The Western Railway (abbreviated WR) is one of the 19 zones of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

and is among the busiest railway networks in India, headquartered at

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 ...

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 major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Railways are: Mumbai Central– Ratlam, Mumbai Central–

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

and

Palanpur Palanpur is a city and a municipality of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the administrative headquarters of Banaskantha district. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants. Ety ...

–Ahmedabad. The railway system is divided into six operating divisions: , , , , , and . Vadodara railway station, being the junction point for the Ahmedabad–Mumbai route and the Mumbai–Ratlam route towards

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

, is the busiest junction station in Western Railways and one of the busiest junctions of Indian Railways too, while Ahmedabad Division earns highest revenue followed by Mumbai Division and Vadodara Division. Surat railway station is one of the busiest railway station in Western Railway in non-junction category where more than 180 trains pass per day. Western Railway General Manager's official bungalow 'Bombarci' (abbreviation of Bombay, Baroda and Central India) is located on Altamont road in Cumbala hill, Mumbai.

History

The Western Railway was created on 5 November 1951 by merging several state-owned railways, including the

Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (reporting mark BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing railway lines between Bombay to the erstwhile Baroda State, that became the present-day Baroda (Vadoda ...

(BB&CI), and the Saurashtra Railway, Rajputana Railway and

Jaipur State Railway The Jaipur State Railway was a metre gauge railway constructed by the Jaipur Durbar and owned by the Princely Jaipur State. The railway was managed, stocked and worked by the Jaipur Durbar and trafficked by the Bombay, Baroda and Central India ...

. The narrow-gauge lines of Cutch State Railway was also merged into it in 1951. The BB&CI Railway was itself inaugurated in 1855, starting with the construction of a 29-mile (47-km)

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( ...

track from Ankleshwar to Utran in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

state on the west coast. In 1864, the railway was extended to

. Subsequently, the project was further extended beyond

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...

in a north easterly direction towards Godhra, Ratlam, Nagda and thereafter northwards towards Kota and Mathura, to eventually link with the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, now the Central Railway, which had already started operating in Mumbai in 1853. In 1860 Surat railway station was built and it was first railway station in Asia which is having platform on first floor (above ground level). In 1883, a metre-gauge railway system, initially linking Delhi with

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known a ...

and

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "' ...

, was established. The first suburban service in

with steam traction was introduced in April 1867. It was extended to

Churchgate Churchgate (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃəɾt͡ʃɡeːʈ is an area in South Mumbai. During the eighteenth and up to the mid-19th century, Mumbai was a walled city. The city walls had three gates, and Churchgate, named after St. Thomas Cath ...

in 1870. By 1900 45 trains in each direction were carrying over one million passengers annually. The railways of several princely states were also integrated into the Western Railway. The

Gaekwar The Gaekwads of Baroda (also spelled as Gaikwads, Guicowars, Gaekwars) (IAST: ''Gāyakavāḍa'') are a Hindu Maratha dynasty origin of the former Maratha Empire and its subsequent Princely States. A dynasty belonging to this clan ruled the prin ...

s of

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

built the Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway (GBSR), which was merged into the BB&CI in 1949. Several railways of western Gujarat, including the Bhavnagar,

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, i ...

, Jamnagar & Dwarka, Gondal, and

Morvi Morbi or Morvi is a city in the Morbi district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 194,947. The city is on the Machhu River, from the sea and from Rajkot. Hi ...

railways were merged into the Saurashtra Railway in 1948. The

Jodhpur–Bikaner Railway The Jodhpur–Bikaner Railway (JBR) was a metre gauge railway, jointly owned and operated by the Jodhpur State and Bikaner State until 1924 when the system was split between the newly formed Jodhpur State Railway and Bikaner State Railway. ...

was taken over by

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

state in 1949, after the western portion was ceded to the government of Pakistan. In 2002, the Jaipur and Ajmer divisions of the Western Railway became part of the newly created

North Western Railway The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur,Rajasthan with 59,075+ employees, 658+ stations and a route length of more than 5761 km across at least some parts of four ...

, and in April 2003 the Kota division of the Western Railway became part of the newly created West Central Railway.

Present

Western Railway headquarters is in

's Churchgate station and serves the entire state of

, some portions of Western

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

, and coastal

. The Western coast of India served by Western Railway has a number of ports, most important among them being

Kandla Kandla, now officially Deendayal Port Authority, is a seaport and town in Kutch district of Gujarat state in Western India, near the city of Gandhidham. Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of India's major ports on the west coast. It is ...

, Hajira, Surat, Dahej, Mundra, Okha,

Veraval Veraval also known as Somnath is a municipality and the headquarters of Gir Somnath district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is also known for the hub of fishing industries in India. Geography Veraval is located at . It has an average ele ...

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capital of the Porbandar princel ...

, Bhavnagar in Gujarat state and

in Maharashtra. Navapur railway station is unique as it falls in both the states of

and

because both were as a one state of

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding So ...

before 1960 and after States Reorganization Act the Navapur station was divided equally among Gujarat and Maharashtra. So is the

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is ...

railway station unique. It is Asia's one of the first railway station where the platforms is on the first floor, that is above the ground level. The ticket counter is on the ground floor. The Western Railway operates Electric multiple units (EMUs) on the Western line of the

Mumbai Suburban Railway The Mumbai Suburban Railway ( Marathi: मुंबई उपनगरीय रेल्वे) (colloquially called local trains or simply locals) consists of exclusive inner suburban railway lines augmented by commuter rail on main lines ser ...

, which forms part of the

Ahmedabad–Mumbai main line The Ahmedabad–Mumbai main line or the Mumbai–Ahmedabad main line is a railway route on the Western Railway section of Indian Railways. It is one of the busiest railway routes of the Indian Railways and is fully electrified. The Western l ...

. The EMUs ply between

and

Virar Virar (Pronunciation: �iɾaɾ is a coastal city in taluka Vasai and district of Palghar, India. It is clubbed into Vasai-Virar city, administered by Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. It lies in south part of Palghar District in Vasai Taluka ...

(60 km) and is projected to extend the service until Dahanu Road (Services actually started on 16 April 2013), while mainline electrical multiple units (MEMUs) service the section beyond Virar until Dahanu Road (60 km). EMUs are of 12-car or 15-car rakes and are differentiated as slow and fast locals. Slow trains halt at all stations, while fast ones halt at important stations only and are preferable over longer distances. The first electric train on this section was introduced in 1928 between Churchgate and

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was an ...

Divisions

* Mumbai WR railway division * Ahmedabad railway division * Vadodara railway division * Ratlam railway division * Rajkot railway division *

Bhavnagar railway division Bhavnagar railway division is one of the six railway divisions under Western Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 5 November 1951 and its headquarter is located at Bhavnagar in the state of Gujarat of India. Mum ...

Western Railway Connects Statue of Unity

On 17 January 2021, the Statue of Unity came on the railways map. Western Railway connected the Statue of Unity with Broad Gauge electrified line with Mumbai- Delhi main line at Vadodara. The project included gauge conversion of Dabhoi-Chandod section, new line from Chandod to Kevadiya(Statue of Unity) and electrification of Pratapnagar(Vadodara) to Kevadiya. The project was completed in a record time in close coordination with state government by Western Railway. It was inaugurated by Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister through video conferencing from New Delhi. 8 inaugural trains were flagged off from various parts of the country on same day. Vistadome coach has been introduced in Ahmedabad-Kevadiya Janshatabdi express. Kevadiya1.jpg, Kevadiya Station Building, Rail Connectivity to Statue of Unity Vistadome.jpg, Vistadome Coach of Kevadiya-Ahmedabad Janshatabdi Express

Heritage Gallery, Mumbai

Conserving heritage, Western Railway has opened Heritage Gallery at its headquarters building at Churchgate, Mumbai. The Gallery has recently been renovated. It is a collection of various models of BB&CI era, the precursor of Western Railway. Many notes of agents of BB&CI dating back to 1860s have also been displayed. Suburban timetable of 1948, steam engine model, signalling equipment, Model of 1928 EMUs, working model of Auxiliary Warning System, etc. have been beautifully displayed.
Heritage Gallery 01.jpg, A view of Heritage Gallery, at Western Railway Headquarters, Churchgate, Mumbai Heritage Gallery 02.jpg, Heritage Gallery of Western Railway at Churchgate, Mumbai Heritage Gallery 03.jpg, Artifacts displayed in the gallery Heritage Gallery 04.jpg, Model of steam engine on display The gallery gives an insight about the development of lines on Western Region of India. The BB&CI map dating back to 1930s shows us that the Western line started from Mumbai via Vadodara, Ratlam connected GIP Railway at Mathura to reach Delhi and further Peshawar. The ''Frontier Mail'' (''Golden Temple Mail'') used to run up to Peshawar. The Gallery is open for public free of cost during working hours and on special occasions.

Major routes

Major stations

Loco sheds

* Electric Loco Shed, Vadodara * Electric Loco Shed, Valsad *

Diesel Loco Shed, Vatva Diesel Loco Shed, Vatva is an engine shed located in Vatva, Gujarat in India. It is located north-east of falling under Ahmedabad railway division. The shed caters to the need of freight as well as passenger trains. It is one of the three d ...

Diesel Loco Shed, Sabarmati Diesel Loco Shed, Sabarmati is an locomotive maintenance shed located in Sabarmati, Gujarat in India. It is located east of Sabarmati falling under Ahmedabad railway division. The shed caters to the needs of freight as well as passenger train ...

* Diesel Loco Shed, Ratlam * Diesel Loco Shed, Gandhidham * Diesel Loco Shed, Mhow (NG loco shed) * Diesel Loco Shed, Pratapnagar (NG loco shed)

References

External links

Official site

Western railway Suburban Timetable (Mumbai Zone) 2017 Edition

Detailed Mumbai Local Train Time Table

Detailed Mumbai Local Train Time Table (Mobile)

Official Western Railway Mumbai Suburban Timetables
{{Railways in Western India 1951 establishments in Bombay State Zones of Indian Railways