Shakuntala Railway

Shakuntala Railway was a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge 189 km lone railway line that ran from Achalpur in north in Amravati district to Yavatmal in southeast via Murtizapur in Akola district. It is being converted to 1676 mm Broad gauge.^[1] It was originally called Yavatmal–Murtizapur Junction–Achalpur railway, before it was renamed after Shakuntala Deshmukh née Jadhav, who was wife of freedom fighter (Indian independence activist) Balwantrao Deshmukh.

Shakuntala Railway
Overview
Owner	Central Provinces Railway Company
Locale	Maharashtra, India
Termini	Yavatmal Achalpur
Service
Operator(s)	Central Railway
History
Opened	1903
Closed	2016
Reopened	TBA
Technical
Line length	189 km (117 mi)
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (TBA) 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) (formerly)
Route map Legend 76 Achalpur  Sapan River 72 Nowbagh 65 Chamak 63 Khusta Buzurg 59 Pathrot 50 Anjangaon 43 Kapustalni 35 Kokalda 30 Lehgaon Bhuleshwari River 22 Banosa SH 212 Purna River 12 Lakhpuri Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line 60 0 Murtizapur Junction Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line 2 Murtazapur Town NH 6 12 Kinkhed Uma River 19 Vilegaon 24 Bhadshivni 27 Pohe 32 Karania 33 Karania Town 46 Somthan 49 Sangwi Adan River 53 Warudkhed 71 Darwha Moti Bagh 83 Tapona 88 Ladkhed 93 Ling 101 Lasina 113 Yavatmal Sources: Google Maps Nagpur–Bhusawal Passenger 51286 IndiaRailInfo Murtizapur–Yavatmal Passenger 52131 IndiaRailInfo Murtizapur–Achalpur Passenger 52137 IndiaRailInfo This diagram: view talk edit

Etymology

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, an MP, who took efforts to get the railway renamed to Shakuntala Railway.^[2]

History

Inception

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.^[3] 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.^[3][4] 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.

Conversion to broad gauge

In 2016, Indian Railways announced that the Shakuntala Railway would be converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge.^[1] The conversion to broad gauge started in 2020, which according to the reply to parliament by the Railway Minister, was still ongoing in 2025.^[5]

Route

• Achalpur

• Nowbagh (NBGH)

• Chamak (CMK)

• Khusta Buzurg (KSBG)

• Pathrot (PTRT)

• Anjangaon (ANJ)

• Kapustalni (KTNI)

• Kokalda (KXD)

• Lehgaon (LGN)

• Banosa (BASA)

• Lakhpuri (LPU)

• Murtizapur Junction (MZR)

• Kinkhed

• Vilegaon

• Bhadsivni

• Pohe

• Karanja

• Somthan

• Sangwi

• Warudkhed

• Darwha Moti Bagh Junction

• Tapona

• Ladkhed

• Ling

• Lasina

• Yavatmal (YTL)

Present status

• 2025 Aug: conversion to broad gauge commenced in 2020, which was still ongoing in 2025.^[5]

See also

• Shakuntala Express, train which ran on Shakuntala Railway line
• Wardha-Nanded line, 327 km via Yavatmal, Digras and Pusad