Achalpur railway station is a railway station serving the town of Achalpur in the Amravati district of Maharashtra, India. It lies on the narrow gauge branch line historically associated with the Shakuntala Railway, which connects Murtajapur to Yavatmal and Achalpur.
| Name | Achalpur railway station |
|---|---|
| Location | Achalpur, Amravati district, Maharashtra |
| Country | India |
| Line | Murtajapur–Achalpur narrow gauge branch |
| Track gauge | Narrow gauge (2 ft 6 in) |
| Associated system | Shakuntala Railway |
The station is the northern terminus of one of the two narrow gauge arms originating from Murtajapur Junction on the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai main line. It served the cotton-growing belt of the Berar region, with Achalpur (formerly known as Ellichpur) being a historic market town and former princely administrative centre.
The line connecting Murtajapur to Achalpur was constructed in the early twentieth century to facilitate the transport of cotton from the Berar plains to the broad gauge network for onward movement to the textile mills of Bombay and the export markets of Britain. The line was laid and operated under arrangements involving the Killick Nixon group, which formed the Central Provinces Railway Company, with the track leased to and worked by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and its successors.
Following independence, operations on the line passed to Indian Railways and came under the Bhusawal Division of the Central Railway zone. The narrow gauge service on the route was historically known for the use of vintage locomotives and rolling stock, including, for many years, steam locomotives, which gave the line a distinct character among India's surviving narrow gauge corridors. Services on the section have been suspended at various points owing to the deteriorating condition of the track and the broader Indian Railways policy of converting or closing legacy narrow gauge lines.
Achalpur station is significant as a terminus of one of India's last operational narrow gauge branches associated with the colonial-era cotton trade. The line and its stations are often cited in discussions of railway heritage in Vidarbha and proposals for gauge conversion to broad gauge to integrate the Achalpur–Murtajapur corridor into the mainline network.