Western
Indian Railway is one of the busiest rail networks
of India. It was formed on November 5, 1951 with a merger
of many state-owned railways, consisting of Baroda,
Bombay and Central India Railway, and Rajputana Railway,
Saurashtra Railway and Jaipur State Railway. In 1951,
the narrow gauge lines of Cutch State Railway were also
merged.
Western Railways has its headquarters
located in Churchgate (Mumbai) and is divided into 6
divisions namely Mumbai, Bhavnagar, Ratlam, Vadodara,
Rajkot and Ahmedabad. Western Indian Railway started
its first rural services with steam traction in April
1867. By year 1870, it extended its network till Churchgate.
Forty five more trains were started in both directions
by 1900 so as to offer transport facilities to over
1 million passengers each year.
In year 1928, it launched its first train between Churchgate
and Borivali route. Ahmedabad – Vadodara, Palanpur –
Ahmedabad and Ratlam - Mumbai Central are few of the
chief railway lines of Indian Railways
that fall under jurisdiction of Western Indian
Railways. The zone covers Gujarat state, eastern
segment of Rajasthan, Maharashtra coast and a fraction
of Western Madhya Pradesh. The zone also serves numerous
ports on western coast of India.
The major ports that generate good revenue to Indian
Railways include Okha, Kandla, Bhavnagar, Porbandar
and Mumbai. Western Railway is amongst the most advanced
railroad system of Indian railways. This ultimately
makes Western Railway Zone one of the
most imperative railroad systems of India.
Other major Indian railway zones is
as follows:
Central
Indian Railways: This is the oldest of
Indian railway zones and one of the largest of the 16
zones formed by Indian railways.
Eastern
Indian Railways: The Eastern Railway (ER)
zone is one of the important Indian Railway zones. With
its headquarters in Kolkata, the Eastern Zone is divided
further into four divisions namely Mald, Howrah, Asansol
and Sealdah for better working.
Northern
Indian Railways: It is one of the nine
older zones of Indian Railways. New Delhi, the national
capital of India serves as headquarters of this Indian
Railway Zone.
Southern
Indian Railways: This is the first zone
formed after India got liberated from British Rule.
Southern Indian Railway Zone was established on April
14, 1951 by combination of always of three states.
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