Industry Railways Headquarters Mumbai Defunct 1951 | Services Rail transport Founded 1855 | |
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Area served Bombay Presidency and Rajasthan | ||
The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing a railway line between Bombay and Vadodara in India. BB&CI completed the work in 1864. The first suburban railway in India was started by BB&CI, operating between Virar and Colaba, a railway station in Bombay Backbay in 1867. The main headquarters of the BB&CI Railway was located in Churchgate, Bombay and the headquarters and workshops for the metre gauge tracks and services was located in Ajmer.
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Electrification
The Colaba-Borivali section (37.8 km) was electrified on 5 January 1928 on the 1.5 kV DC system. The two tracks between Colaba and Grant Road stations were electrified, while four tracks between Grant Road and Bandra railway stations were electrified. Only two suburban tracks between Bandra and Borivli were electrified in 1928, two main tracks were left for the steam locomotives. In 1933, Colaba railway station and two electrified tracks between Colaba and Churchgate railway stations were dismantled. In 1936, electrification was extended to the two main tracks between Bandra and Borivali railway stations, left earlier and the two main tracks between Borivali and Virar railway stations were also electrified, resulting in completion of the electrification of the Churchgate-Virar section.
Later developments
In 1949, after independence of India, Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway was merged in to Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway by Government of India.
Around 1910, Bagol initially was the only railway station on proposed Udaipur–Phulad Railway line by Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI). Unfortunately due to some Government planning the work of extending the railway line via Bagol was stopped, though the railway building still exists in Bagol which is now under the Forest Department.
On 5 November 1951 the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway was merged with the Saurashtra Railway, Rajputana Railway, Jaipur Railway and Cutch State Railway to give rise to the Western Railway.
1982 film Gandhi
The railway is featured in many travel scenes in the 1982 film which tells the story of the leader of India's independence movement Gandhi played by the actor Ben Kingsley.