The opening of a train route to Grant Road from Ahmedabad 150 years ago marked the beginning of a glorious chapter in the development of Mumbai along with Western Railway . A year later, suburban services commenced between Grant Road and Bassein Road (now, Vasai Road), on November 1, 1865.Since then, WR has grown from strength to strength. On November 28, 1864, the Bombay , Baroda and Central India (BB&CI) line was opened from Utran to Grant Road. Three years later, the line was extended further south to Colaba. BB&CI was renamed as Western Railway in 1955.
WR chief public relations officer Sharat Chandrayan said, “This development heralded a new era of seamless and direct connectivity of Mumbai, then Bombay , with Gujarat and further northwards.“Few also know that initially only two suburban services with two coaches ran between Bassein Road to Grant Road.By 1867, they were extended to Marine Lines, then Backbay station. Chandrayan said, “ As demand picked up, the number of services increased from 10 in 1870 to 44 in 1920 with four coaches.“Of these, there were five trains to Virar, seven to Borivli, three to Andheri and 29 Bandra locals--each from the erstwhile Colaba terminus.
As population increased in the suburbs, authorities began to add stations and upgrade infrastructure. In 1931, WR decided to terminate services at the old Churchgate station. It was later pulled down, and a modern multi-storey building opened in its place on June 1957. It also boasted the first pedestrian subway in 1955.
In 1928, the first electric multiple unit (EMU) train ran between Colaba and Borivli but it took six more years for electrification of the route till Virar, thus heralding the end of steam engines.
By 1961, services, too, increased to 360 per day from 144 in 1928. The number of coaches increased to nine in 1961.
On the main line, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route is one of the busiest Indian Railways' sectors. When the first train ran between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, it took almost one and a half days to travel the distance of 493km. Since then, WR has come a long way , running around 60 trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Now, Mumbai-Ahmedabad Duronto Express covers the distance in just 6.15 hours.
WR has doubled its suburban jurisdiction in April 2013 after it decided to run trains from Churchgate to Dahanu --a distance of 120 km.
WR general manager Hemant Kumar said, “The 150-year journey is long and remarkable in the history of WR. It'll motivate us to strive hard to further improve standards.“
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