South Western Railways (SWR) has successfully completed 19 years of operations. The only zone that covers most parts of Karnataka is celebrating its birthday today.
SWR has been operational since 1st April 2003 having the headquarters at Hubballi. The zone comprises of 3 divisions viz Hubballi, Bengaluru, and Mysuru.
South Western Railways (SWR) was created by amalgamating the re-organized Hubballi division from South Central Railway and Bengaluru, Mysuru divisions from Southern Railway.
84% of the zone’s jurisdiction is located in Karnataka state. The balance 16% of the route length falls in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Goa.
While Hubballi and Mysuru are freight-oriented, the Bengaluru division is passenger-oriented. SWR has been able to bring remarkable changes to the railway infrastructure in Karnataka.
The zone connects several world heritage sites including a few touristic places like Hampi, Badami, Pattadakallu, Aihole, etc in the Hubballi division; Belur, Halebidu, Jog falls, etc in the Mysuru division.
Read more about South Western Railways here: Overview of Railway facilities in Karnataka.
The zone hosts Carriage Workshop at Hubballi which is in service for 125+ years. The workshop caters to Periodic Overhauling of all types of coaches of SWR, KR, and other Railways.
Established in 1885 under Southern Mahratta Railways (Hq at Dharwad), the Hubballi workshop carried out maintenance and repairs of Meter Gauge locomotives, Coaches, and Wagons.