Narrow-gauge railways in India

This is a list of former and current narrow-gauge railways in India. All railways except the heritage ones are closed or under conversion/are converted to the nation-wide standard 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge, under Project Unigauge. Despite attempts to convert the entire country into broad-gauge many Metro systems and Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor are done under Standard-gauge railway.[1]

In 2007, India had 45 narrow-gauge lines in operation and most of these lines were made in pre-independence era predominantly in territories controlled by Princely states or terrain with steep gradient.[2]

Defunct lines

1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)

• Assam Bengal Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Bareilly–Pilibheet Provincial State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Bengal Nagpur Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Bhavnagar State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Bikaner State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Cawnpore–Barabanki Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Cochin State Forest Tramway (closed)[3][4]
• Cooch Behar State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Dhrangadhra Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway (most lines converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Gondal State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Jaipur State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Jamnagar & Dwarka Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Jetalsar–Rajkot Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Jodhpur State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Jodhpur–Bikaner Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Junagadh State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Kathiawar State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Lucknow–Sitapur–Seramow Provincial State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Mashrak–Thawe Extension Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Morvi Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Mysore State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Nawabganj Sugar Factory Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Okhamandal State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Porbandar State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Rajputana–Malwa Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Southern Mahratta Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• West of India Portuguese Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)

2 ft 6 in (762 mm)

• Barsi Light Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Bengal Provincial Railway (closed)
• Bhavnagar Tramway (closed)
• Cherra Companyganj State Railways (closed)
• Cooch Behar State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Cutch State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Dehri Rohtas Light Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Dholpur–Sarmathura Railway (being converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)[5][6]
• Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Martin's Light Railways (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Mayurbhanj State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• McLeod's Light Railways (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Morvi Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Nasik Tramway (closed)
• Pachora–Jamner railway (to be converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Parlakimedi Light Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Rajpipla State Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Satpura Railway (under conversion to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)[7][8]
• Shakuntala Railway (under conversion to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge) (Yavatmal - Murtizapur - Achalpur section and Arvi - Pulgaon section).[9]
• Abhanpur - Rajim/Dhamtari (under conversion to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Itwari - Nagbhir (under conversion to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)[10][11]

2 ft (610 mm)

• Gwalior Light Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Jorehaut Provincial Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Kundala Valley Railway (closed)
• Martin's Light Railways (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)
• Ryam Sugar Factory Railway (converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge)

List of operational lines

Sl No	Zone	Name	From	To	Operational length	Future Prospectus
1	Southern Railway	Nilgiri Mountain Railway 1000mm	Mettupalayam (MTP)	Udhagamandalam(UAM)	46 kms	UNESCO Heritage Site
2	Northeast Frontier Railway	DHR (Toy Train) 610mm	New Jalpaiguri (NJP)	Darjeeling	83.9 kms	UNESCO Heritage Site
3	Northern Railway	Kangra Valley Railway 762mm	Pathankot	Joginder Nagar	164 kms	Longest 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) Gauge Railway in the World UNESCO Heritage Site (tentative list)
4	Northern Railway	Kalka–Shimla Railway 762mm	Kalka	Shimla	96.6 kms	UNESCO Heritage Site
5	Central Railway	Matheran Hill Railway 610mm	Neral	Matheran	21 kms	UNESCO Heritage Site (tentative list)
6	Western Railway	Pachora–Jamner railway	Pachora Junction	Jamner	56 kms	Gauge conversion announced in 2016.[12]
7	Western Railway	Bilimora–Waghai	Bilimora	Waghai	63 kms	Heritage airconditioned train service in operation since 2021.[13][14]

References

1. Ravibabu, Sudhanshu Mani & M. (2023-10-08). "Revisiting the rail gauge debate". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
2. "Western Railway is killing off the last of its 'toy trains'". Mintlounge. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
3. "Column | When a tramway ran through central Kerala's forests". Onmanorama. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
4. Kuruvilla, Anu (2023-10-06). "Cochin's 'tram'sformation tale". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
5. "Last narrow-gauge line in plains of north India is counting its days". The Week. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
6. "Netas connect Karauli, Dholpur with rail line only during polls". The Times of India. 2019-04-23. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
7. "Decks cleared for rail travel between Itwari-Chhindwara". The Times of India. 2020-08-24. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
8. "Narrow gauge section of Nagpur division of Railways closes from October 1 in Satputda valley". The Economic Times. 2015-09-20. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
9. "Wildlife nod must to upgrade railway line through Amravati's Melghat: Piyush Goyal". The Times of India. 2021-07-22. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
10. "Itwari-Nagbhid narrow gauge train now history". The Times of India. 2019-11-25. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
11. "Last narrow gauge line in Central India to chug into history". Onmanorama. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
12. "Regarding conversion of proposed narrow gauge railway line between Navin Pachora to Jamner to broad gauge | District Jalgaon, Government of Maharashtra | India". Retrieved 2024-08-08.
13. "Indian Railways to resume Bilimora-Waghai narrow gauge train in Gujarat with AC Tourist coach". Financialexpress. 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
14. "Explained: Why Gujarat is seeing protests to save a 107-year-old railway line". The Indian Express. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2024-08-09.