COMMUNICATION

RAILWAYS

Bhir district is not favourably situated as regards railway transport. Railway facilities are inadequate and serve only a small part of the district. There are only two routes, viz., Parbhani-Parali and the Vikarabad-Parali, and they cover the eastern area of Ambejogai tahsil. These routes terminate at Parali Vaijnath. The total length of railways in the district is about 48 kilometres (30 miles).

One of the reasons which retarded the construction of railways was that the district was sparsely populated at the time of the survey conducted by the Nizam State Railway authorities in 1921. [Source: Divisional Superintendent, Secunderabad Division, South Central Railway.] Construction of three routes across the district was proposed in the past. The Jalna-Bhir route with a distance of about 101.39 kilometres (63 miles) was surveyed by Mr. Campbell. Two more routes, viz., the Manwath road—Bhir 160.93 kilometres (100 miles) in length and the Manwath road—Parali, were also surveyed. But the schemes were shelved on the ground that they were not expected to be commercially viable. The out-agency at Bhir which was opened by the railway authorities for the convenience of the public was closed due to lack of enough traffic.
At present the district is served by two branch lines of the South Central Railway, viz., Vikarabad-Parali line and Parbhani-Parali line.

Vikarabad-Parali Route

The route emanates from Vikarabad (in Andhra Pradesh) and is linked with Secunderabad. After traversing Andhra Pradesh, and the Osmanabad district of Maharashtra, it enters Bhir district between Karepur and Pangaon railway stations. It is a broad gauge route with a single line track which was opened for traffic in March, 1933.

The topography of the region through which the line passes in the district is mountainous and hilly. At some places, it traverses through difficult terrain. The deep valleys and gaping ravines present a picturesque scenery. The permanent way consists of second-hand 34.02 kilograms (75 lbs.) F.F. rails laid on steel sleepers. The ballast consists of murum and stone. The sharpest curve is of 338 metres (1,109 feet) radius.

The railway stations on this route (with their distance from Vikarabad) are Pangaon (233 kilometres), Ghatnandur (245 kilometres) and Parali-Vaijnath (268 kilometres). It covers a distance of about 22 miles (35.40 km.) in the district

Parbhani-Parali-Vaijnath Route

This branch line of the South Central Railway emanates from the Manmad-Purna-Kacheguda route at Parbhani. After traversing Parbhani district, it enters Bhir district between Ukhali and Parali Vaijnath stations. It connects Parali with Purna junction and other railway stations in Marathwada.

This metre gauge (3' ⅜") single track line was opened for traffic in 1929. It covers a distance of about 12.87 kilometres (8 miles) in this district.

It follows a south to south-west course in the district. The permanent way consists of 18.6 kilograms (41 lbs.) second-hand steel flat-footed rails laid on steel and wooden sleepers. The ballast mainly consists of murum. This line has opened up an important cotton tract and affords railway connection to portant towns in the region. It has facilitated the export of cotton to Bombay and textile centres in South India. it traverses the black cotton soil tract of Ambejogai tahsil. The topography of the region is largely plain.

Parali Vaijnath is the only important railway station in the district. The town is famous for the temple of Vaijnath which is one of the 12 jyotirlingas in India. Parali station provides all the necessary amenities to the travelling public.

Parali Vaijnath is connected by motorable roads to Bhir, Aurangabad, Ahmadnagar, Kurduwadi, Sholapur, etc. It is an important commercial centre with ginning and pressing factories as well as oil mills. Cotton, groundnut, other oilseeds and foodgrains are the items of wholesale trade.

Extent of Rail Road Competition

The scope for rail-road competition in Bhir district is very limited. The factors which are usually responsible for competition between railways and road routes, such as private enterprise, existence of combinations of transport organisations, large volume of traffic, low cost of running the services, etc., are almost absent in this district. The two services in reality could be said to be complementary to each other rather than competitive.

The railway lines which cover only a small distance serve only the eastern part of Ambejogai tahsil. Being branch lines, they do not provide quick transit. Hence, the utility of railways to the district as a whole is small. There are only two passenger trains on each of the two lines, and are inadequate to meet the gradually increasing flow of passenger traffic. Naturally people have to resort to road transport. The road transport services are also not sufficient to cope with the rising traffic needs.

It may also be pointed out that the ownership of both the railways and roads by the state practically negatives the prospects of any competition between the two.

Impact of Railways on Economic and Social Life

It has already been pointed out that railway transport facilities in this district are inadequate and the area of their operation is also very much limited. As most of the commercial traffic is diverted to the road, railways do not play an important role in the economic development of the district at present.

However, there is a substantial increase in the number of travelling public during recent years. People are becoming more and more travel-minded. With increased communications, education is spreading immensely. Students even from remote villages can avail themselves of the educational facilities at district towns and cities like, Bombay, Poona, Aurangabad and Hyderabad. This has contributed to social progress.