The Akola–Ratlam rail line is a railway line in India linking

Akola Akola () is a major city in the Vidarbha region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The third largest city in Eastern Maharashtra after Nagpur and Amravati, it is located about east of the state capital, Mumbai, and west of the second ca ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

with

Ratlam Ratlam is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam district, which was created in 1947 after the independe ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. As of January 2023, Ratlam to Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, Sanawad to Khandwa and Akot to Akola Has been Completed.

History

The Akola–Ratlam metre-gauge line was opened in 1963. Dhulghat Spiral is a unique spiral located on this metre-gauge section at around 2 kilometres from Dhulghat station towards Akola. It is also called 'Char Cha Akda' in Marathi and 'Char Ka Aankda' in Hindi, which in English means 'the figure 4' – railway tracks are arranged like 4. In 2008, the Union Cabinet approved the gauge conversion for the Ratlam–Mhow–Khandwa–Akola railway line of 472.64 km. The gauge conversion is in process. The Mathela–Nimarkhedi–NTPC Khargone section was converted to broad gauge and started on 12 August 2019 and electrification was also done on 15 March 2020. Thereafter, the Akola Junction–Akot section line gauge conversion project of this mainline was completed on 28 July 2020. The Akot - Amlakhurd section of the line has to pass through

Melghat Tiger Reserve Melghat was among the first nine tiger reserves of India to be notified in 1973 under Project Tiger. It is located in the northern part of Amravati District of Maharashtra. Melghat Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as in 1985. The total area of ...

and the works on this line is on hold due to pending clearance from

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Government of India, Indian government Ministry (government department), ministry. The ministry Portfolio (government), portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union ...

Loco Shed

Mhow Diesel Loco Shed and Ratlam Diesel Loco Shed are loco sheds on this line. These were earlier metre-gauge sheds but are now converted to broad-gauge sheds.Steam Locomotive Sheds of the Past
/ref>

Trains

* Ajmer–Hyderabad Meenakshi Express * Mhow–Indore Passenger * Indore–Dr. Ambedkar Nagar DEMU * Ratlam–Laxmibai Nagar DEMU * Indore–Ratlam DEMU * Jodhpur–Indore Express *

Dr. Ambedkar Nagar–Sanawad Passenger Dr. Ambedkar Nagar - Omkareshwar Road Passenger was a metre-gauge passenger train of the Indian Railways, which was running between Dr. Ambedkar Nagar railway station, Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in Madhya Pradesh and Omkareshwar Road railway station, ...

* Rewa–Dr. Ambedkar Nagar Express

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akola-Ratlam rail line Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh Transport in Indore Transport in Ujjain Transport in Ratlam Transport in Akola Rail transport in Maharashtra