| Shakuntala Railway | |
| Locale: | Maharashtra, India |
| Open: | 1903 |
| Close: | 2016 |
| Owner: | Central Provinces Railway Company |
| Operator: | Central Railway |
| Linelength Km: | 189 |
| Map State: | collapsed |
Shakuntala Railway was a narrow-gauge railway line between Yavatmal and Achalpur in Maharashtra in central India. Originally called –– railway, it was renamed after Shakuntala Deshmukh née Jadhav, who was wife of freedom fighter Balwantrao Deshmukh.
Killick, Nixon and Company, set up in 1857, created the Central Provinces Railway Company (CPRC) to act as its agents. The company built the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge line in 1903.[1] The company built this narrow-gauge line in 1903 to carry cotton from cotton-rich interior areas of Vidarbha to the Murtizapur Junction on main broad gauge line to Mumbai from where it was shipped to Manchester in England. Murtizapur Junction was the focal point of this railway. In 1920 line from Darwha-Pusad was dismantled. Though, working autonomously, the CPRC was grouped in 1952 under the Central Railways.[2] A ZD-steam engine, built in 1921 in Manchester, pulled the train for more than 70 long years after being put in service in 1923. It was withdrawn on 15 April 1994, and replaced by a diesel engine.
In 1944, Shakuntala Jadhav married a Daryapur landlord, Balawantrao Deshmukh, who was also a freedom fighter. Deshmukh family took the newlyweds home by boarding this train. A British railway officer offered them the first-class coach for travel as they were newlyweds. It was a dream come true for Shakuntala, the bride, and years later she narrated this experience to Sudam Deshmukh, a MP, who took efforts to get the railway renamed to Shakuntala Railway.[3]
In 2016, Indian Railways announced that the Shakuntala Railway would be converted to broad gauge.[4] The conversion to broad gauge started in 2020.