Katihar Junction railway station

Katihar Junction कटिहार जंक्शन
Express train and Passenger train station
The main entrance of the station.
Location	Station Road, Katihar, Bihar-854105 India
Coordinates	25.54869°N 87.56615°E / 25.54869; 87.56615
Elevation	35 metres (115 ft)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	Northeast Frontier Railway
Line(s)	Barauni–Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections Katihar–Jogbani line Katihar–Siliguri line Katihar–Teznarayanpur branch line Katihar–Malda line
Platforms	8
Tracks	14
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on-ground station)
Parking	Available
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	KIR
Zone(s)	Northeast Frontier Railway
Division(s)	Katihar
History
Opened	1889
Electrified	Electrified(April-2017)
Previous names	East Indian Railway
Passengers
1 Lakh per day
Services
Preceding station   Northeast Frontier Railway zone   Following station Terminus Barauni–Katihar section Towards Jogbani Purnia toward ? Barauni toward [[Template:S-line/Indian Railways left/Katihar–Siliguri line railway station|Template:S-line/Indian Railways left/Katihar–Siliguri line]] Katihar–Siliguri line Towards New Jalpaiguri Barsoi toward [[Template:S-line/Indian Railways right/Katihar–Siliguri line railway station|Template:S-line/Indian Railways right/Katihar–Siliguri line]] Barauni toward [[Template:S-line/Indian Railways left/Katihar–Siliguri line railway station|Template:S-line/Indian Railways left/Katihar–Siliguri line]] Katihar–Siliguri line Towards Malda Town Kumedpur toward [[Template:S-line/Indian Railways right/Katihar–Siliguri line railway station|Template:S-line/Indian Railways right/Katihar–Siliguri line]] Terminus Barauni–Katihar section Towards Manihari Teznarayanpur toward ?
Location
Katihar Junction railway station Location in Bihar

Katihar Junction railway station serves Katihar city in Katihar district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is an A Category railway station of Katihar Division. The Katihar Junction railway station is connected to most of the major cities in India by the railway network.

Katihar lies in between Barauni–Katihar section of Barauni–Guwahati line
Katihar–Siliguri line which serves the city with numerous trains to Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Gorakhpur, Lucknow and with many other cities. It is ISO certified ISO 14001:2015 for its clean and green environment throughout the station premises.

History

East Indian Railway Company opened the Manihari–Katihar–Kasba section in 1888 and the North Bengal Railway opened the Katihar–Raiganj section the same year. The Barsoi–Kishanganj section opened in 1889. All these lines were 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)-wide metre-gauge lines. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, operating 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge lines, extended their operations from Siliguri to Kishanganj in 1915 and to Dalkhola.

Siliguri was connected to Kolkata via the eastern part of Bengal since 1878 (for details see Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line). However, with the partition of India in 1947, railway services in the region were completely disrupted. In 1949, the narrow-gauge Siliguri–Kishanganj section was upgraded to metre gauge. Thus there was a direct metre-gauge connection from Manihari to Siliguri via Katihar. The importance of Katihar station grew because of the jute mill in the region.

Development

In the early 1960s, when Farakka Barrage was being constructed, Indian Railways took the initiative to extend 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad-gauge rail link from Kolkata.

The 2,240 m (7,350 ft) long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges. The rail bridge was opened in 1971 thereby linking the Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop to Malda, New Jalpaiguri and other railway stations in North Bengal.

Gauge conversion work (from metre gauge to broad gauge) in the Barauni–Katihar section was taken up in 1978–79 and completed in 1982.

The Siliguri–Katihar line was the last surviving metre-gauge line in the area. The Aluabari Road–Katihar section already had a broad-gauge line running alongside the metre-gauge line. The Aluabari Road–Siliguri section needed to be converted. Conversion work was taken up in 2008, train services in the section was suspended and conversion work completed early in 2011.

Platforms

There are 8 functional platforms at Katihar Junction which are interconnected & have multiple foot overbridges.

Gallery

• 

  Dibrugarh Rajdhani arriving Katihar Jn

• 

  Katihar Station

• 

  Kamakhya–Lokmanya Tilak Terminus AC Express entering Katihar

• 

  12423 Dibrugarh–New Delhi Rajdhani Express waiting to depart Katihar

• 

  A Siliguri-based WDG-4 with a freight train enters Katihar Junction

External links

• Katihar Junction railway station at the India Rail Info

Preceding station		Indian Railways		Following station
Terminus		Northeast Frontier Railway zone Katihar–Siliguri line		Dandkhora toward ?
Terminus		Northeast Frontier Railway zone Katihar–Barsoi branch line		Kumedpur toward ?
Terminus		Northeast Frontier Railway zone Barauni–Katihar section		Semapur toward ?
Terminus		Northeast Frontier Railway zone Katihar–Teznarayanpur branch line		Mansi toward ?
Terminus		Northeast Frontier Railway zone Katihar–Jogbani branch line		Dalan toward ?