The Central Railway (abbreviated CR) is one of the 18 zones of Indian Railways. Its headquarters are located at Mumbai. It has the distinction of operating the first passenger railway line in India, which opened from Mumbai to Thane on .
History The railway zone was formed on 5 November 1951 by grouping several government-owned railways, including the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the Scindia State Railway of the former princely state of Gwalior, Nizam State Railway, Wardha Coal State Railway and the Dholpur State Railway.Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, p.42
The Central Railway zone formerly included large parts of Madhya Pradesh and part of southern Uttar Pradesh, which made it the largest railway zone in India in terms of area, track mileage and staff. These areas became the new West Central Railway zone in April 2003.
The Central Railway General Manager's official residence (erstwhile GIPR agent's residence), 'Glenogle'-a Grade II-B heritage bungalow, is located on Bhausaheb Hire Marg (Mount Pleasant Road), adjacent to the Maharashtra Chief minister's official residence 'Varsha' in Malabar Hill, Mumbai.
Routes
Main Lines in the Central Railway zone
Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line (upto Nagpur Jn.) Mumbai–Chennai line (upto Wadi Jn.) Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line (upto Khandwa Jn.) New Delhi–Chennai line (from Itarsi Jn. to Ballarshah) Pune–Miraj–Londa line (upto Miraj Jn.) Mumbai-Diva-Panvel-Roha line
One of the oldest and important railway project of central railway zone was Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project, which was in planning stage since British regime. It was referred to as 3rd ghat project. A survey was carried out in 1973, 2000, 2006, 2014 etc, and the project was in the Railways Board pink book in 2010, but the project stalled. The alignment length of this project was 184 km, and it could have been the shortest route for Marathwada, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The major challenge for this project is 18.96 km long tunnel in the Malshej Ghat section. Malshej Kruti Samiti is pursuing for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. The Kalyan-Murbad section, which is the first phase of this project, is already under survey stage.
Branch lines of the Central Railway zone
Vasai Road–Roha line Harbour line (Mumbai Suburban Railway) Trans-Harbour line (Mumbai Suburban Railway) Port line (Mumbai Suburban Railway) Central line (Mumbai Suburban Railway) Panvel-Karjat Railway Corridor Pune Suburban Railway Daund-Manmad branch line Chalisgaon-Dhule branch line Manmad-Secunderabad branch line Pune-Baramati branch line Puntamba-Shirdi branch line Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli Vaijnath branch line Lonand-Phaltan branch line Miraj-Kolhapur branch line Miraj-Kurduwadi branch line Kurduwadi-Latur Road branch line Jalamb-Khamgaon branch line Badnera-Narkhed branch line Badnera-Amravati branch line Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded branch line (operational only upto Kalamb as of June 2025) Amla-Chhindwara branch line (excluding Chhindwara Jn.)
Connections Central railway zone connects to other Zones of Indian railways as at:
Western Railway Zone Mumbai WR division
Mahim Dadar Vasai Road Jalgaon Junction Bandra railway station
Konkan Railway Zone Roha
South Central Railway zone Secunderabad railway division Balharshah Latur Road
Guntakal Railway Division Wadi Jn
Nanded railway division Pimpal Khuti Akola Jn Khandwa Jn Ankai Jn (Manmad-Secunderabad)
South East Central Railway zone Nagpur SEC railway division Nagpur Jn Chhindwara Jn
South Western Railway zone Hubballi railway division Hotgi Jn - For Pune-Solapur-Vijayapura-Gadag line. Miraj Jn - For Miraj-Londa-Bangalore line
Western Central Railway zone Bhopal division Itarsi Jn Khandwa Jn
Matheran Hill Railway Constructed in 1907, the narrow-gauge Matheran Hill Railway connects Neral on the Mumbai CSMT-Chennai main line with the hill station of Matheran in the Western Ghats, east of Mumbai. Neral is linked to Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus by frequent suburban trains. Steam engines have now been replaced by diesel locomotives. The route is noted for its sharp curves.
Divisions Mumbai CR railway division Solapur railway division Bhusawal railway division Pune railway division Nagpur CR railway division
Organisation The central railway covers a large part of the state of Maharashtra and small part of Southern Madhya Pradesh and North-Eastern Karnataka. It is organized into five divisions: Mumbai, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Solapur and Pune. The details of the network by division are as follows
Mumbai Division
Mumbai CSMT-Dadar-Kurla-Thane (Central line) Mumbai CSMT-Wadala Road-Kurla (Harbour line) Wadala Road-Bandra-Andheri-Goregaon (Inclusive) Kurla-Trombay (Goods) Kurla-Vashi-Nerul-Panvel (Harbour line) Thane-Turbhe-Vashi/Nerul (Trans-Harbour line) Thane-Diva Jn-Kalyan Jn (Central line) Diva Jn-Panvel-Roha Panvel-Jasai-Uran Jasai-JNPT Diva Jn-Vasai Road Kalyan Jn-Kasara-Igatpuri (Inclusive) Kalyan Jn-Neral Jn-Karjat-Lonavala (Inclusive) Neral Jn-Matheran (narrow-gauge) Karjat-Panvel Karjat-Khopoli
Malshej Kriti Samiti is following for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-Murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.
Pune Division
Lonavala-Pune Jn-Daund Jn Pune Jn-Satara-Karad-Sangli-Miraj Jn-Kolhapur Daund Jn -Baramati Phaltan - Baramati (to be completed by 2022) Pune Jn-Rajgurunagar-Sangamner-Sinnar-Nashik Road (Project Scrapped) Karad-Chiplun (scrapped)
Nagpur Division
Badnera Jn (Exclude)-Pulgaon Jn-Wardha Jn-Butibori Jn-Nagpur Jn Pulgaon Jn-Arvi (narrow-gauge) Butobori Jn-Umrer Sewagram-Majri Jn-Tadali Jn-Chandrapur-Balharshah Jn (include) Wardha Jn-Chitoda Jn (on Sewagram-Balharshah line) Majri Jn-Wani Jn-Pimpalkutti Wani Jn-Rajur Tadali Jn-Ghugus Balharshah Jn-Chanda Fort Nagpur-Amla Jn-Itarsi Jn (exclude) Amla Junction-Chhindwara(exclude)
Solapur Division
Manmad (exclude)-Ahmednagar-Daund Jn Daund Jn-Solapur Miraj Jn (exclude)-Pandharpur-Kurudwadi Jn-Barshi-Latur-Latur Road (excluding) SolapurJn-Hotgi Jn-Gulbarga-Wadi Jn (Include)
Bhusawal Division
Manmad-Indore (project scrapped) Bhusawal-Badnera-Nagpur (exclude) Bhusawal-Khandwa-Itarsi (exclude) Jalgaon-Nandurbar-Udhna (exclude) Chalisgaon-Dhule Khamgaon - Jalamb Pachora-Jamner Manmad-Aurangabad (exclude) Manmad-Daund (exclude) Mandmad-Nasik-Igatpuri (exclude) Akola-Nanded (exclude)
The number of stations category-wise under these five railway divisions under the Central Railway Zones are as follows (as of 2008) : A-1 : 7, A : 20, B : 10, C : 80, D : 45, E : 221, F : 93, Total : 476
Ongoing projects New lines Solapur Jn -Tuljapur- Osmanabad. (New Rail Line survey completed but work yet to start) Nanded - Yavatmal - Wardha. (Work under process) Ashti-Parli Vaijnath line (work under progress). Ahmednagar-Ashti 67 km completed. (Project :- Ahmedanagar- Beed - Parli) Phaltan - Baramati (approved, but work yet to start) Kolhapur-Vaibhavwadi line (survey under progress) Aurangabad-Shani shingnapur-Ahmednagar line (survey completed, but work yet to start) Khamgaon-Jalna (survey completed, but work yet to start) Latur-Latur Road-Ahmedpur-Nanded (survey completed, but work yet to start) Latur Road-Jalkot-Mukhed-Biloli-Bodhan (announced but not yet taken up) Latur-Ausa-Nilanga-Omerga-Aland-Gulbarga (survey under progress)
Doubling Bhigvan-Gulbarga (Doubling completed) Pune-Miraj-Londa-Hubli (Doubling in progress) Panvel-Karjat Karjat-Khopoli
Tripling Kalyan-Kasara Kalyan-Karjat Sewagram Jn-Balharshah Jn
Quadrupling Nagpur-Wardha Manmad-Igatpuri
Hexupling Mumbai CSMT-Kalyan
Trains
Some of the major trains operated by Central Railway zone are as follows:
Number Train Name Starting Station Terminating Station22221/22222Mumbai CSMT–Hazrat Nizamuddin CR Rajdhani ExpressMumbai CSMTHazrat Nizamuddin.12123/12124Deccan QueenMumbai CSMTPune Jn.12137/12138Punjab MailMumbai CSMTFirozpur Cantt.12859/12860Gitanjali ExpressMumbai CSMTHowrah Jn.12071/12072Mumbai CSMT-Jalna Jan Shatabdi ExpressMumbai CSMTJalna.12321/12322Howrah–Mumbai CSMT Mail (via Gaya)Mumbai CSMTHowrah Jn.12809/12810Howrah–Mumbai CSMT Mail (via Nagpur)Mumbai CSMTHowrah Jn.11035/11036Sharavati ExpressDadarMysuru Jn.11085/11086Lokmanya Tilak Terminus - Madgaon AC Double Decker ExpressKurla LTTMadgaon Jn.12289/12290Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus - Nagpur Duronto Express Mumbai CSMTNagpur.22107/221078Latur Express Mumbai CSMT Latur.11301/11302Udyan ExpressMumbai CSMTKSR Bengaluru City12025/12026Pune - Secunderabad Shatabdi ExpressPuneSecunderabad Jn.12051/12052Mumbai CSMT–Madgaon Jan Shatabdi ExpressCSMTMadgaon Jn.12113/12114Pune–Nagpur Garib Rath ExpressPuneNagpur Jn.12115/12116Siddheshwar ExpressMumbai CSMTSolapur22119/22120Mumbai CSMT - Madgaon Tejas ExpressMumbai CSMTMadgaon 12105/12106Vidarbha ExpressMumbai CSMTGondia Jn.11039/11040Maharashtra ExpressKolhapur SCSMTGondia Jn.12109/12110Panchvati ExpressMumbai CSMTManmad11061/11062Pawan ExpressLokmanya Tilak Terminus Jaynagar.11023/11024Sahyadri ExpressMumbai CSMTKolhapur SCSMT11027/11028Mumbai Chennai MailMumbai CSMTChennai Central12261/12262Mumbai CSMT–Howrah Duronto ExpressMumbai CSMTHowrah11019/11020Konark ExpressMumbai CSMTBhubaneswar New22159/22160Mumbai CSMT–Chennai ExpressMumbai CSMTPulatachi Thalaivar MG Ramchandran Chennai Central11021/11022Dadar- Tirunelveli Chalukya ExpressDadar Central (DR)Tirunelveli Junction11005/11006Dadar–Puducherry Chalukya ExpressDadar Central (DR)Puducherry Junction
Loco sheds Electric Loco Shed, Ajni Electric Loco Shed, Kalyan Electric Loco Shed, Bhusawal Diesel Loco Shed, Pune Diesel Loco Shed, Kalyan Diesel Loco Shed, Kurla Electric Loco Shed, Daund
See also All India Station Masters' Association (AISMA) Zones and divisions of Indian Railways Mumbai Suburban Railway Indian Railways Carriage Repair Workshop, Lower Parel, Mumbai Konkan Railway Corporation
References
External links Bhusawal Division
CENTRAL Railway local Train Timetable Detailed Mumbai Local Train Time Table / Mumbai Local Railways Latest Vacancies