Railway Zones and Divisions
17 zones, 70+ divisions, headquarters and key facts.
Railway Zones and Divisions — Core
17 zones, 70+ divisions, headquarters and key facts.
INDIAN RAILWAYS ZONES = administrative regional divisions, headquartered in major cities.
Currently: 17 zones + Kolkata Metro Railway (special category).
Each zone has multiple divisions led by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM).
THE 17 ZONES:
| # | Zone | HQ | Year Formed | Key Divisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Railway (CR) | Mumbai (CSMT) | 1951 | Mumbai, Bhusawal, Pune, Nagpur, Solapur |
| 2 | Eastern Railway (ER) | Kolkata (Fairlie Place) | 1952 | Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda |
| 3 | East Central Railway (ECR) | Hajipur | 2002 | Sonpur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Danapur |
| 4 | East Coast Railway (ECoR) | Bhubaneswar | 2003 | Khurda Road, Sambalpur, Waltair (Vizag) |
| 5 | Northern Railway (NR) | New Delhi (Baroda House) | 1952 | Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad |
| 6 | North Central Railway (NCR) | Allahabad (Prayagraj) | 2003 | Prayagraj, Agra, Jhansi |
| 7 | North Eastern Railway (NER) | Gorakhpur | 1952 | Lucknow (East), Varanasi, Izzatnagar |
| 8 | North East Frontier Railway (NFR) | Maligaon (Guwahati) | 1958 | Katihar, Alipurduar, Tinsukia, Lumding, Rangiya |
| 9 | North Western Railway (NWR) | Jaipur | 2002 | Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer |
| 10 | South Central Railway (SCR) | Secunderabad | 1966 | Vijayawada, Guntakal, Hyderabad, Guntur, Nanded |
| 11 | South Coast Railway (SCoR) | Visakhapatnam | 2019 (newest) | Vijayawada, Guntakal, Guntur (transferred from SCR) |
| 12 | South Eastern Railway (SER) | Kolkata (Garden Reach) | 1955 | Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi |
| 13 | South East Central Railway (SECR) | Bilaspur | 2003 | Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur (SECR) |
| 14 | Southern Railway (SR) | Chennai (Park Town) | 1951 | Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Palghat, Salem, Thiruvananthapuram |
| 15 | South Western Railway (SWR) | Hubli | 2003 | Mysore, Bengaluru, Hubli |
| 16 | Western Railway (WR) | Mumbai (Churchgate) | 1951 | Mumbai Central, Vadodara, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Rajkot |
| 17 | West Central Railway (WCR) | Jabalpur | 2003 | Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota |
| (Spl) | Kolkata Metro | Kolkata | 2010 (zone) | Kolkata Metro Lines |
OTHER KEY INFO:
- Total divisions: ~73 (some references say 70 or 75; numbers shift with reorganisations).
- South Coast Railway (SCoR) is the latest, formed in 2019 (Vizag HQ); status complete after carving from SCR.
LARGEST ZONES (by route length):
- Northern Railway — largest by route km.
- Western Railway.
- South Central.
Busiest stations:
- Howrah (HWH) — most trains per day.
- New Delhi (NDLS) — highest passenger volume.
- Kalyan (KYN) — busiest suburban station.
MEMORIZATION TIP:
Group zones by region:
North: NR, NCR, NER, NFR, NWR (5 zones).
South: SR, SCR, SCoR, SWR, SER, SECR (6 zones).
East: ER, ECR, ECoR (3 zones).
West: WR, WCR (2 zones).
Centre: CR (1 zone).
ZONE HEADQUARTERS — MUST KNOW:
| Zone Acronym | HQ City |
|---|---|
| CR | Mumbai |
| ER | Kolkata |
| ECR | Hajipur (Bihar) |
| ECoR | Bhubaneswar |
| NR | New Delhi |
| NCR | Allahabad (Prayagraj) |
| NER | Gorakhpur |
| NFR | Maligaon (Guwahati) |
| NWR | Jaipur |
| SCR | Secunderabad |
| SCoR | Visakhapatnam |
| SER | Kolkata (Garden Reach) |
| SECR | Bilaspur |
| SR | Chennai |
| SWR | Hubli |
| WR | Mumbai (Churchgate) |
| WCR | Jabalpur |
STATES & ZONES:
Most states are served by multiple zones. Examples:
- Maharashtra: CR, WR, SCR.
- Uttar Pradesh: NR, NCR, NER, ECR.
- West Bengal: ER, SER, NFR.
- Karnataka: SWR, SR, SCR.
METRO RAILWAYS (separate from Indian Railways zones):
- Kolkata Metro (1984) — first in India; later given zone status.
- Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Lucknow, etc. — separate metro corporations.
EXAM HOOKS:
- 17 zones (recently added South Coast Railway = SCoR, 2019).
- Largest by route: Northern Railway.
- Oldest zones: 1951 (CR, NR, SR, WR, ER).
- Headquarters: must memorize all 17.
- Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) is a SEPARATE corporation (not a zone).
- Eastern Coast: Visakhapatnam HQ (after 2019).