Central Railway

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For information about the company in the UK called Central Railway see Central Railway (UK)

The Central Railway is one of the 16 zones of Indian Railways, and is one of the largest. Its headquarters are in Mumbai at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus). It also has the distinction of including the first passenger railway line in India, which opened from Bombay to Thane on April 16, 1853.

Some major cities that fall under the Central Railway zonal jurisdiction are:

The railway covers a large part of the state of Maharashtra, as well as parts of north-east Karnataka and southern Madhya Pradesh. It is organized into five divisions: Bhusawal division, Mumbai CST division, Solapur division, and Pune division.

The Central Railway was formed on November 5, 1951 by grouping several government-owned railways, including the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, and the Scindia State Railway of the former princely state of Gwalior.

The Central Railway zone formerly covered northern Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states, and portions of southern Uttar Pradesh, which made it the largest railway zone in India in terms of area, track mileage or manpower. These areas became the new West Central Railway zone in April 2003.

To find out more about Central Railway please contact CPRO, Central Railway, CST Mumbai.

1 The Matheran Line
2 Notable Trains
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] The Matheran Line

Constructed in 1907, The Central Railway's narrow gauge Matheran line connects Neral on the Mumbai-Pune main line with the hill station of Matheran in the Western Ghats, east of Mumbai. Neral is linked to Mumbai's famous Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) by frequent suburban electric trains. The steam engines have now been replaced by diesel locomotives but it is still a pleasurable journey. The route is noted for its sharp curves.