>Vatsmaxed: updated template, replaced: Broad gauge → {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} broad gauge (2)

2021-06-24T10:34:58Z

updated template, replaced: Broad gauge → {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} broad gauge (2)

New page

{{short description|Railway section in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox rail line
| box_width = 28em
| name = Barauni–Guwahati line
| color =
| logo =
| logo_width =
| image = Barauni-Guwahati main line (Katihar yard).jpg
| image_width =
| caption = A Humsafar train passes through Barauni–Guwahati line
| type =
| system =
| status = Operational
| locale = [[Bihar]], [[Assam]]
| start = [[Barauni]]
| end = [[Guwahati]]
| stations = *{{stnlnk|Barauni}}

*{{stnlnk|Khagaria Junction}}
*{{stnlnk|Saharsa Junction}}
*{{stnlnk|Katihar}}
*{{stnlnk|Purnia}}
*{{stnlnk|Kishanganj}}
*{{stnlnk|New Jalpaiguri}}
*{{stnlnk|Siliguri Junction}}
*{{stnlnk|Jalpaiguri Junction}}
*{{stnlnk|New Cooch Behar}}
*{{stnlnk|New Alipurduar}}
*{{stnlnk|Fakiragram}}
*{{stnlnk|Kokrajhar}}
*{{stnlnk|New Bongaigaon}}
*{{stnlnk|Rangia}}
*{{stnlnk|Kamakhya}}
*{{stnlnk|Guwahati}}
| routes =
| open = 1950
| close =
| owner = [[Indian Railways]]
| operator = [[East Central Railway zone|East Central Railway]],
[[Northeast Frontier Railway zone|Northeast Frontier Railway]]
| character =
| depot =
| stock =
| linelength = {{convert|804|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}
| tracklength =
| gauge = {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} [[broad gauge]]
| minradius =
| racksystem =
| speed = 110 km/h
| elevation =
| website =
| map = {{Barauni–Guwahati line}}
| map_state = collapsed
}}

The '''Barauni–Guwahati railway line''' connects [[Barauni Junction railway station|Barauni]], [[Saharsa Junction railway station|Saharsa]], [[Purnia Junction railway station|Purnia]] and [[Katihar Junction railway station|Katihar]] in the Indian state of [[Bihar]] and {{stnlnk|Guwahati}} in [[Assam]]. It is a linkage of prime importance for Northeastern India.

==Sections==

The 804 km (500 mi)-long trunk line, been treated in more detail in smaller sections:
# [[Barauni–Katihar section|Barauni–Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections]]
# [[Katihar–Siliguri line|Katihar–New Jalpaiguri, Thakurganj and Siliguri sections]]
# [[New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section]]
# [[New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section]]

==History==

===Pre-independence era===
The earliest railway tracks in Assam were laid in the Dibrugarh area in 1882 for the transportation of tea and coal. The first passenger railway was also in that area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfr.railnet.gov.in/engir/History1.htm |title=Northeast Frontier Railway |access-date=2012-01-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502032906/http://www.nfr.railnet.gov.in/engir/History1.htm |archive-date=2 May 2014 |df=dmy }}</ref>

Linking Guwahati was the challenge. In response to the demands of tea planters in Assam for a rail link to [[Port of Chittagong|Chittagong port]], the [[Assam Bengal Railway]] started construction of a railway track on the eastern side of [[Bengal]] in 1891. A {{convert|150|km|abbr=on}} track between [[Chittagong]] and [[Comilla]] was opened to traffic in 1895. The Comilla–Akhaura–Kulaura–Badarpur section was opened in 1896–1898 and finally extended to [[Lumding]] in 1903.<ref name=banglapaedia >{{cite book |last=Fida |first=Quazi Abul |year=2012 |chapter=Railway|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Railway |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pL_GfLfK3lYC&pg=PA46 |title = Report on the administration of North East India (1921-22) |work= p. 46|year = 1984 | access-date = 2011-12-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7OsLGZKYP5MC&pg=PA105 |title = Socio Economic and Political Problems of Tea Garden Workers: A Study of Assam, Published 2006, ISBN 81-8324-098-4|work=p. 105 | author= S.N.Singh | author2= Amarendra Narain | author3= Purnendu Kumar |date = January 2006|publisher= Mittal Publications, New Delhi |isbn = 9788183240987| access-date = 2011-12-16 }}</ref> The Assam Bengal Railway constructed a branch line to Guwahati, connecting the city to the eastern line in 1900.<ref name=timeline>{{cite web|author=R. P. Saxena|title=Indian Railway History Time line|url=http://irse.bravehost.com/IRHTML.htm|work=Irse.bravehost.com|access-date=4 January 2014|archive-url=https://archive.is/20120714085533/http://irse.bravehost.com/IRHTML.htm|archive-date=14 July 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

During the period 1884–1889, Assam Behar State Railway linked [[Parbatipur Junction|Parbatipur]], now in Bangladesh, with [[Katihar]] in Bihar. North Bengal State Railway had opened a [[metre-gauge]] line from Parbatipur and the line subsequently got extended beyond the [[Teesta River|Teesta]], and through [[Geetaldaha]] to [[Golokganj]] in Assam. During the 1900–1910 period, the Eastern Bengal Railway built the Golakganj–Amingaon branch line, thus connecting the western bank of the Brahmaputra to Bihar and the rest of India.<ref name=timeline/> Katihar got linked to Barauni around the turn of the century.<ref name=timeline/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://indianrailwaynotes.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/north-eastern-railway.pdf|title= Indian Railways line history 2. North Eastern Railway |access-date=2012-01-24 }}</ref>

===Assam Link project===
With the [[partition of India]] railways in Assam got delinked from those in the rest of India. Indian Railway took up the Assam Link project in 1948 to build a rail link between {{stnlnk|Fakiragram}} and {{stnlnk|Kishanganj}}. Fakiragram was connected to the Indian railway system in 1950 through the Indian portion of North Bengal with a metre-gauge track.<ref name="timeline"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irse.bravehost.com/officialhistory.mht |title=Indian Railways History |work=Northeast Frontier Railway |publisher=IRSE |access-date=2011-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425235805/http://www.irse.bravehost.com/officialhistory.mht |archive-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section was partly new construction, partly old line converted to {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} [[broad gauge]] in 1966. Broad gauge reached Guwahati in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfr.railnet.gov.in/pro/CPRO1.HTM |title=Some Milestones of NF Railway |access-date=2012-01-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124125914/http://www.nfr.railnet.gov.in/pro/CPRO1.HTM |archive-date=24 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.hindu.com/businessline/2000/05/24/stories/142440h5.htm |title=Gauge conversion project in Assam |work=The Hindu Business Line |date=24 May 2000 |access-date=2011-12-10 }}</ref>

==Bridges==
The construction of the {{convert|2|km|abbr=on}}-long [[Rajendra Setu]] in 1959 provided the first opportunity to link the railway tracks on the north and south banks of the [[Ganges]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.irse.bravehost.com/irhpi.htm | title = Indian railways history (after independence) | publisher = Indian Railways | access-date = 2012-01-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111005074811/http://www.irse.bravehost.com/irhpi.htm | archive-date = 5 October 2011 | url-status=dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

The {{convert|3.19|km}}-long rail-cum-road bridge located at [[Munger]] 55 km downstream of the [[Rajendra Setu]], links [[Jamalpur, Munger|Jamalpur]] station on the [[Sahibganj loop]] line of Eastern Railway to the [[Barauni–Katihar section]] of East Central Railway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ppnow.com/other/trains-in-india/ |title=Trains in India |publisher=PPPNOW.com |access-date=2012-01-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328025642/http://ppnow.com/other/trains-in-india/ |archive-date=28 March 2012 }}</ref>

The {{convert|2240|m|abbr=on}}-long [[Farakka Barrage]] carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the [[Ganges]]. The rail bridge was thrown open to the public in 1971, thereby linking Kolkata with North Bengal and Assam.<ref name=timeline/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Salman|first1=Salman M. A.|last2=Uprety|first2=Kishor|title=Conflict and cooperation on South Asia's international rivers: a legal perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GEr4fyDbqgC&pg=PA135|access-date= 2011-07-05|year=2002|publisher=World Bank Publications|isbn=978-0-8213-5352-3|pages=135–136}}</ref>

The construction of the {{cvt|1.49|km|mi}}-long [[Saraighat Bridge]], the first rail-cum-road bridge across the Brahmaputra, was an event of great excitement. [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], India's first prime minister formally laid the foundation stone on 10 January 1960 and it was completed in 1962, connecting the two parts of the metre-gauge railways in Assam.<ref name=timeline/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://irsme.nic.in/files/mmfiles/BRIDGES_RRB.pdf|title=Bridges: The Spectacular Feat of Indian Railways|publisher=National Informatics Centre|access-date=2012-01-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305002840/http://irsme.nic.in/files/mmfiles/BRIDGES_RRB.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Electrification==
Electrification of the {{convert |809|km|abbr=on}}-long Barauni–Katihar–Guwahati section was sanctioned in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=35205|title= Electrification of 809 route Kilometers of Barauni–Katihar–Guwahati section of East Central and Northeast Frontier Railways|publisher= Press Information Bureau, 7 February 2008| access-date=2012-01-24 }}</ref> As of January 2020, Katihar New Jalpaiguri section has been electrified, and 4 pairs of electric passenger trains are going up to NJP .<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/railway-electrification-project-to-touch-north-east-soon/446665/ |title= Railway electrification project to touch North East soon | work=Business Standard|date=23 August 2011 | access-date=2012-01-24 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

|{{Railways in Eastern India}}
{{Railways in North-East India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barauni - Guwahati line}}
[[Category:5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Assam]]
[[Category:Rail transport in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Railway lines in Bihar]]
[[Category:Transport in Barauni]]
[[Category:Transport in Guwahati]]

Barauni–Guwahati line - Revision history

>Vatsmaxed: updated template, replaced: Broad gauge → {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} broad gauge (2)