Thul Ghat

Thul Ghat (incline) is a series of mountain slopes in the Western Ghats traversed by this line. From Kalyan to Kasara, the line covers a length of 42 mi (68 km) and rises to an altitude of 948 ft (289 m) above sea level at Kasara. The next section from Kasara to Igatpuri is 9.5 mi (15 km) across Thul Ghat and within that distance the line rises from 289 ft (88 m) to 1,918 ft (585 m) the gradient in the section being 1:37.^[2] The line negotiates this steep incline with the help of curves. The Ehegaon viaduct along this line is 719 ft (219 m) long and 180 ft (55 m) high.^[2] 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."^[2]

Main line

The first train in India traveled from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai, then known as Boribunder, to Thane on 16 April 1853. Within about a year Great Indian Peninsula Railway connected the Mumbai–Thane line to Kalyan. Service up to Igatpuri (across the Thul Ghat) was started in 1865. Before that, Bhusawal station was set up in 1860 and most of the line between Bhusawal and Igatpuri was laid in 1861-62 but the line was activated in mid-1860s, after completion of the line across Thul Ghat.^[2][5][6]

Branch lines

The 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Tapti Valley Railway linked Surat, on the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, to the Great Indian Peninsula system at Amalner in the Khandesh region, in 1900.^[7][8] It was one of the railways set up by Killick Nixon Limited.^[9]

The 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Manmad–Daund line was opened in 1878 and connects the two main sections (the south-east and north east) of GIPR. The line is being doubled.^[10][11]

The Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways opened the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge Manmad–Secunderabad line (not shown in the route chart) in 1900.^[7]

The 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Chalisgaon–Dhule line was opened in 1900.^[12]

The Pachora–Jamner 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge line was opened by Central Province Railway in 1919.^[7]

Shirdi

The 17.5 km (11 mi)-long 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)-wide broad-gauge Puntamba-Shirdi link, connecting Shirdi to the Manmad–Daund branch line was completed in 2009.^[13] The Manmad–Puntamba–Sainagar Shirdi line was electrified in 2011–12.^[14]

New lines

Indian Railways have cleared the construction of Manmad–Indore and Nashik–Pune new lines after sixteen years of active lobbying.^[15][16]

Railway reorganisation

The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was taken over by the state in 1925.^[17] In 1951, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway, the Scindia State Railways and the Dholpur Railways were merged to form Central Railway. In the same year, the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, the Saurashtra Railway, the Rajasthan Railway, the Jaipur Railway and the Cutch State Railway were merged to form Western Railway.^[18]