How many regions or “zones” does IR have?

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How many regions or “zones” does IR have?

June 22, 2019, 1:55 PM

Indian Railways is divided for administrative convenience into several regional railways. Until recently there were 9 zones, and this structure had not changed much for four decades. Recently, 7 new zones have been created, giving a total of 16. In 2010, Kolkata Metro was given the status of the 17th zone of Indian Railways. Additionally, Konkan Railway has the administrative status of a zone of IR, but is not normally considered a zone for operational purposes.

(For the administrative structure of Indian Railways, please see the miscellaneous section.)

The nine older railway zones are:

Northern Railway (NR)
North Eastern Railway (NER)
Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR, sometimes NEFR)
Western Railway (WR)
Southern Railway (SR)
South Central Railway (SCR)
South Eastern Railway (SER)
Eastern Railway (ER)
Central Railway (CR)
The seven new zones are:

South Western Railway (SWR)
North Western Railway (NWR)
West Central Railway (WCR)
North Central Railway (NCR)
South East Central Railway (SECR)
East Coast Railway (ECoR)
East Central Railway (ECR)
Deemed zones:

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Kolkata Metro (given zonal status Dec. 29, 2010)
Konkan Railway (deemed a zone for administrative purposes)
For their headquarters and constitution in terms of divisions please see below.

Konkan Railway (KR) is constituted as a separately incorporated railway, with its headquarters at Belapur CBD (Navi Mumbai), although it still comes under the control of the Railway Ministry and the Railway Board. It has been proposed [12/04] to merge it with IR because of its financial situation with high debt. At present [5/99] it consists of a single 760km route from Roha to Mangalore along the western coast of India (the Konkan region). The route is a single-line track (*), and currently not electrified. It has been designed for high-speed traffic (160 km/h). It is now [5/99] open to goods and passenger traffic. KR does not have divisions like the other IR zones, but it has two regions with headquarters at Ratnagiri and Karwar. The Ratnagiri region extends from Roha to Sawantwadi, while the Karwar region extends from Pernem to Thokur (the latter being where SR territory begins, a few stations north of Mangalore).

Note: Although KR is currently single-line, KR and SCR lines run parallel from Majorda to Madgaon, making that section a double-line.

The Kolkata Metro (Calcutta Metro) is owned and operated by IR, but does not belong to any of the zones; it is administratively considered to have the status of a zonal railway. On Dec. 29, 2010, it was declared the 17th zone of IR.

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