Ahmedabad Junction railway station


Ahmedabad Junction is the main railway station of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is also the biggest railway station within Gujarat. It is the second-highest income generating division in Western Railways after the Mumbai Division.

History

Before the partition of India, the Sindh Mail used to travel to Hyderabad, Sindh via the Hyderabad – Mirpur Khas – Khokhrapar – Munabao – Barmer – Luni – Jodhpur – Pali – Marwar – Palanpur – Ahmedabad route. It was constructed by Gokuldas Contractor and Associates.
On the north side of the station are the two tallest minarets in Ahmedabad, the only remnant of Sidi Bashir Mosque.

Background

Ahmedabad Junction is the primary station of rail transport for the city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, India and an important center of the Western Railways zone of the Indian Railways. Locally, people refer to it as Kalupur Station to distinguish it from other stations in the city like Gandhigram railway station, Asarva, Sarkhej, Vastrapur, Chandlodia,, Maninagar and Sabarmati Junction. It serves trains that connect Ahmedabad to different parts of Gujarat, as well as major Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Trivandrum, Ajmer, Dhanbad, Daltonganj, Gwalior, Jaipur, Indore and Howrah

Infrastructure

The station has 12 platforms. There are an ample numbers of tea stalls, snack bars, medical shops, and enquiry desks. The station also has one cybercafe which is run by Tata Indicom and is currently equipped with Wi-Fi by Google Station and RailTel. The station is undergoing large-scale automation to make it a technologically advanced station, and new ATM outlets from ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Dena Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, and other major banks have been installed. RailTel plans to open a cyber cafe in Ahmedabad Station.

Facilities

Ahmedabad Railway station has launched hand-push luggage trolley services at Ahmedabad railway station. Such trolleys are always available at airports, but for railway stations, it is a new initiative. The Railways will initially charge Rs 5 per luggage trolley from commuters. As of 2010, the service was available only for Platform no.1, but after new elevators and escalators become functional by the end of 2010, the trolley service would be introduced at all platforms of Ahmedabad railway station.
According to the Divisional Railway Manager of Ahmedabad, Shri Ashok Garud, the initiative has been taken following a guideline from the Western Railway Headquarters. The facility would be launched in Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara railway stations too in the future.
Also launched in May 2010 was a golf car service for senior citizens and physically challenged persons.
Recent days, IRCTC has launched its VIP class executive lounge on platform 1 for passengers to spend their waiting time on economy rates which offers free wifi, urinals, AC, news paper, recliners and foods.