Stand in two states at once
Bhawani Mandi (code BWM) is a small station with a big curiosity: it is divided between two states. The northern part of the platform is in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, while the southern part is in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. A passenger can walk along a single platform from one state into another without leaving the station.
On the Delhi–Mumbai main line
This is no quiet branch line. Bhawani Mandi sits on the New Delhi–Mumbai main line, an electrified double broad-gauge route that carries some of India's fastest trains. It belongs to West Central Railway's Kota division, and about 50 trains stopped here as of 2016. The station is about 383 metres above sea level, with 3 tracks.
Two governments, one station
News reports describe some memorable effects of the border:
- The booking clerk sits in Madhya Pradesh, while the queue of passengers buying tickets stands in Rajasthan.
- The entrance and waiting rooms are mostly on the Rajasthan side.
- When a long train halts, its engine can be in one state and the guard's coach in the other.
For railway purposes, though, it is a single station under one division and one code.
On the big screen
The station's oddity inspired a Hindi comedy, Bhawani Mandi Tesan (2018), directed by Syed Faizan Hussain and featuring Jaideep Ahlawat, which spins a story out of life in this two-state town.
A border shaped by history
The line was built long before the present state boundaries. The princely states of Rajputana and central India were reorganised into Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the 1950s, and the new border cut across the station. Navapur, split between Gujarat and Maharashtra, is a similar case.
Getting there
- Kota Junction is the nearest big station to the north; Kota airport is about 87 km away.
- Trains on the Delhi–Mumbai corridor that halt at BWM are listed in our train timetable.