Mumbai Dadar–Solapur section

Geography

The south-eastern section of Central Line of Mumbai Suburban Railway runs from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Palasdari along the Western Coastal Plains crossing the Thane Creek. Thereafter, it faces the Western Ghats.

Bhor Ghat

The Western Ghats presented a big obstacle to the railway engineers in the 1860s. As of now it stretches from Palasdari to Khandala, a distance of 22 km (14 mi). The summit of the Bhor Ghat (earlier spelt as Bhore Ghat) incline being 2,027 feet. The maximum gradient was: 1 in 37 with extreme curvature. "The works on the Bhore ghat comprised 25 tunnels of a total length of nearly 4,000 yards, two of the longest being 435 yards and 341 yards respectively. The Bhore ghat have eight lofty viaducts having a total length of 2,961 feet. Two of the largest are more than 500 feet long with a maximum height of 1160 and 163 feet. There are 22 bridges of spans from 7 to 30 feet and 81 culverts of various sizes." On 25 January 1869 a runaway train on the Bhore Ghat derailed and crashed after failing to be stopped by a catch siding, and was made (in)famous by pictures in the Illustrated London News.

Deccan Plateau

At the edge of the Western Ghats, the hills and valleys around Lonavla and Khandala attract large number of tourists.

Lonavla is the starting point of the Pune Suburban Railway. EMU services were introduced in this sector in 1978.

Pimpri-Chinchwad is a large industrial zone in the Pune area. Industrialisation of the zone started with the setting up in 1954 of the Hindustan Antibiotics at Pimpri. As of 2013, 6195 industries including 54 large scale 621 medium scale and 5520-small scale industries are in existence. The zone houses several major automotive units and all the major information technology units amongst other industries.

Located in Bhima basin, the Solapur area is home to powerloom and handloom textile units, beedi-making units and other industries.

History

The first train in India from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai to Thane ran on 16 April 1853 on a track laid by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The GIPR line was extended to Kalyan in 1854 and then on the south-east side to Khopoli via Palasdari railway station at the foot of the Western Ghats in 1856. While construction work was in progress across the Bhor Ghat, GIPR opened to public the Khandala-Pune track in 1858. The Bhor Ghat incline connecting Palasdari to Khandala was completed in 1862, thereby connecting Mumbai and Pune. GIPR extended its line to Raichur in 1871 and met the line of Madras Railway thereby establishing direct Mumbai-Chennai link.

The Pune-Raichur sector of the Mumbai-Chennai line was opened in stages: the portion from Diksal in Pune to Barshi Road was opened in1859, from Barshi Road to Mohol in 1860 and from Mohol to Sholapur also in 1860. Work on the line from Sholapur southwards was begun in 1865.

Barsi Light Railway was a 202-mile (325 km) long, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) wide railway from Kurduvadi to Latur. It was opened in 1897 on a 22-mile (35 km) long railway track from Barsi Road to Barsi, and extended in stages. The narrow gauge line from Barsi Road to Pandharpur was extended to Miraj in 1927.

Gauge conversion from 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) of the Miraj-Latur track and extension of the new line to Latur Road was taken up in 1992 and completed in stages. The last phase of the 375-kilometre (233 mi) long project was completed in 2008.

Electrification

The Kalyan-Pune section was electrified with 1.5 kV DC overhead system in 1930. As of October 2016, Mumbai CST-Daund section is completely on 25 kV AC overhead system. Railway tracks beyond Daund are nearing completion with electrification till Bhigwan.

The Pune-Solapur-Wadi line is being electrified with a loan of Rs. 1,500 crore from Asian Development Bank. Work was initiated in 2012.

There are still major roadblocks while electrifying the track beyond Bhigwan. The focus is to first double the lines all the way till Mohol and also after Solapur towards Gulbarga. Electrification would follow that. One of the biggest challenges is to eliminate the scissors crossing at Pophlaj, Bablad and Hunsihadgil which have been weirdly built on elevated mud embankments - a result of bad planning. These scissors crossings tend to waste a lot of time for trains as they first enter a loop and then reverse to the far end of the loop and once the main line train crosses they are allowed to enter the main line - a sheer wastage of time. Doubling and electrification should eliminate all these technical issues.

Speed limit

The Kalyan-Pune-Daund-Wadi-Secunderabad-Kazipet line and the Wadi-Raichur-Arrakonam-Chennai Central line are classified as 'Group B' lines and can take speeds up to 130 km/h.

The railway track in the Daund-Wadi sector is being doubled at a cost of Rs. 700 crore. This is expected to help in raising the speed limit from 130 km/h to 140 km/h.

Loco sheds

Kalyan diesel loco shed houses WDM-2, WDM-3A, WDM-3D, WDP 4D, WDG-3A and WDG-4 locos. Kalyan electric loco shed houses WAP-7, WCAM-2, WCAM-3, WCAG-1, WAG-5, WAG-7 and WAG-9 locos. Pune diesel loco shed houses 175+ locos. These include WDM-2, WDM-3A, WDM-3D, WDG-3A, WDP-4D and WDG-4 locos. Pune trip shed houses WAP-4, WAP-5, WAP-7, WCAM-2/2P, WCAM-3 and WCAG-1 locos. Pune has one trip shed for WDS-4 shunters and another for Pune-Lonavla EMUs. Lonavla has an AC trip shed for Bhor Ghat blankers. Kurduvadi had a narrow gauge diesel loco shed for Barsi Light Railway. The shed was closed down after conversion of the narrow gauge railway.

Workshop

Kurduvadi Workshop was set up for repair of narrow gauge steam locomotives, coaches and wagons by Barsi Light Railway in 1930. With the reduction in narrow gauge rolling stock, the Workshop has taken up new activities as per requirements. Kurduvadi Workshop now undertakes rehabilitation of 20 broad gauge wagons per month.

Passenger movement

Pune and Solapur on this line, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.

Major Trains