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

ghat Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...

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

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 ...

. The Thal Ghat is located on the busy

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 ...

–

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nash ...

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 (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 ...

with a

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

of 1 in 37.

Thul Ghat (Rail)

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 ...

to Kasara, 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 (Pronunciation: 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. Igatpuri railway stati ...

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 flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or ev ...

(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 which 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 whic ...

(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.

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.

References

Mountain passes of Maharashtra Rail mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Western Ghats {{Maharashtra-geo-stub

Thul Ghat (Rail)

Road

See also

References