Thal Ghat Railway Construction

Thal Ghat Railway Construction

The Thal Ghat Railway Incline was opened on 1865 extending the south-eastern line of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway(GIPR) through the Western Ghats. The Bhore Ghat Railway Construction having been completed in 1863. The steep Thal Ghat section up to Igatpuri was opened and completed the crossing of the Sahyadri hills of the Western Ghats. The south-east main line proceeded over Bhore Ghat to Poona, Sholapur and Raichur, where it joined the Madras Railway

The 1916 report states “ The Thal Ghat realigned section was brought into use on the 2nd January 1917” by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) “The new alignment is two miles long and is on a grade of 1 in 37, the ruling gradient on the Ghat. It shortens the distance by about 1.5 miles; but its chief value lies in eliminating the reversing station previously in use which was a great handicap to the expeditious handling of traffic. Under old conditions, trains had to be worked in sections and much time was lost in breaking up and remaking trains, further delay being caused at the reversing stations by the reversing of engines. Trains of a length of 850 feet are already in use on the realigned section and it is expected that trains of 1,500 feet and 1,800 feet long will be running shortly. The new alignment has a single tunnel in place of three on the old line.

Even the elimination of the reversing station was insufficient to enable this slow-speed section of line to cope successfully with the heavy traffic it had to carry while steam traction was used, and in 1930 the Thal Ghat section was converted to electric operation.