fort that ...
which is well connected to
Panvel,
Mumbai,
Thane and
Pune. Local people from communities like Agri, Kumbhar, Brahmin, Muslim, etc. settled here because this place was key route to Matheran and Vikatgad which were politically important for Maratha empire, Mughal empire and East India Company. Neral to Matheran Train Route was developed by East India Company for trading and colonial purposes. Hutatma Veer Bhai Kotwal was a great hero who rebelled against British Police in Neral - Matheran. Villages followed the same in following years to safeguard themselves from regular floods affecting their homes, farms and animals.
Geography
Neral is located at . It has an average elevation of 40 metres (131 feet). Neral is a place which is the center between
Mumbai and
Pune, Neral has State Highway which is connecting to
Karjat,
NH4,
Panvel and
Murbad, people who visits Neral from Mumbai-South takes via
Panvel route which is better, faster and easy to drive. Neral is at key location in the proposed Uran-Panvel-Neral-Bhimashankar SH-54 State Highway.
It is popularly known as a railroad junction, with trains arriving from Mumbai and from Pune to the nearby and very popular hill station of
Matheran. A narrow-gauge rail line, 21 km long, ("toy train") runs from Neral to
Matheran. Nearest major towns are
Badlapur and
Karjat.
2005 rainfall
The heavy rains on 26 July 2005 ruined the rail tracks and it had stopped operating, but the train has successfully started operating from 5 March 2007. The other option available to reach Matheran is to take a taxi to a certain point (called Dasturi naka) just before Matheran city boundary, beyond which one may proceed only on foot or on horseback.
Matheran Toy Train
The famous
Matheran - Neral Toy Train departs from Neral Station. This train goes from Neral to Matheran.
Photo gallery
File:NDM1 501 with rakes attached.JPG, Neral Matheran Toy Train
File:Neral.jpg, Neral Ganesh Ghat and Matheran Hills
File:Neral1.JPG, Neral Motor Hill
File:Neral2.jpg, Neral Tapalwadi Waterfall
File:TrainArrivesAtNeral.JPG, Toy Train at Neral Station
See also
*
Neral railway station
Neral Junction is a railway station on the Central line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network located in the town of Neral. It is a junction railway station between Kalyan - Karjat section of Central railway connecting Mumbai and Pune. It ...
*
List of Mumbai Suburban Railway stations
This is a List of stations of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, a suburban rail system serving the Mumbai Metropolitan Region in Maharashtra, India.The Mumbai Suburban Railway was opened on 16 April 1853. The system is operated by Western Railway ...
*
Matheran
References
Cities and towns in Raigad district
{{Raigad-geo-stub