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Central Railway
History
The history of Central Railway runs parallel to the history of Railroads in India. The first train to run on Indian soil was from Bori Bunder Station in Mumbai (then Bombay) which was later rebuilt as Victoria Terminus, the architectural copy of Victoria Station in London. Now Victoria Terminus, renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is the headquarters of Central Railway.
The Rail Company that began as Great Indian Peninsular (G I P) Railway laid the first line from Mumbai to Thane, a distance of 34 kms in 1853. The lines extended to Kalyan (20 kms) in a year. Many hurdles were surmounted as the Western Ghats were traversed and the lines extended in the south-eastern direction to Pune and Solapur and the north-eastern direction to Igatpuri and Bhusaval . The laying of lines in such difficult terrain was an unparalleled feat over 150 years ago. From then on it was rapid progress as GIP Railways was rechristened, restructured and reorganized as Central Railway over a period of more than a century.
Present Status
As a pioneer and leader in passenger and freight traffic, Central Railway has played a pivotal role in the progress of the country. Now the Central Railway network spans 3905.47 route kms and 5975.33 track kms with 476 stations over 5 divisions across three major states; Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka.
The passenger network of Central Railway includes the Mumbai Suburban line which is the life line for metro carrying more than 30 lakh commuters every day. More than 1200 suburban trains also called ‘locals’ serve 73 stations. Some local trains are also extended to the Pune- Lonavla section. The Neral -Matheran Light Rail service started in 1905, is also run by Central Railway.
Central Railway carries over 4 lakh passengers daily to destinations within its scope through about 548 mail/express/passenger trains. All major industries such as Steel, Cement,, Fertilizer, Refineries etc. are serviced by the railway with freight traffic carrying Food Grains and other Agricultural products, Salt, Fertilizers, Petroleum etc
For Administrative purposes there are 5 divisions of the Central Railway. They are:
- Mumbai
- Bhusaval
- Pune
- Nagpur
- Solapur
Since the headquarters of Central Railway are located in Mumbai most of the maintenance workshops for this premier railway are situated in Mumbai.
- Loco Workshop, Parel, Mumbai
- Carriage & Wagon Workshop, Matunga, Mumbai
- Tank Wagon Workshop, Kurla, Mumbai
- Signal & Telecommunication Workshop, Byculla, Mumbai
However, some divisions and subdivisions other than Mumbai also have important maintenance workshops such as:
- Electrical Loco Workshop, Bhusaval
- Traction Machine Workshop, Nasik Road
- Mechanical Workshop (NG), Kurduwadi
- Central Engineering Workshop, Manmad