Vadodara Junction | ||||||||||||||||
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 Vadodara Junction railway station | ||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Sayajiganj,Vadodara,Gujarat India | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 22°18′39″N73°10′51″E / 22.3108°N 73.1809°E /22.3108; 73.1809 | |||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 35.348 metres (115.97 ft) | |||||||||||||||
| System |  Indian Railways station | |||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Indian Railways | |||||||||||||||
| Operated by | Western Railways | |||||||||||||||
| Lines | Ahmedabad–Mumbai main line, New Delhi–Mumbai main line, Ahmedabad–Howrah main line, Ahmedabad–Chennai main line, Vadodara–Chhota Udaipur line, Vadodara-Ekta Nagar line | |||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 7Broad Gauge | |||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||
| Structure type | Standard (on ground) | |||||||||||||||
| Parking | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Accessible |  Available | |||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||
| Status | Functional | |||||||||||||||
| Station code | BRC | |||||||||||||||
| Zone(s) | Western Railway zone | |||||||||||||||
| Division(s) | Vadodara | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1861; 164 years ago (1861) | |||||||||||||||
| Electrified | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Previous names | Baroda[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Vadodara Junction railway station (formerlyBaroda City Junction, station code:BRC) is the mainstation in the Indian city ofVadodara, Gujarat. Due to its strategic location, it is the fifth-busiest railway station in India in terms of frequency of trains afterKanpur Central,Vijayawada Junction,Delhi Junction,New Delhi, andHowrah, and busiest in Gujarat state as well as second important railway station in Gujarat afterAhmedabad Junction. It is also major stop on theWestern Railway zone ofIndian Railways. More than 340 trains start, end, or pass through the station weekly.[2] This railway station is a junction point for rail lines from Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Ektanagar (Kevadiya) and Chhota Udepur.[3][4]
The station was built in 1861 for theBombay, Baroda and Central India Railway company by then Gaekwad ruler Maharaja Khanderao. The existing building was newly constructed byIndian Railways in 1954 by demolishing the original smaller station. The station celebrated 150 years of establishment on 9 January 2010.
It is a fairly large station with 6 platforms on the main line with over 300 trains halting. There are 2 foot overbridges (FOB) connecting platforms 1 and 6. Platforms 2, 3 and 6 have sliding ramps. Platform 1 and platform 6 are equipped with escalators. Additionally there are lifts at platforms 1 and 2 for aged people. There are two exits. One via platform 1 that opens towards the old city (as well asMaharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda andCentral Bus Stand) while the other end is towards platform 6 (that open towards the new city- Alkapuri side).[5] Platform 6 is the longest with 704m length. A Pay & Use Toilet facility is available at platform 6.[6]
Platform 1 has waiting room and retiring rooms[7] as well as a refreshment canteen. Several ATM are located just outside platform 1. Platform 7 was situated ahead of platform 1 and acted as a terminus for some passenger and MEMU trains, along with facilitating the reversal of some trains, including theShanti Express and theGujarat Sampark Kranti Express, which use the Vadodara Delhi line as well as the Vadodara Ahmedabad line. It was eventually dismantled to make way for the High Speed Railway project.[8]
The station serves three lines: the direct line betweenAhmedabad andMumbai;Vadodara andChhota Udaipur and the Delhi line viaRatlam,Kota andMathura. Trains going towards the northern region use the Ratlam line while all other trains use the Ahmedabad–Mumbai line, such as theAhmedabad Shatabdi Express,Delhi Sarai Rohilla–Bandra Terminus Garib Rath Express,Gujarat Mail,Karnavati Express,Suryanagri Express andRanakpur Express. The prestigiousMumbai Rajdhani Express,August Kranti Rajdhani Express,Ahmedabad–Mumbai Central Tejas Express,Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express,Golden Temple Mail,Hazrat Nizamuddin–Pune Duronto Express andAvantika Express amongst others also halt at this station.
The Railway Staff College is thealma mater for Officers of Indian Railways. It is situated in a sprawling campus of 55 acres (22 ha) of garden and wooded land in the Pratap Vilas Palace (built in 1914) at Lalbaug, Vadodara. It provides training to all levels of Indian railway officers, from probationers to general managers.
The college was founded in 1930 atDehradun and then shifted to its present sylvan surroundings at Vadodara in 1952. Pratap Vilas Palace is surrounded by lush green lawns and was designed by C. F. Stevens in the Renaissance style. The property was purchased from theGaekwads, the erstwhile rulers of Vadodara, and is home to peacocks and migratory birds.
Vadodara Electric Loco Shed is one of the largest electric loco sheds in the Western Railway zone. The shed houses more than 150 locomotives, which includeWAP-4 (now transferred to other sheds),WAP-5,WAP-7,WAG-9,WAM-4 (now scrapped or withdrawn) andWAG-5 (now transferred to other sheds) locomotives. Additionally it had an AC electric trip shed to house locos coming from other sheds and an AC/DC dual loco trip shed which houses the WCAM Class locomotives from Valsad shed and which allows locomotive changes at Vadodara because the trains which were coming from New Delhi mainline are AC Locomotives and the trains going to Mumbai need AC/DC Loco. Until 2011,Mumbai was under DC supply from beforeBorivali when theWestern Railway in Mumbai changed over to the AC system in February 2012, the WCAM locos have been transferred to theKalyan shed.
It is currently holds 60+WAP-5, 150+WAP-7 and 70+WAG-9 locomotive respectively.
It also has aMEMU car shed which houses the Mainline Electric Multiple units which provides feeder services toAhmedabad,Surat,Dahod,Ekta Nagar (Kevadia) andGodhra.
The train which originates from Vadodara Junction are :
●Valsad–Vadodara Intercity Superfast Express (12929/12930)
●Vadodara–Ahmedabad Intercity Express (19035/19036)
●Vadodara–Kota Express (19819/19820)
●Dahanu Road–Vadodara Superfast Express (22929/22930)
●Vadodara–Jamnagar Intercity Superfast Express (22959/22960)
