The Ahmedabad–Udaipur Line is a railway route of both the Western and North Western Railway zones of the Indian Railways. It plays an important role in short-connectivity transport, reaching to North India and Eastern India from Gujarat and the coastal areas of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
With a stretch of , this corridor passes through the Aravalli Ranges of North Gujarat and the Udaipur division of Rajasthan, where there are zinc and phosphate mines in Zawar and Umra, making it a direct and important mineral transportation route to the rest of India.
Routes and divisions This mainline route is divided into two sections: The first section is of Ahmedabad–Himmatnagar Junction, with the length of , comes under the jurisdiction of Western Railways. The second section is Himmatnagar Junction–Udaipur City, with a length of , comes under the jurisdiction of North Western Railways.Western Railways, Retrieved 16 August 2020
It also contains two branch lines of this corridor; both come in the Western Railways zone. These are: The first branch line is Himmatnagar Junction–Khed Bramha with a length of The second branch line is Nadiad–Kapadvanj–Modasa Branch line with the length of
History The Ahmedabad–Himmatnagar metre-gauge railway line was opened in 1897 by Ahmedabad–Parantij Railway Co. in three phases: Ahmedabad–Talod, Talod–Prantij and Prantij–Himatnagar; all in the same year. Later it was extended from Himmatnagar to Khed Bramha in 1911. This gave a total length of from Ahmedabad to Khedbrahma."Summary of the principal measures of the viceroyalty of the Earl of Elgin in the Public Works Department Jan 1894 to Dec 1898" p.20
In 1956 the survey and construction of a Himmatnagar–Udaipur line, also a metre-gauge railway line, was started; rail operations began in 1961 with flagging off Delhi Sarai Rohilla–Ahmedabad Express for direct connection to Delhi and Udaipur from Ahmedabad via Himmatnagar.RailBudget 1956-57, Retrieved 15 August 2020Rail Budget 1961-62, Retrieved 15 August 2020
The branch-line of Nadiad–Kapadvanj, a narrow-gauge railway section, was opened on 5 March 1913 by Guzerat Railway Company, with a length of .Indian Railway Board History and Progress In 1992, it was converted to broad gauge and in the same year the survey and construction of Kapadvanj–Modasa section, an extension of the branch line, was started with a planned length of .Government of India, Retrieved 15 August 2020 It was halted for two decades, with construction only revived in 2000; it became operational on 28 October 2002, with a total length of and direct connections to Nadiad.Rail Budget 2001-02, Retrieved 15 August 2020Rail Budget 2013-14, Retrieved 15 August 2020
Gauge conversion The broad-gauge conversion of the whole mainline from Udaipur to Ahmedabad is complete. Ongoing conversion of the branch lines, jointly carried out by Western Railways and North Western Railways, commenced 1 January 2017.Western Railways, Retrieved 15 August 2020
On 1 January 2017, the rail service is suspended for gauge conversion of Himmatnagar–Khedbrahma branch line. In June 2022, were allocated for the project. The project was inaugurated on 18 June 2022 and was completed by August 2025.
The Modasa–Shamlaji rail line with a length of is under construction this will connect the Nadiad–Modasa branch line with the Ahmedabad–Udaipur mainline, shortening the routes of Mumbai, Ahmedabad and the rest of Gujarat to North India, with additional direct passenger services.deshgujarat.com, Retrieved 15 August 2015
In this joint project, the first section of the mainline from the Western Railways zone side was fully converted into broad gauge; DEMU (diesel-electrical multiple unit) trains started running on the route from 15 October 2019.Western Railways, Retrieved 15 August 2020 The broad-gauge conversion was completed on 10 August 2022, but trains are yet to start. There has as yet been no official inauguration.
Current broad-gauge trains Post completion of the broad-gauge (BG) line, Indian Railways is running a small number of trains on this line, with may be expanded later. Trains currently running on this line are as follows: 12981/12982 Jaipur–Asarva Superfast Express (daily) formerly the 9659/60 Lake City Express 19703/19704 Asarva–Udaipur Express (daily) 19821/19822 Kota–Asarva Express (bi-weekly) 19315/19316 Veer Bhumi Chittaurgarh Express (daily) 09543/09544 Asarva–Chittaurgarh DEMU (daily)
Expected route extensions or re-introductions Trains which are slated for extension or re-introduction in the near-future are: 12315/12316 Ananya Express extension to Asarva 12963/12964 Mewar Express extension to Asarva 20971/20972 Shalimar–Udaipur Express extension to Asarva 19943/19944 Ahmedabad–Udaipur Express: reintroduced as Okha–Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express 19911/19912 Ahmedabad–Udaipur Express: reintroduced as Mumbai–Udaipur Express Ahmedabad–Delhi Express (new) Udaipur–Chennai Express (new)
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