It was set up for Gwalior State during the times of British India.

There was a plan to electrify the railway in the 1920s from a generating station below the Nanakura Dam, but this scheme was abandoned.

[10] The track was 30 lb/yd (15 kg/m) flat-bottomed steel rails laid on a mix of Sal wood and iron sleepers.

The minimum radius curve on the line was 955 feet (291 m) and the steepest gradient was 1 in 40.

The Gwalior–Sheopur Kalan section is under conversion to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge as of 2020.