Akola–Ratlam line

Akola–Ratlam line
Akola–Ratlam line
	A Passenger train between Mhow to Indore during Meter Gauge line on the Akola - Ratlam Line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh
Termini	Akola Junction; Ratlam Junction;
Service
Operator(s)	Western Railway; Central Railway; South Central Railway
Depot(s)	Mhow, Ratlam
Rolling stock	YDM-4, WDM-2, WDM-3A, WDG-3A, WDG-3C
History
Opened	1963
Technical
Track length	473 km (294 mi)
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Electrification	25 kV AC, 50 Hz, overhead catenary
Operating speed	130 km/h
Route map
Route map
	Mathura–Vadodara section
	Madhya Pradesh
	Maharashtra
	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
	broad gauge

The Akola–Ratlam rail line is a railway line in India linking Akola in Maharashtra with Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. As of January 2023, Ratlam to Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, Sanawad to Khandwa and Akot to Akola Has been Completed.

History

Construction of meter gauge line

The Akola–Ratlam metre-gauge line was opened in 1963. Dhulghat Spiral is a unique spiral located on this metre-gauge section at around 2 kilometres from Dhulghat station towards Akola. It is also called 'Char Cha Akda' in Marathi and 'Char Ka Aankda' in Hindi, which in English means 'the figure 4' – railway tracks are arranged like 4.^[1]

Conversion to broad gauge

In 2008, the Union Cabinet approved the gauge conversion for the Ratlam–Mhow–Khandwa–Akola railway line of 472.64 km. The gauge conversion is in process.^[2]^[3]^[4] It entails following 3 sections:

Ratlam-Akot section in north - gauge conversion completed: After the Mathela–Nimarkhedi–NTPC Khargone section was converted to broad gauge on 12 August 2019 and electrificated on 15 March 2020,^[5]^[6] Ratlam-Akot section in the north

Akot-Amlakhurd section in the middle - under conversion: Since Akot-Amlakhurd section of the line passes through Melghat Tiger Reserve which has 50 to 55 tigers, the conversion of this line was held up for several years due to pending clearance from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.^[7] Finally, forests and wildlife approval was granted in August 2024 when conversion of existing Akot-Amalkhurd meter gauge line via Patalpani-Kalakund-Balwada-Chaural was abandoned and instead a new alignment between Akot-Amalkhurd was finalised which bypasses the Melghat Tiger Reserve. This new 77-78 km lone alignment which is 30-32 km longer than the original alignment and entails a 7 km long 30 meter deep tunnel. Once converted this line will provide shortest route from Northwest India & North India to South India and Southeast India.^[8]^[9] New alignment passes through Hiwarkhed, Sonala, Jalgaon Jamod, and Usami.

Akola Junction–Akot section in south - gauge conversion completed: Akola Junction–Akot section line gauge conversion project of this mainline was completed on 28 July 2020.^[10]

Facilities

Loco Shed

Mhow Diesel Loco Shed and Ratlam Diesel Loco Shed are loco sheds on this line. These were earlier metre-gauge sheds but are now converted to broad-gauge sheds.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Trains

Present status

2025 Aug: Akola-Ratlam line conversion to broad gauge was complete except the Akot-Amlakhurd section in the middle which too also received wildlife approval in July-August 2024 with a new longer alignment, thus paving for shortest route between North-Northwest India to South-Southeast India once completed.^[8]^[9]

References

^ "A day at the Dhulghat Spiral".
^ "WR declare closure of Fatehabad–Indore & Fatehabad–Ujjain MG Section for GC works". RailNews. 24 February 2014.
^ "(untitled)". Free Press Journal. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014.
^ Jauhri, Rajesh (12 November 2012). "Mhow villagers may be deprived of rail services". The Times of India.
^ connect gujarat.com, Retrieved 23 August 2020
^ freepressjournal.in, Retrieved 23 August 2020
^ "Wildlife nod must to upgrade railway line through Amravati's Melghat: Piyush Goyal". The Times of India. 22 July 2021. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b MOEFCC committee approves new railway line alignment near Melghat Reserve, India Times, 5 Aug 2024.
^ ^a ^b Indore-Khandwa Rail Project Gets Forest Dept's Green Light For Laying Track; Paves Way For Direct North-South India Connectivity, freepressjournal.in, 16 July 2024.
^ indiatimes.com, Retrieved 23 August 2020
^ Mhow Diesel Loco Shed
^ Sheds and Workshops
^ Steam Locomotive Sheds of the Past

[1] "A day at the Dhulghat Spiral".

[2] "WR declare closure of Fatehabad–Indore & Fatehabad–Ujjain MG Section for GC works". RailNews. 24 February 2014.

[3] "(untitled)". Free Press Journal. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014.

[4] Jauhri, Rajesh (12 November 2012). "Mhow villagers may be deprived of rail services". The Times of India.

[5] t gujarat.com, Retrieved 23 August 2020

[6] reepressjournal.in, Retrieved 23 August 2020

[7] "Wildlife nod must to upgrade railway line through Amravati's Melghat: Piyush Goyal". The Times of India. 22 July 2021. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 8 August 2024.

[app1-8] MOEFCC committee approves new railway line alignment near Melghat Reserve, India Times, 5 Aug 2024.

[app2-9] Indore-Khandwa Rail Project Gets Forest Dept's Green Light For Laying Track; Paves Way For Direct North-South India Connectivity, freepressjournal.in, 16 July 2024.

[10] times.com, Retrieved 23 August 2020

[11] Mhow Diesel Loco Shed

[12] Sheds and Workshops

[13] Steam Locomotive Sheds of the Past

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Railways in Western India
National network / trunk lines	New Delhi–Mumbai main line Konkan Railway Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line Mumbai–Chennai line Jaipur–Ahmedabad line Ahmedabad–Mumbai main line
Branch lines / sections	Mathura–Vadodara section Akola–Ratlam line Nagda–Ujjain section Ujjain–Bhopal section Ahmedabad–Viramgam section Bhusawal–Kalyan section Gandhidham–Ahmedabad main line Gandhidham–Bhuj section Gandhidham–Kandla Port section Gandhidham–Palanpur section Gandhidham–Samakhiali section Jodhpur–Bathinda line Maliya Miyana–Wankaner section Marwar Junction–Munabao line Mumbai Dadar–Solapur section Nagpur–Bhusawal section Samakhiali–Maliya Miyana section Solapur–Guntakal section Surendranagar–Bhavnagar line Viramgam–Mahesana section Viramgam–Maliya Miyana section Viramgam–Okha line Dharangadhra–Surendra Nagar section Viramgam–Surendra Nagar section Wankaner–Surendra Nagar section Rajkot–Wankaner section Jamnagar–Porbandar line Porbandar–Jetalsar section Rajkot–Somnath line Palitana–Sihor section Bharuch–Dahej line Ankleshwar–Rajpipla section Anand–Khambhat line Vasad–Kathana line Kanjari Boriyavi–Vadtal line Anand–Godhra section Bilimora–Waghai section Udhna–Jalgaon line Ahmedabad–Udaipur line
Suburban lines	Ahmedabad (Planned) Mumbai (Western line Central line Harbour line Trans-Harbour line Port line) Pune
Metro rail	Mumbai Metro Navi Mumbai Metro Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad Greater Nashik Metro Surat Metro Pune Metro Nagpur Metro
Monorail	Mumbai
Defunct lines revived / under revival	Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway Barsi Light Railway
Defunct lines	Salsette–Trombay Railway Bhavnagar State Railway Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Cutch State Railway
Railway divisions	Bhusawal Pune
Railway companies	Central Railway Western Railway West Central Railway Konkan Railway Corporation Great Indian Peninsula Railway Saurashtra Railway Mumbai Port Trust Railway
See also	Indian Railways Ahmedabad–Prayagraj (Allahabad) Weekly Superfast Express Bholu (mascot) Urban rail transit in India Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor Bhor Ghat

Railways in Central India
Trunk lines	Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line New Delhi–Chennai main line New Delhi–Mumbai main line
Branch lines/ sections	Bina–Katni line Tatanagar–Bilaspur section Bilaspur–Nagpur section Nagpur–Bhusawal section Allahabad–Jabalpur section Jabalpur–Bhusaval section Agra–Bhopal section Ujjain–Bhopal section Bhopal–Nagpur section Nagpur–Hyderabad line Narkhed–Amravati line Dalli Rajhara–Jagdalpur line Bilaspur–Katni line Indore–Gwalior line
Metro	Bhopal Metro Indore Metro
Defunct lines revived/under revival	Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway Rajputana–Malwa Railway Satpura Railway
Railway zones	South East Central Railway Western Railway West Central Railway
Railway divisions	Ratlam railway division Bhopal railway division Jabalpur railway division Bilaspur railway division Raipur railway division
Rail transport	Rail transport in Chhattisgarh Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh
See also	Indian Railways Bholu (mascot) Datia rail accident