Status Operational Owner Indian Railway | Locale Thar desert, Rajasthan | |
Termini Marwar Junction
Munabao Opened 1902; 115 years ago (1902) as metre gauge
2004; 13 years ago (2004) as broad gauge Operator(s) North Western Railway zone | ||
The Marwar Junction–Munabao line connects Marwar Junction, on the Jaipur-Ahmedabad line to Munabao, the last station in India, on the India-Pakistan border. Both are in the Indian state of Rajasthan. There is a link to Jodhpur. This line operates under the jurisdiction of North Western Railway zone.
Contents
History
A 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) wide metre gauge line from Marwar Junction to Pali was built for the Rajputana-Malwa Railway in 1882. It was extended to Luni in 1884 and Jodhpur in 1885. It formed the first Jodhpur Railway. It later became part of Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway.
A metre gauge line from Luni to Shadipalli, in Sind, was built across the Thar desert in 1902 by Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway and the line from Shadipalli to Hyderabad (now in Pakistan) was regauged.
Gauge conversion
The Luni-Barmer-Munabao section was converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) wide broad gauge in 2004.
The Jodhpur-Luni-Marwar Junction sector has been converted to broad gauge.
Border crossing
According to a 1929 issue of the Railway Gazette, the Sind Mail used to run on this route between Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, Sind. The route was in use with through services between Jodhpur and Karachi till around 1965. On the Pakistan side, Khokhrapar was the terminus of a metre gauge branch line from Hyderabad, Sind via Mirpur Khas, 135 km from the border.
The rail link across Munabao-Khokhrapar border was restored in 2006. It reduced considerably the travel distance and time for people travelling to and from southern parts of Pakistan, particularly Mohajirs in Sind, and central and southern India. They otherwise would have had to use the longer route via Wagah-Attari. As per the agreement between Indian and Pakistan railways, the Thar Express travels once a week from Karachi during a six-month block, crosses the international border, and the passengers change over to an Indian train at Munabao for their onward journey to Jodhpur.
Service on the Munabao-Khokhrapar link of the India-Pakistan border was suspended on 24 August 2006 following incessant rain and water-logging on the Indian side and restored on 17 February 2007. Pakistan Railways have set up a new railway station at Zero Point
Passenger movement
Jodhpur is the only railway station on this line which is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.
Sheds and workshops
The former metre gauge workshop at Jodhpur now performs periodic overhauling of broad gauge passenger coaches. The former metre gauge diesel shed at Bhagat ki Kothi was converted to a broad gauge shed in the 1990s. It houses 133+ electro-motive diesel locos. It is home to WDG-4, WDP-4, WDM-2. WDM-3A and WDG-3A locomotives.
Railway reorganisation
Rajputana State Railway was merged into Rajputana-Malwa State Railway in 1882. In 1900, Rajputana Malwa State Railway was merged in to Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway.
Jodhpur Railway had a beginning in 1882. Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway was formed in 1889. In 1924, the Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway was split into its two constituent parts, with two new systems, the Jodhpur State Railway and Bikaner State Railway formed to work the lines.
In 1952, Northern Railway was formed with a portion of East Indian Railway Company, west of Mughalsarai, Bikaner Railway and Eastern Punjab Railway. Western Railway was formed with BBCI Rly, the Saurashtra, the Rajasthan, the Jaipur, and the Cutch Rlys. North Western Railway was formed on 1 October 2002, with two divisions each from Northern and Western Railways.