Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway
Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway (GBSR) was a metre gauge railway line owned by the Princely State of Baroda, which was ruled by the Gaekwar dynasty.
The first rail tracks were laid during the reign of Sir Khanderao Gaekwad (1828–1870), the Maharaja of Baroda. In 1862, he inaugurated 8 miles (13 km) of a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) railway line from Dabhoi to Miyagam. Oxen were used to haul the train, although in 1863, Nielson & Co. built a locomotive to be operated on the line from Debhoi to Miyagram, as the 6.5 km/m rails were not suited for the regular use of an engine.
The railway track has the distinction of being the first narrow-gauge line to be laid in British India, as well as being the first railway to be owned by any Princely State of India.
Later, during the rule of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the railway's network was further expanded. In 1873, the Dabhoi-Miyagam line (the first 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) line) was re-laid with stronger rails to allow locomotives to be used, rather than oxen. However, locomotives were not regularly used on the line until 1880. During the Maharaja's reign, a large narrow-gauge railway network was set, which extended to Becharaji and many other places in Baroda State, with Dabhoi as its focal point. The network is still the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the world.
In 1949, the Gaikwad Baroda State Railway was merged with the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway.
