>Vatsmaxed: /* top */updated template, replaced: Broad gauge → {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} broad gauge

2021-06-24T10:33:00Z

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

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox rail line
| box_width = 28em
| name = Barauni–Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections
| color =
| logo =
| logo_width =
| image = View of Katihar yard (Barauni - Katihar Section).jpg
| image_width =
| caption = View of Katihar yard
| type =
| system =
| status = Operational
| locale = [[Bihar]]
| start = [[Barauni Junction railway station|Barauni]]
| end = {{stnlnk|Katihar}}
| stations = 27
| routes = *Barauni–Katihar
*Samastipur–Khagaria
*Khagaria–Saharsa
*Saharsa–Purnia
*Saharsa–Forbesganj
*Katihar–Jogbani
*Katihar–Teznarayanpur
| open =
| close =
| owner = [[Indian Railways]]
| operator = [[East Central Railway zone|East Central Railway]], [[Northeast Frontier Railway zone|Northeast Frontier Railway]]
| character =
| depot =
| stock =
| linelength = {{convert|185|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}
| tracklength =
| gauge = {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} [[broad gauge]]
| minradius =
| racksystem =
| speed = 110 km/h
| elevation =
| website =
| map = {{Barauni–Katihar section|inline=1}}
| map_state = collapsed
}}
The '''Barauni–Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections''' of the [[Barauni–Guwahati 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]] .

==History==

===Early developments===
Railway development on the northern side of the [[Ganges]] in Bihar came up soon after the opening of the [[Howrah–Delhi main line]] on the southern side of the Ganges in 1866. Several railway companies were involved{{spaced ndash}}[[East Indian Railway Company|East Indian Railway]], Assam Behar State Railway, and Tirhut State Railway. In his book ''The Indian Empire, Its People, History and Products'' (first published in 1886) W.W.Hunter, says "The Tirhut State Railway with its various branches intersects Northern Behar and is intended to extend to the Nepal frontier on one side and to Assam on the other." However, early developments appear to be scattered. EIR built the [[Katihar]]–[[Kasba (Purnia)|Kasba]] and Katihar–[[Manihari]] lines in 1887. Assam Behar State Railway built the [[Parbatipur Junction|Parbatipur]]–Katihar line (see [[Radhikapur|Barsoi–Parbatipur line]]) in 1889, thereby linking Assam and parts of [[North Bengal]] with Bihar. Tirhoot State Railway built some longer lines such as [[Samastipur]]–[[Khagaria]], and added branch lines such as the 7 miles long [[Barauni]]–Semaria Ghat in 1883, the 11 miles long [[Bihpur|Thana Bihpur]] to Bararighat in 1901 and Khagaria to Hasanpur Road in 1915. Most of these early metre-gauge lines got interconnected in subsequent years.<ref name=timeline>{{cite web|first=R.P.| last=Saxena|title=Indian Railway History Time line|url=http://irse.bravehost.com/IRHTML.htm|work=Irse.bravehost.com|access-date=15 March 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229092028/http://irse.bravehost.com/IRHTML.htm| archive-date=29 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author = Sir William Wilson Hunter| title = The Indian Empire Its People, History, and Products| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yUhvfR1S_UEC&pg=PA547| year = 1886| publisher = Asian Educational Services| isbn = 978-81-206-1581-6| page = 547 }}</ref><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>

===Bridge links===
The construction of the {{convert|2|km}} 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]], now under construction, will link [[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>

===Railway reorganization===
The Avadh–Tirhut Railway (successor to Tirhut State Railway) was merged with Assam Railway (successor to [[Eastern Bengal Railway]] and [[Assam Bengal Railway]]) in 1952 to create [[North Eastern Railway zone|North Eastern Railway]]. [[Northeast Frontier Railway zone|Northeast Frontier Railway]] was carved out of North Eastern Railway in 1958.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.railwayreservation.net/tag/northeast-frontier-railways |title= Northeast Frontier Railways | access-date=2012-01-24 }}</ref> East Central Railway was constituted in 2002 with the Sonpur and Samastipur Divisions of North Eastern Railway, and Danapur, Mughalsarai and Dhanbad Divisions of Eastern Railway.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-geog.html |title= Geography – Railway Zones | publisher =IRFCA |access-date=2012-01-24 }}</ref>

===Gallery===

==Locale==
The entire track lies on the northern side of the [[Ganges]] and traverses the Kosi basin. In Bihar, the [[Kosi River|Kosi]] is widely referred to as the "Sorrow of Bihar" as it has caused widespread human suffering over the centuries through flooding and frequent changes in course. Over the last 250 years, the Kosi has shifted its course over {{convert|120|km}} from east to west. In August 2008, it picked up an old channel it had abandoned over a century ago near the Nepal–India border, and caused enormous damage in a wide area covering several districts. The breach in the Kosi embankment which caused the devastating flood in 2008, was repaired in 2009 and the river has since been flowing along its original course.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gits4u.com/water/kosi.htm | title = Kosi River (कोसी नदी) – The Sorrow of Bihar | publisher = Gits4U.com | access-date = 2012-01-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111214095715/http://www.gits4u.com/water/kosi.htm | archive-date = 14 December 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The floods continue and threaten even the Barauni–Katihar tracks. The entire region portrays "a bleak picture of broken houses, flattened fields and ravaged lives, signs of all the havoc the previous floods and land erosion wreaked here earlier."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110621/jsp/bihar/story_14136570.jsp |title = Hungry Kosi scares villages | work= The Telegraph|date=21 June 2011| access-date = 2012-01-24 }}</ref>

==Gauge conversion==
Gauge conversion work (from metre gauge to broad gauge) in the Barauni–Katihar section was taken up in 1978–79 and completed in 1982. In year 2001 Khagaria-Saharsa route was converted into broad gauge. Katihar–Jogbani route was converted into broad gauge in year 2009. The second main route of this section, Saharsa–Purnia route was converted into broad gauge in 2016. Gauge conversion of Saharsa–Forbesganj and Banmankhi–Bihariganj is on progress.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://irse.forumco.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=295 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120709044703/http://irse.forumco.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=295 |url-status=dead |archive-date= 2012-07-09 |title= Details of New line, Gauge conversion & Doubling constructed after independence & in progress on Indian Railways |author= Rajendra Saxena |work= item No. 18 |publisher= irse |access-date= 2012-01-24 }}</ref>

==Electrification==
Electrification of the {{convert |809|km}} 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 2011, work on electrification of Barabanki–Gorakhpur–Barauni–New Jalpaiguri route was in progress. Adequate funds have been provided in the budget for 2011–12 to take up work in the New Jalapiguri–New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section.<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 |publisher= Business Standard, 23 August 2011 | access-date=2012-01-24 }}</ref>
The section is fully electrified. Most of the Delhi and Amritsar-bound trains run on electric locomotives. Amrapali Express was the first train to run on electric locomotive, then after Rajdhani Express, North-east Express, Purvottar Sampark Kranti Express, Seemanchal Express, Tripura Sundari Express have electric engines.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120125230356/http://www.indiantrains.org/station-details/?code=BJU&name=BARAUNI%20JN Trains at Barauni]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120312195551/http://www.indiantrains.org/station-details/?code=KIR&name=KATIHAR+JN Trains at Katihar]

|{{Railways in Eastern India}}
{{Railways in North-East India}}
{{Munger Division topics}}
{{Purnia Division topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barauni - Katihar section}}
[[Category:5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India]]
[[Category:Railway lines in Bihar]]
[[Category:Transport in Katihar]]
[[Category:Transport in Barauni]]

Barauni–Katihar section - Revision history

>Vatsmaxed: /* top */updated template, replaced: Broad gauge → {{Track gauge|5ft6in|lk=on}} broad gauge