North Gujarat’s rail map gains a loop on Friday, October 30. Two pairs of MEMU trains begin running each day between Sabarmati and Mehsana by way of Kalol, Kadi, Katosan Road, Becharaji, Chanasma and Ranuj, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging the service off by video link, Gujarat Samachar and DeshGujarat reported. A daily Sabarmati–Varanasi Express is being launched at the same event.
Three hours to Mehsana, by the long way round
The direct Sabarmati–Mehsana line through Kalol and Ambliyasan is about 63 km and a DEMU covers it in under an hour and a half. The new MEMU is not built for that trip. It swings west from Kalol to Kadi and Katosan Road, north through Becharaji and Chanasma to Ranuj on the Mehsana–Patan line, and only then east into Mehsana. The morning train leaves Sabarmati at 6:40 am, reaches Becharaji at 8:05 am and Mehsana at 9:45 am. Its return leaves Mehsana at 4:40 pm, passes Becharaji at 5:49 pm and arrives at Sabarmati at 8:30 pm.
The second pair runs the other way around the clock. A train leaves Mehsana at 7:05 am, stops at Becharaji at 7:50 am and reaches Sabarmati at 10:20 am; the evening service departs Sabarmati at 5:05 pm, reaches Becharaji at 6:48 pm and ends at Mehsana at 8:25 pm. Both pairs stop at Chandkheda Road, Kalol, Kadi, Bhoyani, Katosan Road, Becharaji, Chanasma and Ranuj, according to DeshGujarat, which cited an October Railway Board letter to Western Railway, and to IANS, via Punjab Kesari.
Read as a Sabarmati–Mehsana train, the timetable looks slow. Read as a Becharaji train, it makes sense: a worker or pilgrim from Ahmedabad’s northern suburbs reaches the Bahuchar Mata temple town in about 85 minutes in the morning and has an evening train back; a Mehsana or Patan-side commuter gets a morning train into the Becharaji industrial belt and a 4:40 pm departure home. Ahmedabad Divisional Railway Manager Ved Prakash told Gujarat Samachar the service is aimed at temple visitors, local trade and the industrial units around Becharaji.
A line rebuilt for Maruti’s cars, now carrying commuters
The Katosan Road–Becharaji–Ranuj stretch was a single metre-gauge line until a special purpose vehicle of GIDC, Maruti Suzuki and the state rail company G-RIDE converted it to broad gauge and electrified the Katosan–Becharaji portion, Indian Infrastructure reported when the Becharaji–Ranuj section was inaugurated in August 2025. The first beneficiary was freight: Maruti’s Hansalpur plant loads finished cars onto rakes at its own siding on this line, and we reported in September that the Gujarat siding had handled most of the company’s ten lakh rail dispatches.
Passenger use lagged. The Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety inspected the 63 km Katosan Road–Becharaji–Ranuj section and ran a 120 kmph trial in July 2026, and Western Railway said at the time that passenger trains would follow only after final safety approval, per DeshGujarat. Friday’s MEMU is the first regular service to use the full rebuilt line end to end.
What becomes of the Katosan Road shuttle
Until now the branch had one passenger train from Ahmedabad: the Sabarmati–Katosan Road MEMU, which turned back at Katosan Road. On October 28 the Ahmedabad division added a halt for it at Chandkheda Road, with Mayor Hitesh Barot and the DRM flagging it off, IANS reported via Punjab Kesari. Two days later the same halt is on the new Mehsana train’s list.
DeshGujarat’s reading of the Railway Board letter is that the Katosan Road shuttle is to be withdrawn permanently and its rake reused for the first of the new pairs, with Vadodara MEMU shed maintaining both. Western Railway had not published a notice confirming the withdrawal at the time of writing, so passengers who use the Katosan Road train should check the enquiry system before assuming its timings still hold. If the withdrawal goes ahead, every station on the old shuttle keeps a service, and the trains continue to Mehsana.
Fares, coach composition and the first commercial run date beyond the inaugural special have not been announced. The Railway Board letter left the start date to Western Railway, DeshGujarat reported.
Sources: Gujarat Samachar, DeshGujarat, IANS via Punjab Kesari, IANS via Punjab Kesari (Chandkheda Road halt), Indian Infrastructure, DeshGujarat (July 2026 speed trial)
This report was written with AI assistance from the publicly reported sources linked here; each fact was cross-checked against at least two of them.