Central Railway (CR)

The Central Railway (CR) is one of the largest, oldest, and most iconic zones of Indian Railways. It was officially formed on November 5, 1951, by combining several historical rail networks, including the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway, and the Scindia State Railway. This zone holds a landmark place in world transport history because India's very first passenger train ran on its track between Mumbai (then Bombay) and Thane on April 16, 1853. Today, the zone's main administrative headquarters is located at the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) in Mumbai, a grand building recognized globally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This railway zone covers a massive region in western and central India, spanning across most of Maharashtra and extending into parts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. To manage its dense train network smoothly, the zone is divided into five administrative units: Mumbai, Pune, Bhusaval, Nagpur, and Solapur. Together, these divisions look after thousands of kilometers of tracks, major locomotive maintenance sheds, and hundreds of passenger stations. The zone handles everything from extremely heavy city commuter trains to long-distance lines crossing steep mountain passes, such as the famous Bhor and Thull Ghats.

Central Railway operates some of India's busiest passenger terminals, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Dadar, Pune Junction, and Nagpur Junction. Its Mumbai Suburban Railway division is world-famous, running thousands of local train services every day that act as the primary transport lifeline for millions of city commuters. The zone also runs many high-priority long-distance passenger trains, including the Deccan Queen, Punjab Mail, CSMT–Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express, and multiple Vande Bharat Express services. Additionally, the historic Matheran Hill Railway toy train—a popular narrow-gauge heritage line—is managed under this zone.