RailEnquiry

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad-Surat rail line will celebrate its sesquicentennial or 150 years of establishment on Sunday. The first train on the railway track built by Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Company (BB&CI) was flagged off on January 20, 1863 from Kalupur, around a decade after the arrival of railways in the country.   Since then many things have changed in the history of railways in the state – location of the station as well as conversion from narrow to meter and then to broad gauge. Sometime in the 1960s the location of the station was changed to the present one and there are no traces of the old Kalupur railway station in the city. It should be noted that the rail route between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is the same which was laid 150 years ago.   “The first train on Indian soil ran between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853. Ahmedabad did not take long to mark its presence on the railway map of India. The first train from the city to Surat was flagged off in1863 from the newly built Kalupur railway station,” noted historian Rizwan Quadri said.    He adds that in 1864, connectivity between Surat and Mumbai was also added. It connected the two biggest cities in western India with a rail link. Connectivity between Ahmedabad and Mumbai has played very important role in the development of the city. The first textile mill was established in 1861. After the railways reached the city,  Ahmedabad grew rapidly. A number of new textile mills were set up and many people from outside came and settled in the city.   Kankaria stones were used   When the construction of Kalupur railway station was in progress, the British government issued a public notice on April 12, 1861.    According to Rizwan Quadri, the notice read: “Residents of the city are informed that a railway station is to be constructed near Kalupur Darwaja. A bungalow will be built there and to ensure that it is enduring, attractive and built within a few days, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Company (BB&CI) has applied and sought permission to use stones meant for the renovation work of Kankaria Lake. If residents of this city want to renovate the lake, they should demonstrate their intent by collecting funds for the work. If they are not interested, then this government will forego its right over the stones of the lake and let them be used by the railway company to build a bungalow, a waiting room and a tavern.”