| Guwahati–Lumding section (including Chaparmukh-Silghat Town & Chaparmukh-Mairabari branch lines) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Chaparmukh Junction an important railway station on Guwahati–Lumding section | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Operational | ||
| Owner | Indian Railways | ||
| Locale | Assam | ||
| Termini | Guwahati Lumding | ||
| Service | |||
| Operator(s) | Northeast Frontier Railway zone | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1900 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 181 km (112 mi) | ||
| Number of tracks | 1 | ||
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | ||
| Old gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) | ||
| |||
The Guwahati–Lumding section is a broad-gauge railway line connecting Guwahati and Lumding Junction. The 179-kilometre (111 mi) long railway line operates in the Indian state of Assam. It is under the jurisdiction of Northeast Frontier Railway zone.
History[edit | edit source]
In the pre-partition days, Assam was linked to Chittagong through the Akhaura-Kulaura-Chhatak Line and Akhaura-Laksam-Chittagong Line. The Chittagong link had been constructed in response to the demand of the Assam tea planters for a railway link to Chittagong port. Assam Bengal Railway started construction of a railway track on the eastern side of Bengal in 1891. A 150-kilometre long (93 mi) 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.[1][2][3] The Assam Bengal Railway constructed a branch line to Guwahati, connecting the city to the eastern line in 1900. During the 1900–1910 period, the Eastern Bengal Railway built the Golakganj-Amingaon branch line, thus connecting the western bank of the Brahmaputra to the western line.
Broad gauge[edit | edit source]
The railway tracks from Guwahati to Lumding and from Chaparmukh to Haibargaon were upgraded from metre gauge to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge in 1994.[4]
Line doubling[edit | edit source]
The Guwahati-Lumding-Dibrugarh line was proposed to be doubled in the Railway Budget for 2011–12.[5]
The 44.92 km (28 mi) long Lumding-Hojai doubling project was sanctioned in 2012–13.The Lumding Hojai patch doubling was completed on 10 July 2019.[6] The 30.50 km (19 mi) long New Guwahati-Digaru doubling project was completed in 2012–13.[7][8]
Railway reorganisation[edit | edit source]
The Assam Railway and Trading Company Limited was merged with Assam Bengal Railway in 1945.[9] With partition, Assam Bengal Railway was split up and railway lines in Assam became Assam Railway.[10] In 1952, North East Railway was formed with the amalgamation of Assam Railway, Oudh-Tiirhut Railway and the Kanpur-Achnera section of Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway.[11] Northeast Frontier Railway was created with a part of NE Railway in 1958.[10]
Jagiroad train derailment[edit | edit source]
On 16 April 2014, around 2:15am Guwahati bound Dimapur -Kamakhya Express derailed on the Guwahati-Lumding section near Jagiroad in central Assam's Morigaon district leading to 45 injuries. At the time of the accident the train was carrying around 700 passengers.[12][13]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Fida, Quazi Abul (2012). "Railway". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ↑ Report on the administration of North East India (1921–22). Mttal Publishers Distributors. 1984. p. 46.
- ↑ S.N.Singh; Amarendra Narain; Purnendu Kumar (2006). Socio Economic and Political Problems of Tea Garden Workers: A Study of Assam. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 105. ISBN 81-8324-098-4.
- ↑ "Welcome to the website of Lumding Division, Northeast Frontier Railway". Lumding Division, NF Railway. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "State Congress elated, opposition critical". The Assam Tribune, 26 February 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "Lumding-Hojai Patch Doubling Project" (PDF). NF Railway. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "New Guwahati Patch Doubling Project" (PDF). NF Railway. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "North Eastern Region" (PDF). Indian Railways. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ Urban History of India: A Case-Study by Deepali Barua, pages 79-80, ISBN 81-7099-538-8, Mittal Publications, A-110 Mohan Garden, New Delhi - 110059
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "History". Northeast Frontier Railway. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "Geography : Railway Zones". IRFCA. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "45 injured in a train accident in Assam". 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "19 passengers injured in Assam train accident". The Hindu. Guwahati. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.