Mumbai: Western Railway celebrates and observes its 74th Foundation Day on 5th November, 2024. Since its humble beginning, the railway has had several milestones in its 70+ years of journey in service to the nation.
On the eve of the 74th Foundation Day, Shri Ashok Kumar Misra – General Manager of Western Railway released a commemorative coin with the imprint of Western Railway’s Headquarters Building, which is celebrating its completion of 125 years. Shri Misra also congratulated all officers and employees across its six divisions for their dedication towards their work and the bountiful achievements made by Western Railway over all these years.
According to Vineet Abhishek, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) was incorporated in 1855, starting with the construction of 29-mile broad gauge track from Ankleshwar to Utran in Gujarat state on the West Coast with Surat as its headquarters then. Later that year on 21st November, 1855 the Company concluded an agreement with the East India Company to construct a railway line from Surat to Baroda and Ahmedabad.
Another contract was signed to start a line from Utran (north of Surat) to Bombay to ensure a plentiful supply of cotton grown in Gujarat coming into the western port. The work commenced on the line in the following year & the line from Utran to Grant Road station in Bombay was officially opened on 28th November, 1864 – marking the inception of the present day Western Railway.
In its present form, Western Railway came into existence on 5th November, 1951 by the merger of its forerunner, the erstwhile Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI), with other State Railways viz, Saurashtra, Rajputana and Jaipur. The present jurisdiction of Western Railway is in 6 divisions i.e., Mumbai Central, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Ratlam.
On 3rd March, 1961 Western Railway introduced the 9-coach suburban trains owing to the increasing demand of travelers to the cityside. In 1972, Western Railway, introduced its prestigious Mumbai – New Delhi Rajdhani Express train, which is one of the most important and busiest line on the Indian Railways network.
Continuing in its journey of creating milestones one after the other, right from the introduction of the World's first Ladies Special train, first 15-car suburban train and the introduction of the first fully air-conditioned suburban train in India, it has earned many firsts in various fields such as operations, safety and in adopting state-of-the-art Technology.
Western Railway is also running Vande Bharat Express trains to various destinations and has recently introduced Namo Bharat Rapid Rail between Bhuj and Ahmedabad.
In the month of January 2024, a series of events were organised to mark the quasquicentennial celebrations of the iconic WR Headquarters Building at Churchgate. Continuing with the celebrations, this Souvenir Coin is another attempt to immortalize this historical event to register in the annals of Western Railway and the Indian Railways.
Made of Cupro Nickel with gold plating, this souvenir coin displays the momentous event and on the other side of the coin is the splendid Western Railway Headquarters Building at Churchgate, Mumbai in its full golden glory. The coin’s circumference is adorned with 125 serrations, to mark the completion of 125 years of this magnificent edifice.
Western Railway has time and again proved its mettle, through its long journey, ever since its birth in the British era in 1850s. Through its historical journey of over 70 years, at present, Western Railway has a wide railway network covering over 6284 route kms consisting of Broad, Meter and Narrow Gauge sections in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan.
