The Bilaspur–Nagpur section is part of the

Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line The Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line (also known as Mumbai–Kolkata line) is a railway line in India connecting Kolkata and Mumbai via Nagpur. The railway line was opened to traffic in 1900. Sections The trunk line has been treated in more deta ...

and connects Bilaspur in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

in Maharashtra. Part of one of the major trunk lines in the country, it passes through a forested plateau region interspersed with fertile valleys.

History

The first train in India travelled from Mumbai to

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven taluk ...

on 16 April 1853. By May 1854,

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 ...

's Bombay–Thane line was extended to

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) of Thane district ...

Bhusawal Bhusawal is the largest municipal council (established in 1882) in the Jalgaon district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated along the banks of the river Tapi. The city emerged as a major railway junction during the British Raj, and s ...

station was set up in 1860 and in 1867 the GIPR branch line was extended to Nagpur. 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 metre gauge (soon converted to broad gauge) 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

Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line The Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line officially known as Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line is a railway line connecting Kolkata and Mumbai via Allahabad. The railway line was opened to traffic in 1870. This railway line was until 2004. In 2004 ...

, a joint effort of

and

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

came up in 1870. 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 Bilaspur 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 Ba ...

, in order to develop a shorter Howrah–Mumbai route than the one via Allahabad. 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. A narrow-gauge branch line was constructed from

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...

Dhamtari Dhamtari is a municipal corporation and headquarters of the Dhamtari district in the state of Chhattisgarh, India, which is part of the Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency formed on 6July 1998.. The district is home to 3.13 percent of Chhattisg ...

, and from

Abhanpur Abhanpur is a tehsil (administrative division) in Raipur district, Chhattisgarh, India. It is a part of the Naya Raipur township. Geography Abhanpur is located about 28 km southeast of Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian s ...

another branch line goes to

Rajim Rajim is a town which is proposed to be in Raipur district but officially in Gariaband district, Chhattisgarh, India. Rajim is named after Rajiv Lochan Mandir which is the Main Hindu Pilgrimage Temple of Rajim dedicated to Vishnu. There is also ...

. It was opened in 1900. The Gondia–Nagbhir–Nagpur line was opened for traffic in 1908. The Nagbhir–Rajoli line was opened in 1913 and extended up to Chanda. The Bhilai–Dalli Rajhara line mainly for iron ore transportation was opened in 1958.

Bhilai Steel Plant The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), located in Bhilai, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, is India's first and main producer of steel rails, as well as a major producer of wide steel plates and other steel products. The plant also produces steel and ...

was opened in 1959. The

was nationalized in 1944. Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 with the portion of

east of

Mughalsarai Mughalsarai (; English: '' Mughal Tavern''), officially known as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, is a city and a municipal board in the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. Located around from Varanasi, it is an important railway junction ...

and the Bengal Nagpur Railway. In 1955, South Eastern Railway was carved out of Eastern Railway. It comprised lines mostly operated by BNR earlier. Amongst the new zones started in April 2003 were

East Coast Railway The East Coast Railway (abbreviated ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It came into existence on 1 April 2003. The headquarters of the zone are at Bhubaneswar, Odisha History Consequent upon the parliament's approval, Ea ...

and South East Central Railway. Both these railways were carved out of South Eastern Railway.

Gauge conversion

Work for conversion to broad gauge 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 structu ...

Gondia–Chanda Fort line started in December 1992, Gondia–Wadsa section was inaugurated on 25 September 1994. Wadsa–Nagbhir section was opened on 20 February 1997, Nagbhir–Chanda Fort section was opened on 13 January 1999 and the Chanda Fort–Ballarshah section was operated from 2 July 1999. The Gondia–Balaghat broad-gauge section was opened for traffic on 6 September 2005. The Balaghat–Katangi section was converted to broad gauge in 2010. The gauge conversions are under process for -long Nagpur–Chhindwara section, the -long Jabalpur–Nainpur section, the -long Chhindwara–Nainpur–Mandla section, the Nainpur–Balaghat section and -long Nagpur–Nagbhir section.

Electrification

The entire main line is

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

. The Bilaspur–Bhilai and Bhilai–Durg sections were electrified in 1970–71, Durg–Paniajob section in 1989–90. The Paniajob–Gondia and Gondia–Bhandara Road sections in 1990–91, Bhandara Road–Tharsa and Tharsa–Nagpur sections in 1991–92. The Amla–Chhindwara section was electrified in 2017 and Balharshah–Chanda Fort–Gondia section was electrified in 2018. Other lines will be electrified once converted to broad gauge.

Speed limits

The entire Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line is classified as a "Group A" line which can take speeds up to 160 km/hr.

Passenger movement

Bilaspur,

Durg Durg is a city in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, east of the Shivnath River and is part of the Durg-Bhilai urban agglomeration. With an urban population of 1,064,077, Durg-Bhilai is the second largest urban area in Chhattisgarh after Raipur ...

and

on this line are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway. About 1 to 1.2 million passengers travel from here.

Narrow gauge rail museum

A Narrow Gauge Rail Museum was inaugurated at Nagpur on 14 December 2002. It was accorded the status at par with National Rail Museum, New Delhi.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilaspur - Nagpur section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Chhattisgarh Rail transport in Maharashtra Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh * * * Railway lines opened in 1891 Transport in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh Transport in Nagpur