Central Railway (abbreviated CR) is one of the 19 zones of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

. Its headquarters is in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST (suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The terminus was d ...

. It has the distinction of operating the first passenger railway line in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, which opened from

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 .

History

The railway zone was formed on 5 November 1951 by grouping several government-owned railways, including the

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 ...

, the

Scindia State Railway Gwalior Light Railway (GLR) or Maharaja Railway was a narrow-gauge railway network in Gwalior. It was set up for Gwalior State during the times of British India. Until its closure in 2020, the railway was the longest gauge railway in the world ...

of the former

princely state 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 ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

, Nizam State Railway, Wardha Coal State Railway and the Dholpur Railways.Rao, M.A. (1988). ''Indian Railways'', New Delhi: National Book Trust, p.42 The Central Railway zone formerly included large parts of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

and part of southern

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

, which made it the largest railway zone in India in terms of area, track mileage and staff. These areas became the new West Central Railway zone in April 2003. The Central Railway General Manager's official residence (erstwhile GIPR agent's residence), 'Glenogle'-a Grade II-B heritage bungalow, is located on Bhausaheb Hire Marg (Mount Pleasant Road), adjacent to the Maharashtra Chief minister's official residence 'Varsha' in Malabar Hill, Mumbai.

Routes

Main/Long Routes of Central Railway

** Mumbai CSMT-Kalyan-Igatpuri-Nashik road-Manmad-Jalgaon-Bhusawal-Akola-Badnera-Wardha-Nagpur ** Mumbai CSMT-Kalyan-Karjat-Lonavala-Pune ** Mumbai CSMT-Kurla-Vashi-Panvel-Roha ** Manmad-Aurangabad-Nanded (south central railway line) ** Pune-Daund-Solapur-Wadi-Tandur ** Pune-Satara-Sangli-Miraj-Kolhapur ** Miraj-Pandharpur-Kurduvadi-Barshi-Osmanabad-Latur-Latur Road ** Ballarshah-Majri-Sevagram (formerly Wardha East Jn.)-Nagpur-Amla-Itarsi ** Dadar-Solapur-Dadar One of the oldest and important railway project of central railway zone was Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project which was in planning stage since British regime. It was referred to as 3rd ghat project. A survey was carried out in 1973, 2000, 2006, 2014 etc, and the project was in the Railways Board pink book in 2010 but unfortunately the project was not started. The alignment length of this project was 184 km and it could have been shortest route for Marathwada, Andhra and Telangana. The major challenge for this project is 18.96 km long tunnel in Malshej Ghat section. Malshej Kriti samiti is following for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-Murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.

Branch/Short routes of Central Railway

** Mumbai CSMT-Wadala Road-Bandra-Goregaon ** Thane-Vashi-Panvel ** Daund-Manmad ** Bhusawal-Khandwa ** Amaravati-Narkher ** Vasai Road-Diva-Panvel ** Panvel-Karjat ** Badnera-Amravati ** Daund-Baramati ** Puntamba-Shirdi ** Chalisgaon-Dhule ** Pachora-Jamner (NG) ** Pulgaon-Arvi (NG) ** Murtijapur-Yavatmal (NG) ** Murtijapur-Achalapur (NG) ** Jalamb-Khamgaon ** Majri jn-Pimpalkutti ** Neral-Matheran

Utilization

High

* Mumbai-Thane-Kalyan-Karjat/Kasara sub-urban section * Mumbai-Bhusawal-Akola-Nagpur * Mumbai-Bhusawal-Khandwa * Itarsi-Nagpur-Sevagram-Majri-Balharshah * Mumbai-Pune-Daund-Solapur-Kalaburgi-Wadi * Mumbai-Pune-Miraj-Hubli-Bengaluru-Chennai * Daund-Ahmednagar-Manmad

Low

* Puntamba-Sai nagar Shirdi * Miraj-Kurduwadi * Latur-Kurduwadi

Connections

Central railway zone connects to other Zones of Indian railways as at:

Western Railway Zone

Bandra Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre ( �aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate north of River Mithi, which separates B ...

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was an ...

Goregaon Goregaon ( �oːɾeɡaːʋ is a suburb of Mumbai city, in the Mumbai Suburban district of India. It has a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Line. An extension of the Harbour Line was completed in 2018 because of ...

, Dadar,

Vasai Road Vasai Road Junction (station code: BSR) is a railway station on the Western line and Vasai Road–Roha line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Vasai is a historical suburban town north of Mumbai and it is located in Palghar district. ...

Konkan Railway Zone

Roha Roha () is a town and taluka in the Raigad district of the Maharashtra state of India. It is located 120 km southeast of Mumbai. It is the starting point of Konkan railways and end point of central railways (Mumbai). Many chemical i ...

South Central Railway zone

= Secunderabad railway division

= * Balharshah * Latur road Jn

= Guntakal Railway Division

= * Wadi Jn

= Nanded railway division

= * Pimpalkutti * Akola Jn * Khandwa Jn * Ankai Jn (MMR-AWB-PBN-NED route)

South East Central Railway zone

= Nagpur SEC railway division

= * Nagpur Jn * Chhindwara Jn

South Western Railway zone

= Hubballi railway division

= * Hotgi Jn - For Pune-

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch ...

-vijayapura-Gadag line. * Miraj Jn - For Pune -Miraj-Londa-Bangalore line

Western Central Railway zone

= Bhopal division

= * Itarsi Jn * Khandwa Jn

Matheran Hill Railway

Constructed in 1907, 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 ...

Matheran Hill Railway connects Neral on the

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

main line with the

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

Matheran Matheran is an automobile-free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and one of the smallest hill ...

in the Western Ghats, east of

. Neral is linked to

by frequent suburban trains. Steam engines have now been replaced by diesel locomotives. The route is noted for its sharp curves.

Divisions

Mumbai CR railway division Mumbai CR railway division is one of the five railway divisions under Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 1853 and its headquarter is located at Mumbai CSMT in the state of Maharashtra of India. Bhusawa ...

* Solapur railway division * Bhusawal railway division * Pune railway division *

Nagpur CR railway division Nagpur CR railway division is one of the five railway divisions under Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed in 1867 and its headquarter is located at Nagpur in the state of Maharashtra of India. It covers an E ...

Organisation

The central railway covers a large part of the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

and small part of Southern

and North-Eastern

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

. It is organized into five divisions:

, Bhusawal,

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 ...

and

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. The details of the network divisionwise are as follows Central Railway Headquarters

Mumbai Division

* Mumbai CSMT-Dadar-Kurla-Thane ** Mumbai CSMT-Wadala Road-Kurla ( Harbour Line) *** Wadala Road-Bandra-Goregaon (Inclusive) ** Kurla-Trombay (Goods) ** Kurla-Vashi-Nerul-Panvel ( Harbour Line) ** Thane-Vashi-Panvel (Trans-Harbour line) *** Thane-Turbhe-Vashi (

Trans-Harbour Line The Trans-Harbour line is the link Harbour line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway connects between Navi Mumbai and Thane Operates by Central Railway. Its Termini are , , and on the Thane–Vashi and Thane–Panvel Routes. This line is also a d ...

) *** Thane-Turbhe-Nerul (

) * Thane-Diva Jn-Kalyan ** Diva Jn-Panvel-Roha *** Panvel-Jasai-Uran **** Jasai-JNPT ** Diva Jn-Vasai Road * Kalyan Jn-Kasara-Igatpuri (Inclusive) * Kalyan Jn-Karjat Jn-Lonavala (Inclusive) ** Neral Jn-Matheran (Narrow Gauge) ** Karjat Jn-Panvel ** Karjat Jn-Khopoli Malshej Kriti Samiti is following for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-Murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.

Pune Division

Lonavala Lonavala (ISO: Loṇāvaḷā) is a hill station town and a Municipal Council in the Pune district, Maharashtra, India. It is about west of Pune and to the east of Mumbai. It is known for its production of the hard candy ''chikki'' and is a ...

Jn- Daund Jn * Pune Jn- Satara-

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks ...

- Miraj Jn-

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is ...

* Daund Jn - Baramati * Phaltan - Baramati ( to be completed by 2022) * Pune Jn- Rajgurunagar-

Sangamner Sangamner is a city and a municipal council located in the Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra state in India. It derives its name from the site of the ''sangam'' (confluence) of three rivers in the area: Pravara, Mhalungi, and Adhala. It is ...

- Sinnar- Nashik Road (Project Scrapped) * Karad- Chiplun (scrapped)

Nagpur Division

'' * Badnera Jn (Exclude)-

Pulgaon Pulgaon () is a municipal council in Wardha district in the India state of Maharashtra. The nearest city is Wardha, away via the Mumbai–Nagpur Expressway. Located near Pulgaon is the Central Ammunition Depot, a military area and the second ...

Jn-

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bound ...

Jn-

Butibori Butibori is an industrial suburb of Nagpur, India and is developed as 5 Star Industrial district by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). Butibori's total area acquired is 23.12 square kilometres out of which 14.94 km² ...

Jn-

Jn ** Pulgaon Jn- Arvi (Narrow Gauge) ** Butobori Jn- Umrer * Sewagram-

Majri Majri is a small size village in Kotkasim tehsil Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan, It is located around 75 km south of Delhi, 75 km north of Alwar, and about 200 km north of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. MAJRI is part of ...

Jn-

Tadali Tadali is a village in Chandrapur district of Nagpur Division of Maharashtra, India. The village is served by Tadali Junction which is a railway junction station under Nagpur division of Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is on the Ne ...

Jn-

Chandrapur Chandrapur (earlier known as ''Chanda'', the official name until 1964) is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India. It is the district headquarters of Chandrapur district. Chandrapur is a fort cit ...

- Balharshah Jn (include) ** Wardha Jn-Chitoda Jn (on Sewagram-Balharshah line) *** Majri Jn- Wani Jn-

pimpalkutti Pimpalkutti is a village and a railway station in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra State in India. This is the last village and last railway station in Maharashtra on NH7 and Nagpur – Adilabad Adilabad is a city which serves as the hea ...

** Wani Jn- Rajur ** Tadali Jn-

Ghugus Ghugus (also Ghuggus) is a census town in Chandrapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Geography Ghugus is located at . It has an average elevation of 189 metres (620 feet). Wardha river is flowing by the side of the vill ...

** Balharshah Jn-Chanda Fort * Nagpur- Amla Jn-

Itarsi Itarsi is a city and municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India in Narmadapuram District. Itarsi is a key hub for agricultural goods and is the biggest railway junction in Madhya Pradesh. Rail services from all 4 major metropolitan cities of India ...

Jn (exclude) ** Amla Junction-

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

(exclude) * Nagpur-

sevagram Sevagram (meaning "A town for/of service") is a town in the state of Maharashtra, India. It was the place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948. After Sabarmati, Sevagram Ashram holds immense importance d ...

majri Majri is a small size village in Kotkasim tehsil Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan, It is located around 75 km south of Delhi, 75 km north of Alwar, and about 200 km north of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. MAJRI is part of ...

jn Balharshah

Solapur Division

* Manmad (exclude)-

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1 ...

- Daund Jn * Daund Jn-

* Miraj Jn (exclude)-Pandharpur-Kurudwadi Jn-Barshi- Latur-Latur Road (excluding) *

Jn- Hotgi Jn-

Gulbarga Kalaburagi, formerly known as Gulbarga, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kalaburagi district and is the largest city in the region of North Karnataka (Kalyana-Karnataka). Kalaburagi is ...

-Wadi Jn (Include)

Bhusawal Division

* Manmad-Indore (project scrapped) * Bhusawal-Badnera-Nagpur (exclude) * Bhusawal-Khandwa-Itarsi (exclude) * Jalgaon-Nandurbar-Udhna (exclude) * Chalisgaon-Dhule * Khamgaon - Jalamb * Pachora-Jamner * Manmad-Aurangabad (exclude) * Manmad-Daund (exclude) * Mandmad-Nasik-Igatpuri (exclude) * Akola-Nanded (exclude) The number of stations category-wise under these five railway divisions under the Central Railway Zones are as follows (as of 2008) : A-1 : 7, A : 20, B : 10, C : 80, D : 45, E : 221, F : 93, Total : 476

Ongoing Projects

New lines

Jn -Tuljapur- Osmanabad. (New Rail Line survey completed but work yet to start) * Ashti-Parli Vaijnath line (work under progress). Ahmednagar-Ashti 67 km completed. (Project :- Ahmedanagar- Beed - Parli) * Phaltan - Baramati (New line with Electrification Project Approved,but work yet to start) * Kolhapur-Vaibhavwadi line (survey under progress) * Aurangabad-Shani shingnapur-Ahmednagar line ( Survey completed,but work yet to start) * Khamgaon-Jalna (survey completed, but work yet to start) * Latur-Latur Road-Ahmedpur-Nanded (survey completed, but work yet to start) * Latur Road-Jalkot-Mukhed-Biloli-Bodhan (announced but not yet taken up) * Latur-Ausa-Nilanga-Omerga-Aland-Gulbarga (survey under progress)

Doubling

* Bhigvan-Vakav (Earth work started) Solapur - Bhalwani doubling work completed * Tilati-Gulbarga (Earth work started) * Roha-Panvel (work completed) * Daund-Manmad (doubling in progress plus electrification) * Bhigvan-Solapur-Gulbarga * Pune-Miraj-Londa-Hubli (Doubling in progress) * Pune-Miraj-Kolhapur (Electrification 100% completed) * Panvel-Karjat * Karjat-Khopoli

Tripling

* Kalyan-Kasara * Kalyan-Karjat * Sewagram Jn-Balharshah Jn

Quadrupling

* Nagpur-Wardha * Jalgaon-Bhsawal * Manmad-Igatpuri

Hexupling

* Mumbai CSMT-Kalyan

Electrification

* Manmad-Daund (Electrification) (Work completed) * Bhigvan-Solapur-Gulbarga (Electrification) (Work is ongoing) * Kurduwadi-Barshi-Latur-Latur Road (Electrification) (Announced but not yet taken up) * Pune-Miraj-kolhapur (Electrification) (Work in progress)

Trains

Some of the major trains operated by Central Railway zone are as follows:

Loco Sheds

Electric Loco Shed, Ajni Electric Loco Shed, Ajni is a motive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for electric locomotives of the Indian Railways, under its of the Central Railway division, located in , Nagpur in Maharashtra, India. It is ...

Electric Loco Shed, Kalyan Electric Loco Shed, Kalyan is an electric engine shed located in Kalyan in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Located north-east of Kalyan Junction railway station, it falls under the Mumbai CR railway division. History Electric Loco Shed Kal ...

Electric Loco Shed, Bhusawal Electric Loco Shed, Bhusawal is a motive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for electric locomotives of the Indian Railways, located at Bhusawal of the Central Railway in Maharashtra, India. It is one of the thre ...

Diesel Loco Shed, Pune Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

* Diesel Loco Shed, Kalyan * Diesel Loco Shed, Kurla * Electric Loco Shed Daund(Under Construction)

References

External links

Bhusawal Division

Central, Western and Harbour railway timetable

Detailed Mumbai Local Train Time Table

{{coord, 18, 58, 30, N, 72, 49, 33, E, display=title Zones of Indian Railways 1951 establishments in Bombay State

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...