Jodhpur is Rajasthan’s second million-plus population city. Earlier the capital of the princely kingdom of Marwar, Jodhpur is now a top tourist center with its forts, palaces and the backdrop of the Thar Desert. Called Blue City because of the blue houses in the vicinity of Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur is also the Sun City because of its year-round sunny weather.
Jodhpur Railway Station is North Western Railway’s divisional headquarters. It is connected with many cities in the country by train routes such as Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Alwar, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Trivandrum, Kota, Pune, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Bareilly, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore, Dhanbad, Nagpur, Lucknow, Guwahati and Gwalior. Jodhpur is among the top hundred booking stations of the Department of Railways.
The first train from Jodhpur Railway Station left for Luni as far back 1885. The New Jodhpur Railway merged with Bikaner Railway to form Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway in 1889. The rail projects were financed by the princely houses of Jodhpur and Bikaner. The construction of the Jodhpur-Bikaner railway line was completed in 1891. It was connected with Hyderabad, Sindh in 1900. Jodhpur- Bikaner Railway was merged with Western Railway in 1951. North Western Railway zone was carved out in 2002 from Western Railway and Northern Railway.
The Jodhpur Railway Station has five platforms and six tracks. It has a parking facility. The station is now being used every day by around 156000 passengers. The main Jodhpur station (station code JU) is getting congested. So the nearby suburban station, Bhagat ki Kothi (station code BGKT), is being developed now to release the pressure on Jodhpur station. Bhagat ki Kothi will serve as the second main station for passenger trains.
There are eight suburban railway stations in Jodhpur. They are Raikabagh Palace Junction(2 km from Jodhpur), Bhagat Ki Kothi (3 km), Mahamandir (5 km), Basani (6 km), Jodhpur Cantonment (8 km), Mandor (10 km), Banar (14 km) and Salawas (16 km).
Facilities at Jodhpur station
The Jodhpur Railway Station has the wheelchair facility for disabled passengers. It can be asked for by making a phone call and can also be booked through the website. It would be confirmed through an SMS. Retiring room facility can b availed on payment of prescribed charges for bonafide passengers at Jodhpur. The station has retiring rooms, AC rooms, and a dormitory. The station also has computerized reservation, computerized unreserved ticket counters, waiting rooms, tourist information centre, vegetarian and non-vegetarian refreshment rooms, book stall, tea stalls, STD and PCO booths, and the Government Railway Police office.
The main trains originating from Jodhpur Railway Station include Jodhpur-Indore Ranthambore Express, Jodhpur-Delhi Mandore Express, Jodhpur-Mumbai Suryanagri Express, Jodhpur-Lucknow Marudhar Express, and Jodhpur-Howrah Howrah Superfast. As many as 106 trains operate from the two stations at present.
Luxury trains ‘Palace on Wheels’ and ‘Royal Rajasthan on Wheels’ bring the real experience of the magnificence and royal opulence of Rajasthan to the passengers. Jodhpur is one of the major destinations of both of the trains. These trains are run jointly by the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation and the Railways.
Bhagat Ki Kothi
Bhagat Ki Kothi Railway Station has a large diesel loco shed for all types of the WDP 4 locos. These are used to power trains like Mandore express, Marudhar express, Ashram Express, Jaipur Duronto and Howrah Jodhpur Express. Some of the important trains that run from Bhagat Ki Kothi are Thar Link Express, Bangalore Express, Ranikhet Express, Bandra Express and Mannargudi Express.
Restaurants near Railway Station
Some of the restaurants near station are-
- Midtown Ac Veg Restaurant
- Hotel Priya & Restaurant
- Janta restaurant
- Ram Bhojanalya
Food Delicacies of Jodhpur
Though Jodhpur has many of its own culinary specialties, it also serves foods of every cuisine from Indian to Mughlai to Chinese to Continental. But the famous Kachori is Jodhpur’s very own special dish, which is eaten with chutney. Then it has various types of laddoos and most people can’t stop eating them. And there is the alluring big glass of lassi. Don’t miss makhaniya lassi, mawa kachori, pyaaz Kachori, Dal bati churma, hot and spicy mirchi bada, mirchi ka kutaa, lasan ki chutney, gatte ki sabzi and lapsi and Panchkuta. Panchkuta is also called ker sangri sabzi and has the five ingredients of sangri, ker, kumatiya, dried goonda and dried red chilies. The Jodhpur style is to begin with sweets and then proceed to other foods. Some popular Jodhpur sweets are mave ki Kachori, besan ki chaaki, and maakhan vade, ras malai, malpua, ghevar, motichur ke laddu, and thorr.