Miraj Junction railway station (station code:- MRJ) is an important railway station in the city of Miraj, Maharashtra. The Pune – Yeshwantpur railway line passes through Miraj where it meets the Miraj – Kolhapur branch line. The Miraj - Nagpur section starts at Miraj and passes through towns such as Pandharpur, Kurduvadi, Barshi, Latur, Parli Vaijnath and Dharashiv. It is also a major Junction on Mumbai - Miraj - Bangalore line and Miraj - Nagpur line (via Kurduvadi, Dharashiv, Purna and Nanded.
The number of platforms is 6. The number of trains that halt there is 58. The number of trains that originate there is 9.
The number of trains which terminate there is 9.
The total number of trains is 80.
Rani Chennamma Express
The Rani Chennamma express runs from Miraj junction railway station to Bangalore City railway station and is one of the most prestigious trains of the South Western Railway. The train covers an average distance of 749 km, operating on a daily basis. The train also ran from Bengaluru to Miraj Junction as Kittur Express during the Meter gauge Era.
The Rani Chennamma Express is commonly referred to as the "Queen of South Western Railways" with train number 16589/90. Due to congestion at Miraj, this train's route was extended to Sangli Railway Station recently.
Miraj - Hazrat Nizamuddin Darshan SF Express.
The Darshan Express (Miraj Jn - Hazrat Nizamuddin) was initially started between Pune & Delhi due to Single line constraints between Pune & Miraj. Then, post-doubling, electrification & demands, the train was extended to Miraj Junction with halts at Jejuri, Satara, Karad & Sangli on a weekly basis.
Miraj - Bikaner weekly superfast express Miraj - Bikaner weekly superfast express is a superfast express train connecting Miraj to Bikaner. The train starts its journey from Miraj every Tuesday at 14.25 PM and reaches Bikaner on Wednesday at 20.40 PM. En route, it stops at Sangli, Kirloskarwadi, Karad, Satara, Lonand, Pune, Lonavala, Kalyan, Vasai road, etc.
History The Miraj station, which is run by the Central Railway, has been established in the history of the Southern Maratha Railway Company. Railway lines were constructed between Koregaon and Miraj in June 1887 by the Southern Maratha Railway Company. Soon after the success of the railway on this route, the Miraj to Belgaum railway was constructed in December 1887. As the importance of the Miraj station in the Sangli district came to the attention of the South Maratha Railway Company, the company decided to rapidly expand the Miraj station and the trains running through this route.
The Southern Maratha Railway was merged with the Madras Railway Company. Indian Railways took over the railway system from Madras Railway in 1944, but the Government of India had to wait until 1949 to take over the system in Miraj because during that time the Miraj-Kolhapur railway line was being run by Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, and the Miraj-Sangli railway line was being run by Patwardhan Sarkar of Sangli. After the merging of the institutions, both railway stations were taken over by the Government of India. In 1952, a start was made for the reorganization of the railways. After that, various departments of railways were established to expand the railways. Accordingly, both Miraj and Kolhapur stations were given to the then South-Central Railway. At the same time, the Pune-Bangalore, Miraj-Sangli, and Miraj-Kolhapur meter gauge railway lines were given to the South Central Railway, and the Miraj-Latur narrow gauge railway line was given to the Central Railway. After that, the development of the expansion of the railway in Miraj has slowed down. The Miraj to Koregaon rail line was completed in June 1887, and the Koregaon to Pune line in November 1890.
The Londa to Belgaum railway was started in 1887 and the Belgaum Miraj railway was started in December 1887. As the number of passengers on the railway increased gradually, the trains were also expanded.
The task of creating an identity for Miraj railway station was done by the then South Central and now South Western Railways. The Miraj railway station was included in the Central Railway to further the mainstreaming of the Miraj station on the Maharashtra border.
Miraj has been known for its Geographical location feasibility and excellent connectivity through Rail and Roadways centrally located in many Districts of Maharashtra & Karnataka.
A new railway line from Kudachi to Bagalkote is under construction to further develop railway connectivity from Miraj to important cities of Karnataka like Vijayapura/Bijapur, Bagalkote, Jamkhandi, Athani, Gadag due to huge footfall of Passengers to Miraj for Medical Treatments.
Major trains The train which originates from Miraj Junction are :
● Miraj Junction–Hazrat Nizamuddin Darshan Superfast Express (12493/12494)
● Miraj–Hubballi Express (17331/17332)
Background Before 1994, Miraj had a unique combination of three different gauges:
Miraj-Pune and Miraj-Kolhapur, both with broad gauge lines, Miraj-Bangalore meter gauge line, Miraj-Pandharpur-Latur narrow gauge line.
By 2008, the entire Latur–Miraj section was converted from narrow gauge to broad gauge, linking Miraj with Solapur and beyond. After the gauge conversion was completed, Miraj only had broad gauge lines.
Miraj had a Steam loco shed in the past near the current Miraj- Bangalore line. Locomotives of the Miraj loco shed ran up to Dharmawaram. After the steam Locomotives were discontinued from service in the '90s, the Miraj loco shed was permanently closed. Trains like Bangalore Mail, Poona Mail, Kittur Express, Mandovi MG Express, Gomantak MG Express, Goa Express, and Koyna Express originated From Miraj Junction.
Currently, the Rani Chennamma Express still originates from Miraj Junction railway station. Miraj junction has facilities for coach maintenance and locomotive maintenance. All DEMU trains of Miraj-Kolhapur, Miraj-Pune, Miraj-Parali, Miraj-Satara, and Miraj-Kurduwadi routs are maintained here.
Jaldoot water train
Due to the drought the Latur city faced for three consecutive years, the summer of 2016 presented itself with extreme scarcity of water. To overcome this issue, a joint project was then requested by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. After further research, and many changes in plan, Miraj was chosen to transport water to Latur from 342 km. The "Jaldoot" train made its first experimental run on 11 April 2016, carrying 10 tanker wagons, each filled with 50,000 liters of water.
Trains Haltings at Miraj Jn. +Train No.NameArrival Time Arrival DayCategory 20669SSS Hubbali - Pune Vande Bharat09:05Su, W, FVB20673SCSMT Kolhapur - Pune Vande Bharat09:05M, T, SVB20670Pune - SSS Hubbali Vande Bharat18:40M, T, SVB20674Pune - SCSMT Kolhapur Vande Bharat18:40Su, W, FVB22497Shri Ganganagar - Tiruchchirappalli Humsafar Express00:45WHms22498Tiruchchirappalli - Shri Ganganagar Humsafar Express02:35SHms19668Palace Queen Humsafar Express MYF - UDZ02:35FHms19667Palace Queen Humsafar Express UDZ - MYF23:35THms12629Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express (Via Pune)03:25W, FSKR12630Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express (Via Pune)16:30T, SSKR22685Yesvantpur - Chandigarh Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express03:25Su, TSKR22686Chandigarh - Yesvantpur Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express16:30Su, WSKR12779Goa Express10:40All DaysSF12780Goa Express10:40All DaysSF12147SCSMT Kolhapur - Hazrat Nizamuddin SF Express10:15TSF12148Hazrat Nizamuddin - SCSMT Kolhapur SF Express12:00FSF22156SCSMT Kolhapur - Kalaburagi SF Express16:30All DaysSF22155Kalaburagi - SCSMT Kolhapur SF Express12:40All DaysSF12781Mysuru - Hazrat Nizamuddin Swarna Jayanti SF Express10:15SSF12782Hazrat Nizamuddin - Mysuru Swarna Jayanti SF Express12:15TSF11049Ahmedabad - SCSMT Kolhapur Superfast Express13:05MExp11050SCSMT Kolhapur - Ahmedabad Express14:35SExp16589Rani Chennamma Express SBC-SLI12:30All DaysExp16590Rani Chennamma Express SLI - SBC15:20All daysExp11097Pune - Ernakulam Jn Poorna Express04:05SuExp11098Ernakulam Jn - Pune Poorna Express17:30TExp16542Pandharpur - Yesvantpur Weekly Express16:15FExp16541Yesvantpur -Pandharpur Weekly Express08:40FExp11045SCSMT Kolhapur - Dhanbad Weekly Express05:40FExp11046Dhanbad - SCSMT Kolhapur Weekly Express11:25WExp11403Nagpur - SCSMT Kolhapur Express11:55Su, WExp11404SCSMT Kolhapur - Nagpur Express13:50M, FExp17411CSMT - SCSMT Mahalaxmi Express05:35All DaysExp17412SCSMT - CSMT Mahalaxmi Express21:50All daysExp17317SSS Hubballi - Dadar Central Express21:55All daysExp17318Dadar Central - SSS Hubballi Express05:35All daysExp11029SCSMT - CSMT Koyna Express18:52All daysExp11030CSMT - SCSMT Koyna Express09:22All daysExp11022Tirunelveli - Dadar Central Chalukya Express (Via Yesvantpur)20:40T, F, SExp11021Dadar Central - Tirunelveli Chalukya Express (Via Yesvantpur)06:45Su, W, TExp17415TPTY - SCSMT Haripriya Express15:00All daysExp17416SCSMT - TPTY Haripriya Express13:10All daysExp11036MYS - DR Sharavati Express20:40SuExp11035DR - MYS Sharavati Express06:45FExp16505Gandhidham - KSR Bengaluru Express07:40WExp16506KSR Bengaluru - Gandhidham Express12:40SuExp16210Mysuru - Ajmer Express12:40FExp16209Ajmer - Mysuru Express07:40M, SExp16532KSR Bengaluru - Ajmer Garib Nawaz Express12:40SExp16531Ajmer - KSR Bengaluru Garib Nawaz Express07:40TExp11040Gondia - SCSMT Maharashtra Express09:45All DaysExp11039SCSMT - Gondia Maharashtra Express15:45All DaysExp16533Bhagat ki Kothi - KSR Bengaluru Express (Via Guntakal)07:40TExp16534KSR Bengaluru - Bhagat ki Kothi Express (Via Guntakal)12:40MExp11006Puducherry - Dadar Central Express20:40M, W, TExp11005Dadar Central - Puducherry Express06:45M, T, SExp01024SCSMT Kolhapur Special Fare Special - Pune Jn. 00:37All DaysExp01023Pune Jn. - SCSMT Kolhapur Special Fare Special03:17All DaysExp11027Dadar Central - Satara Express11:05M, T, SExp11028Satara - Dadar Central Express Via Kurduwadi18:25M, T, SExp11426SCSMT Kolhapur - Pune DEMU Express06:10All DaysDEMU11425Pune - SCSMT DEMU Express18:00All DaysDEMU71423Satara - SCSMT Kolhapur DEMU Special18:08All DaysDEMU71424SCSMT Kolhapur - Satara DEMU Special18:05All DaysDEMU71430SCSMT Kolhapur - Sangli DEMU Special19:48All DaysDEMU
Connecting Major Cities
Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Ahemdabad, Bangalore,Delhi, Hubballi, Chandigarh, Ernakulam, Ajmer, Jodhpur,Puducherry, Dhanbad, Vasco, Mangalore,Udaipur, Mysuru, Tirupati And More As of 2023, Miraj is the Highest revenue-generating Railway station under the A1 category of Pune Division after Pune & Falls.
After completing the doubling and electrification of the entire Pune-Miraj-Bangaluru line, many new trains will start from Miraj towards Chennai, Nanded, Howrah, Mangalore, etc.
Station Expectation/lack of Facility Miraj railway station is always neglected by the railways. No new trains have started from the Miraj railway station in the last several years. In addition, no new trains have been extended to Miraj.
Hubbli Division is desperate due to the indifference of Pune Division
A large number of passengers travel from Miraj railway station on all four routes namely Pune, Solapur, Belgaum, and Kolhapur. Passengers are facing inconvenience as railway trains are not available. Because of this, the expansion of railway trains along with the introduction of new railway trains has been the demand of railway passenger organizations including the Miraj Railway Action Committee for the last several years.
Miraj junction will be developed as a Model station under the Amrut Bharat Station Scheme. RLDA is looking this project.
References