








In 1661 the city of Bombay was ceded to England by Portugal as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza when she wed King Charles II. In the next couple of centuries Bombay emerged as a prominent port on the West Coast overshadowing the once glorious province of Goa. To revive the ailing economy of Goa, in 1888, a meter gauge railway track became functional connecting the port town of Murmagao in Portuguese Goa to New Hubli in Dharwar district of British India. The track, owned by the London based Portuguese West of India Guaranteed Railway Company, was born on the sea-shore and threaded the Western Ghats to meet the westwards running connecting line of Southern Mahratta Company.
For more than a hundred years trains have chugged along the Murmagao railway line and apart from being a valuable avenue of transportation it is endowed with immense natural beauty. A trek from Castle Rock in Karnataka to Kulem in Goa, along the railway track, is a trekker's delight and a truly memorable adventure.







