| Railroad Name: | Central Railway |
| Logo Filename: | File:Shortened form of Central Railway zone.jpg |
| System Map: | Indianrailwayzones-numbered.png |
| Marks: | CR |
| End Year: | Present |
| Gauge: | broad-gauge |
| Electrification: | Yes (100%, all lines of Central Railway are electrified) |
| Hq City: | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai |
Central Railway (abbreviated CR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways.[1] Its headquarters is in Mumbai at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. It has the distinction of operating the first passenger railway line in India, which opened from Mumbai to Thane on .
The railway zone was formed on 5 November 1951 by grouping several government-owned railways, including the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the Scindia State Railway of the former princely state of Gwalior, Nizam State Railway, Wardha Coal State Railway and the Dholpur State Railway.[2] [3]
The Central Railway zone formerly included large parts of Madhya Pradesh and part of southern Uttar Pradesh, which made it the largest railway zone in India in terms of area, track mileage and staff. These areas became the new West Central Railway zone in April 2003.
The Central Railway General Manager's official residence (erstwhile GIPR agent's residence), 'Glenogle'-a Grade II-B heritage bungalow, is located on Bhausaheb Hire Marg (Mount Pleasant Road), adjacent to the Maharashtra Chief minister's official residence 'Varsha' in Malabar Hill, Mumbai.
One of the oldest and important railway project of central railway zone was Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project, which was in planning stage since British regime. It was referred to as 3rd ghat project. A survey was carried out in 1973, 2000, 2006, 2014 etc, and the project was in the Railways Board pink book in 2010, but unfortunately the project was not started. The alignment length of this project was 184 km, and it could have been the shortest route for Marathwada, Andhra and Telangana. The major challenge for this project is 18.96 km long tunnel in Malshej Ghat section.[4] Malshej Kriti samiti is following for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-Murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.[5]
Central railway zone connects to other Zones of Indian railways as at:
Bandra, Goregaon, Dadar, Vasai Road
Constructed in 1907, the narrow-gauge Matheran Hill Railway connects Neral on the Mumbai-Chennai main line with the hill station of Matheran in the Western Ghats, east of Mumbai. Neral is linked to Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus by frequent suburban trains. Steam engines have now been replaced by diesel locomotives. The route is noted for its sharp curves.
The central railway covers a large part of the state of Maharashtra and small part of Southern Madhya Pradesh and North-Eastern Karnataka. It is organized into five divisions: Mumbai, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Solapur and Pune. The details of the network by division are as follows[6]
See main article: Mumbai CR railway division.
Malshej Kriti Samiti is following for Kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-Murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.[5]
See main article: Pune Railway Division.
See main article: Nagpur CR railway division.
See main article: Solapur Railway Division.
See main article: Bhusawal Railway Division.
The number of stations category-wise under these five railway divisions under the Central Railway Zones are as follows (as of 2008) :A-1 : 7, A : 20, B : 10, C : 80, D : 45, E : 221, F : 93, Total : 476[9]
Some of the major trains operated by Central Railway zone are as follows:
| Number | Train Name | Starting Station | Terminating Station | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22221/22222 | Mumbai CSMT–Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express | Mumbai CSMT | Hazrat Nizamuddin. | |
| 12123/12124 | Deccan Queen | Mumbai CSMT | Pune Jn. | |
| 12137/12138 | Punjab Mail | Mumbai CSMT | Firozpur Cantt. | |
| 12859/12860 | Gitanjali Express | Mumbai CSMT | Howrah Jn. | |
| 12071/12072 | Mumbai CSMT-Jalna Jan Shatabdi Express | Mumbai CSMT | Jalna. | |
| 12321/12322 | Howrah Mail via Prayagraj Chheoki | Mumbai CSMT | Howrah Jn. | |
| 12809/12810 | Howrah–Mumbai Mail via Nagpur | Mumbai CSMT | Howrah Jn. | |
| 11035/11036 | Sharavati Express | Dadar | Mysuru Jn. | |
| 11085/11086 | Lokmanya Tilak Terminus - Madgaon AC Double Decker Express | Kurla LTT | Madgaon Jn. | |
| 12289/12290 | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus - Nagpur Duronto Express | Mumbai CSMT | Nagpur. | |
| 22107/221078 | Latur Express | Mumbai CSMT | Latur. | |
| 11301/11302 | Udyan Express | Mumbai CSMT | KSR Bengaluru City | |
| 12025/12026 | Pune - Secunderabad Shatabdi Express | Pune | Secunderabad Jn. | |
| 12051/12052 | CSMT Madgaon Jan Shatabdi Express | CSMT | Madgaon Jn. | |
| 12113/12114 | Pune–Nagpur Garib Rath Express | Pune | Nagpur Jn. | |
| 12115/12116 | Siddheshwar Express | Mumbai CSMT | Solapur | |
| 22119/22120 | Mumbai CSMT - Madgaon Tejas Express | Mumbai CSMT | Madgaon | |
| 12105/12106 | Vidarbha Express | Mumbai CSMT | Gondia Jn. | |
| 11039/11040 | Maharashtra Express | Kolhapur SCSMT | Gondia Jn. | |
| 12109/12110 | Panchvati Express | Mumbai CSMT | Manmad | |
| 11061/11062 | Pawan Express | Lokmanya Tilak Terminus | Jaynagar. | |
| 11023/11024 | Sahyadri Express | Mumbai CSMT | Kolhapur SCSMT | |
| 11027/11028 | Mumbai Chennai Mail | Mumbai CSMT | Chennai Central |