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Sealdah–Bangaon line
| Sealdah–Bangaon line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 A local train at the Hridaypur railway station | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Operational | ||
| Owner | Indian Railways | ||
| Locale | West Bengal | ||
| Termini | Sealdah Bangaon | ||
| Stations | 24 | ||
| Website | Eastern Railway | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Commuter rail | ||
| System | Kolkata Suburban Railway | ||
| Services | Sealdah–Barasat and Barasat–Bangaon | ||
| Operator(s) | Eastern Railway | ||
| Depot(s) | Sealdah Barasat | ||
| Daily ridership | 0.5 million | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1884 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 77 km (48 mi) | ||
| Number of tracks | 2 | ||
| Character | At grade | ||
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge | ||
| Old gauge | 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge | ||
| Electrification | 25 kV overhead line | ||
| Operating speed | up to 100 km per hour | ||
| |||
The Sealdah–Bangaon line connects Sealdah and Bangaon in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is connected to the Sealdah–Ranaghat line at Dum Dum Junction, the Barasat–Hasnabad line at Barasat Junction and the Bangaon–Ranaghat line at Bangaon Junction. This line has change-over facilities with both the Kolkata Metro and the Kolkata Circular Railway at Dum Dum Junction and with the Kolkata Metro at Dum Dum Cantonment. It is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway system and is under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Railway.
History[edit]
The main line of the Eastern Bengal Railway, from Sealdah to Ranaghat, was opened way back in the year 1862. It was then extended during the same year up to Kushtia, which is now located in Bangladesh.[1] In 1882–84, the Bengal Central Railway Company was commissioned to construct two lines: one from Dum Dum to Khulna, now in Bangladesh, via Bangaon; and the other linking Ranaghat and Bangaon.[1] The line was converted into a 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge between 1957 and 1962.[2][3] It was merged with Eastern Bengal Railway in 1903.[4]
Electrification[edit]
The Sealdah–Ashoknagar sector was electrified in 1963–64.[5] The remaining line was electrified in the 1970s.
Passengers[edit]
Line-wise or route-wise passenger data is not available, but Sealdah station handles 1.5 million passengers arriving or departing in 704 trains daily (including EMU locals), and a good proportion of that uses this line, as it is the main line out of the station.[6]
Car shed[edit]
There is a large EMU car shed beside the Narkeldanga Canal, near Sealdah, which has a lot of space to accommodate locomotives. Barasat also has an EMU car shed which forms a part of that station's overall structure, having been designed to accommodate trains for rail engine and car maintenance.[7]
Tracks[edit]
The Sealdah–Bangaon line presently has two tracks; though at some stations, an additional platform and track has been built to originate and halt certain local trains.
Border[edit]
Though Bangaon is the last station on this particular route, the line extends up to the Indo-Bangladesh border and beyond that.[8][9]
Petrapole, which is pn the Indian side of the international border, has a land customs station and handles about more than half of the 4 billion dollar trade between India and Bangladesh. With the remote possibility of improvements in the extremely narrow roads leading to the Indo-Bangladesh border, because of land acquisition problems, the principal focus is now on improving the railway system.[10]
Trains[edit]
The only and the most important train from that uses this track is the Bandhan Express which runs from Kolkata to Dhaka. Apart from that a lot of local trains ply on this route which are:[11][12]
- The Sealdah–Bangaon Local
- The Sealdah–Thakurnagar Local
- The Sealdah–Gobardanga Local
- The Sealdah–Habra Local
- The Sealdah–Duttapukur Local
- The Sealdah–Barasat Local
- The Sealdah–Madhyamgram Local
- The Sealdah–Dum Dum Cantonment Local
- The Sealdah–Hasnabad Local
- The Sealdah–Basirhat Local
Stations[edit]
The railway stations on this route are:
| Station No | Railway Station |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sealdah |
| 2 | Bidhannagar Road |
| 3 | Dum Dum Junction |
| 4 | Dum Dum Cantonment |
| 5 | Durganagar |
| 6 | Birati |
| 7 | Bisharpara Kodaliya |
| 8 | New Barrackpur |
| 9 | Madhyamgram |
| 10 | Hridaypur |
| 11 | Barasat Junction |
| 12 | Bamangachhi |
| 13 | Duttapukur |
| 14 | Bira |
| 15 | Guma |
| 16 | Ashoknagar Road |
| 17 | Habra |
| 18 | Sanhati Halt |
| 19 | Machlandapur |
| 20 | Gobardanga |
| 21 | Thakurnagar |
| 22 | Chandpara |
| 23 | Bibhuti Bhushan Halt |
| 24 | Bangaon Junction |
Gallery[edit]
Main Entrance of the Sealdah railway station
Dum Dum Junction railway station platform board
Bird's eye view of Birati railway station
Platform of Madhyamgram railway station
Bird's eye view of Barasat Junction railway station
Main Entrance of Barasat Junction railway station
Habra railway station platform board
Platform of Gobardanga railway station
Thakurnagar railway station platform board
Platforms of Bangaon railway station
Main Entrance of the Bangaon railway station
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References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Chronology of Railway development in Eastern Indian". Rail India. Archived from the original on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ↑ Moonis Raza & Yash Aggarwal (1986). Transport Geography of India: Commodity Flow and the Regional Structure of Indian Economy. ISBN 81-7022-089-0. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ↑ "Non-IR Railways in India". IRFCA. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ↑ "Bengal Central Railway". fibis. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ "History of Electrification". IRFCA. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ↑ "Few Toilets at Howrah, Sealdah". The Times of India. 28 November 2001. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ↑ "Sheds and Workshops". IRFCA. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ↑ "Bongaon a green fresh border". Travel template. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ "Capexil plea to convert Petrapole LCS into port". The Hindu Business Line. 26 March 2004. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ Pratim Ranjan Bose and Abhisek Law (3 April 2013). "Customs wants better rail link through Petrapole". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ "Trains from Dum Dum to Bangaon". India Rail Info.
- ↑ "Trains from Dum Dum to Dum Dum Cantonment". erail.in.
External links[edit]
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