SANDHA BADALTANA

THERE WERE MORE THAN SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY PRINCELY STATES IN INDIA AT THE TIME OF INDEPENDENCE. THESE WERE NOT UNDER THE DIRECT RULE OF BRITISH. THEY WERE ALL INDEPENDENT RULERS. A FEW OF THEM HAD EVEN STARTED THEIR OWN RAILWAYS. BARODA WAS ONE SUCH STATE.
THE FIRST RAILWAY TRACK IN INDIA WAS BUILT IN 1853 FROM BORIBANDAR (NOW NAMED AS CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI TERMINUS OR CST) TO THANE BY A BRITISH COMPANY UNDER THE BRITISH SUPERVISION. THIS IN TURN HELPED IN FAST PROGRESS OF OUR NATION. RAILWAY HELPED IN BUSINESS AS TRANSPORTATION BECAME EASIER. SEEING THE GOOD RESULTS OF RAILWAY, THE STATESMEN WERE NATURALLY INCLINED TO BUILD THEIR OWN RAIL TRACKS. THE FIRST RAIL TRACK WAS THUS BUILT BY THE STATE OF BARODA IN 1862. BUT OWING TO SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES A TRAM PULLED BY BULLOCK CART WAS ALL THAT COULD RUN INSTEAD OF THE STEAM ENGINE DRIVEN RAILWAY. FINALLY, AFTER