Thal Ghat (also called as Thul Ghat or Kasara Ghat) is a

ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

section (mountain incline or slope) in the Western Ghats near the town of

Kasara Kasara is a census town in the Thane district of Maharashtra, India. The town is located on the busy Mumbai– Nashik route, which is one of the four major routes that lead into Mumbai. Kasara is served by a railway station on the Mumbai Subur ...

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 ...

. The Thal Ghat is located on the busy

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

–

Nashik Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites of the Kumbh ...

route, and is one of the four major routes, rail and road routes, leading into Mumbai. The railway line, which passes through the ghat is the steepest in

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

with a

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

of 1 in 37.

Thul Ghat (rail)

The Thul Ghat rail section was officially opened on 1 January 1865 to Egutpoora (today, Igatpuri), precisely 4 years after the line had been extended to Kassarah (today, Kasara) on 1 January 1861. The Thul Ghat (incline) is a series of mountain slopes in the Western Ghats traversed by the Bhusawal-Kalyan line. From

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 ...

, the line covers a length of and rises to an altitude of above sea level at Kasara. The next section from Kasara to

Igatpuri Igatpuri ( ɡət̪puɾiː formerly known as Egutpoora) is a town and a Hill Station. It is also a municipal council in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Western Ghats and served by Igatpuri railway station ...

is across Thul Ghat and within that distance the line rises from to the gradient in the section being 1:37. The line negotiates this steep incline with the help of curves. The Ehegaon viaduct along this line is long and high. According to IRFCA, “The viaduct is situated in a steep valley nestling in the midst of hills that skirt around it in the tunnels and then is carried across the yawning chasm on a tall imposing structure… Some of the viaducts and tunnels on this line are considered outstanding achievements in Civil Engineering and are among the finest works in the world.” Till early-2007

Direct Current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

(DC) traction was used to pull trains in this sector. On 2007-05-25, the first

Alternating Current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...

(AC) 4,800 tonne goods train was hauled through this region. The AC traction has a voltage of 25,000 volts as compared to 1,500 volts of DC. When it was under Direct Current 58 wagon trains used to be detached into two separate units, and lugged separately. Now six AC locomotives pull the entire train. Winding around the railway line is National Highway 3.

Reversing station

There used to be reversing station on this ghat. This was later removed because of inconvenience after construction of new track.

Road

During much of the nineties and before, Kasara Ghat was notorious for fatal road accidents. However, since April 2009, owing to creation of separate 2-lane roads in the Ghat for each direction (under the Nashik-Mumbai Highway 4-laning project), driving through the Ghat is a breeze as head traffic is absent. In fact, the Nashik-Mumbai direction of the Ghat is something motorists might even look forward to driving on because of the flat, winding tar road. One of India's longest road tunnels is located in Kasara. It connects

and Kasara under the Nagpur Mumbai Super Communication Expressway (NMSCE), also known as Samruddhi Mahamarg. The tunnel is 7.7 km long which makes it the longest road tunnel in Maharashtra.

Gallery

File:A old GIPR bridge on the Thal Ghat.jpg File:Ghaut, G.I.P.Ry. (12512604193).jpg, Thal Ghat between 1855-1865

References

External links