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Railways In Maharashtra

Railways – Pleasure Luxurious Train Ride

The Central Railways together with it’s headquarter in Mumbai comprises of the nerves and brain of railway commutation in Maharashtra. Mumbai city is well linked to other parts of our country by western and central railway lines. Mumbai’s Central Railway Terminus (CST) receives trains from eastern, southern and central regions, whereas Mumbai Central Western Terminus receives trains from north India. There are also direct trains that link all the major cities and towns of Maharashtra and also with other major cities of India. Deccan Odyssey, the lavish sightseeing train packed with five star amenities is another spectacle of Indian railways that begins from Mumbai.

Maharashtra has got good connectivity with all the other regions of India with a good railway networking of 5,983 km running between 4 railways. The state also consists of 205 railway stations.

The Western Railway Zones and Central Railway of Indian Railways with their headquarters in Mumbai is at Churchgate and Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus.

Nanded portion of South Central Railway serves Marathwada portion of Maharashtra.

Konkan Railway, an auxiliary of Indian Railways linked to CBD Belapur and also Navi Mumbai that caters to the Konkan coastal region towards the southern part of Mumbai and further extends downwards towards the western coast of India.

The state of Maharashtra also consists of suburban railway networks commuting 6.4 million passengers each day.

Central Railway Zone in Maharashtra

This is one of the largest among the seventeen Indian Railway zones. The headquarters of this Railway zone is in Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (earlier known as Victoria Terminus), Mumbai. It also carries the first passenger railway line in the country, which was established on 16th April 1853 between Bombay and Thane.

The central railway caters large portion of Maharashtra and small portion of south Madhya Pradesh and North-eastern part of Karnataka.

On 5th November 1951, this railway zone was established by clubbing various government running railways which includes Scindia State Railway from the earlier princely state, Gwalior, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, Wardha Coal State Railway, Dholpur Railways and Nizam State Railways.

Major Railway Station in Maharashtra

Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus Railway Station

This is otherwise known as Victoria Terminus, a historical railway station is UNESCO World Heritage Site catering headquarters of Central Railways in Mumbai city.

In 1887, Frederick William Stevens constructed this Railway Station in Bori Bunder area of Mumbai with strong influence from traditional Mughal buildings and Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture to celebrate the Golden Jubilee era of Queen Victoria. This new railway station was constructed on Bori Bunder Station forms the busiest station in India catering as terminal for passenger and long distance of Mumbai Suburban Railways. The name of the station was modified to the present one on March 1996 and it is simply known to be CST (or else VT/ CSTM).

CST comprises of 18 platforms – 12 are meant for long distance trains and 6 are for local trains.

Suburban train network (generally referred as local trains) emerging from this station plays a major role in keeping Mumbai alive. This station caters long-distance trains along with 2 suburban lines - the Harbour line and the Central line. This is categorized as the westernmost terminus of the central railways. The trains get stopped at the Central Line at Kasara, Titwala, Asangaon, Khopoli, Karjat, Badlapur, Ambarnath, Kalyan, Dombivli, Thane, Ghatkopar and Kurla. Trains terminate on the Harbour Line at Panvel, Belapur, Vashi, Mankhund, Andheri and Bandra.

Mumbai Central Railway Station

Mumbai Central (earlier known as Bombay Central with railway code BCT) is a big intercity railway station in Mumbai and a station towards the western line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. This station was designed by Claude Batley, a British architect. Various long distance trains managed by western railways terminate at this station. This station is situated in the southern part of Mumbai and the area surrounding this station is also referred with the same name. Various trains begin from this station towards different destinations in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. India’s most prestigious train, Mumbai Rajdhani Express, begins from this station towards New Delhi.

Pune Railway Station

This is the major Pune Railway head. This junction lies on the Mumbai-Chennai railway line. It also carries Pune – Bangalore railway line origin. Indian Railways regulate all trains. This station serves as the halting point for southern trains from Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai and Gujarat and Rajasthan as the beginning/terminal points for north India trains. Pune is well connected with entire India through this station. This station also comprises a project of running bullet train between Pune and Ahmadabad that will begin and terminate in this station. Thus, this forms the main head for the transport of freight towards Pune.

The birthday of Deccan Queen Express is be celebrated every year on June 1st at this station. There are 2 footbridges in this station. There are several plans to improve the standard of this station to a world-class facility.

Nashik Railway Station

Nasik Road Railway Station is situated about 9 km distance from city centre and catered by Central Railways. This railway station is linked to other major cities in India like Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai. Various direct linking trains run between Nasik Road Railway Station and Mumbai on regular basis. There are taxi facilities available from this railway station to various other destinations in the city.

Facilities available at this station include telephone booth, book stall, tea stall, light refreshment stall, tourist information centers, computerized reservation office, retiring rooms and waiting room.

Kolhapur Railway Station

It comes under Pune-Miraj-Kolhapur part of Central Railway. This station got its name from Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj. The station is linked with all other major cities in the country. Mumbai is connected to Kolhapur by Sahyadri, Koyna and Mahalakshmi express trains. Miraj is another major railway station situated nearby and is also linked with all major cities in the country. There are daily trains from this station towards Tirupati, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Nagpur and Mumbai. There are also weekly trains towards Dhanbad, Ahmadabad and Delhi.

Nagpur Railway Station

Nagpur is credited as the geographical centre of the country and carries one of the major railway junctions in India. Nagpur railways contribute significantly to the communication and transport system in Nagpur. Good volume of people from different parts of India and abroad to have a vacation or to have a professional trip. For people who visit Nagpur frequently, Nagpur railways work along with roadways and airways to deliver the best service.

About 160 trains from different locations halt at this station. It includes Garib Rath, Rajdhani, and Durontos, mail, express and passenger. Among them, there are 65 daily trains and 26 trains either begin or terminate at Nagpur. Approximately 1.6 lakh commuters either leave or board this Nagpur Railway Station every day. Few of the significant trains available at this station are Chennai Central to New Delhi Tamil Nadu Express, Trivandrum Central – New Delhi Kerala Express, Mumbai Howrah Mail, Bangalore Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express, Mumbai-Gondia Vidarbha Superfast Express, Visakhapatnam Nizamuddin Samata Express and CST Mumbai-Nagpur Duronto Express.