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COMMUNICATIONS
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RAILWAYS
History.
Railway construction was undertaken in this district in 1884 by
the Southern Maratha Railway Company. By the beginning of
1887 this company had completed the proposed system of railway in this district. In 1907 it was amalgamated with the Madras Railway Company to form the M. & S. M. Railway Company. In pursuance of the policy of State Management of Indian Railways decided by the Government of India, the entire system of railways worked by the M. & S. M. Railway Company was taken over by the Government of India in 1944. As a result of the regrouping of the Indian Railways in 1952, it has been grouped under the Southern Railways. The whole length of the railway is meter-guage line in Satara district.
Poona—Bangalore Railway Route.
The railway route starts from Poona, crosses the boundary of
Poona district over the Nira, and enters Satara district at about mile
No. 48. Throughout its length of 74 miles in this district, it passes
through the central part of the district and traverses Phaltan,
Khandala, Koregaon, and Karad talukas. There are fourteen stations
on this line, viz., Lonand, Salpa, Adarki, Wathar, Palshi, Satara
Road, Koregaon, Rahimatpur, Targaon, Masur. Shirvade, Karad,
Shenoli and Bhavaninagar. At Salpa the railway line runs through
the Salpa tunnel which is about 500 feet long. Due to the hilly
terrain, the line has a ruling gradient at 1 in 100 and has sharp
curves due to difficult geographical conditions. At Palshi the line
enters the rich and fertile valley of the Krishna, and continues to
run close to the Krishna, being nowhere more than four miles from
it.
The old Gazetteer of Satara district states " to avoid the heavy
outlay which would have been incurred by running the line
along the western or right side of the Krishna, which would have
necessitated the bridging of the Krishna and almost all its chief
tributaries the Kudali, Vena, Urmodi, Tarli, and Koyna, the Satara
section will run along the eastern or left side of the Krishna, and
the district headquarter station of Satara and the large town of
Karad will consequently lie at some distance from the line." [Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency Vol. XIX, 1885, Page 207.]
Lonand, Koregaon, Rahimatpur and Karad are the commercially important stations on this line. The Satara Road station is about 10 miles from the town. There is a factory of Messrs. Cooper Engineering Works Ltd., which manufactures oil engines and agricultural implements. Wathar serves the tourist traffic to Mahabaleshwar which is about 40 miles from this station. There are upper class waiting rooms and facilities like vegetarian and non-vegetarian refreshment rooms. Karad station is about three miles from the town. Most of the traffic to the Koyna Hydro-electric Project is carried through Karad railway station.
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