Alirajpur railway station is a railway station serving the town of Alirajpur, the administrative headquarters of Alirajpur district in the western part of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It lies on the metre gauge line historically associated with the Ratlam–Akola route, in a region bordering Gujarat.
| Name | Alirajpur railway station |
|---|---|
| Town | Alirajpur |
| District | Alirajpur |
| State | Madhya Pradesh |
| Country | India |
| Operator | Indian Railways |
| Zone | Western Railway |
The station serves Alirajpur, a small town in the tribal-majority region of western Madhya Pradesh. It provides rail connectivity to a district that is otherwise dependent on road transport across the hilly terrain near the Madhya Pradesh–Gujarat border. Alirajpur lies on the alignment that historically connected Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh with Akola in Maharashtra, passing through Jhabua, Dahod and Chhota Udepur districts on its way.
The line through Alirajpur formed part of one of the longest narrow/metre gauge corridors in India, traditionally operated by Indian Railways' Western Railway zone for the Ratlam-side section. The corridor served a series of small towns in the Vagad and Bhil regions, where rail access has been important for both passenger movement and the transport of agricultural produce and forest goods.
As part of Indian Railways' Project Unigauge, the metre gauge sections passing through Alirajpur have been taken up for conversion to broad gauge. The conversion has been carried out in phases, with adjacent sections towards Chhota Udepur in Gujarat and towards Dahod being progressed under the broader Chhota Udepur–Dhar–Indore and Dahod–Indore broad gauge projects, which envisage improved connectivity for the Jhabua–Alirajpur belt with the rest of the broad gauge network.
Alirajpur railway station is the principal rail facility for Alirajpur district, one of the aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog. Improved rail connectivity through gauge conversion is regarded as significant for economic development, tribal welfare programmes and tourism in the region, which includes sites associated with the freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad, who was born at Bhabra in the district.