Howrah Junction railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2014)

This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. (May 2012)

‹ The template Infobox station is being considered for merging. ›

Howrah Indian Railway terminal train station
Howrah Station, view from Hoogly River
Station statistics
Address	Howrah, Howrah, West Bengal India
Coordinates	22°34′54″N 88°20′32″ECoordinates: 22°34′54″N 88°20′32″E
Elevation	12.000 metres (39.370 ft)
Line(s)	Howrah-Delhi main line Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line Howrah-Chennai main line Howrah-New Jalpaiguri line
Connections	Auto Rickshaw, Bus, Ferry, Taxi
Structure type	Standard (on ground station)
Platforms	23
Tracks	26
Parking	Available
Baggage check	Available
Other information
Opened	1854
Electrified	1954^[1]
Station code	HWH
Division(s)	Howrah(ER) Kharagpur(SER)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operator	Eastern Railway
Station status	Functioning
Formerly	East Indian Railway Company

Howrah railway station is the oldest station and largest railway complex in India. It is one of the four intercity railway stations serving the city ofKolkata, the others being Sealdah Station, Shalimar Station andKolkata railway station. The terminal station is located on the west bank of the Hooghly River, linked to Kolkata by Howrah Bridge. With 23 platforms, it has the highest train-handling capacity of any railway station in India; and is one of the busiest railway stations in terms of passenger volume per day.

History[edit]

Initial plans for the first Howrah station were submitted by George Turnbull the Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Company on 17 June 1851. In January 1852, it became clear that the government authorities would not sanction the purchase of sufficient land nor the necessary waterfrontage despite remonstrations from Turnbull that the terminus would grow enormously. In May 1852, the detailed station plans were the major work of him and his team of engineers. In October four tenders for building the station were received varying from 190,000 to 274,526 INR against an estimate of 250,000 INR.^[2]^[3]

Due to a great increase of traffic, a new station building was proposed in 1901. The new station was designed by the British architect Halsey Ricardo. It was brought into service on 1 December 1905.^[4] This building is the current Howrah station building. The station had 15 platform tracks.

It was expanded in the 1980s with the addition of 8 platform tracks in an area to the south of the station which previously had a parcels terminal, bringing the track count up to 23. At the same time a new Yatri Niwas (transit passenger facility) was built south of the original head house.

Platforms[edit]

There are currently 23 platforms in Howrah Station (1-7 for Eastern Railway; 8 - 15 for South Eastern Railway, 16-23 for Express Train). Platform 17 to 23 are situated in New Complex are connected by a walkway.

Confluence of two railway zones[edit]

The station is served by the Eastern Railway for local trains to Belur Math, Tarakeswar, Katwa, Bandel, Sheoraphuli,Bardhaman and numerous intermediate stations (see Main Line, Chord and Tarakeswar branch line); and mail/express trains to Central, North and North-East India. A narrow gauge line connects Bardhaman and Katwa and is currently served by DMU trains (all other lines run EMU trains). There is a plan to extend the suburban train service from Bardhaman to Mankar and Guskara, by electrifying the Khana–Guskara existing stretch, which is currently served by diesel loco hauled trains. The Bardhaman–Mankar stretch is now served by electric loco hauled trains.

The South Eastern Railway serves local trains to Amta, Mecheda, Panskura, Tamluk, Haldia, Kanthi, Medinipur andKharagpur; and mail/express trains to Central, West and South India. The Tamluk–Kanthi stretch is currently under electrification and until complete, it will be served by DMU trains (all other lines run EMU trains). There is a plan to extend the suburban train service from Kharagpur to Jhargram and Narayangarh. Both stretches are now served by electric loco (EMU) hauled trains.

Services[edit]

Trains from this station serve the Kolkata urban area via the Kolkata suburban railway, the state of West Bengal, and most major cities of India. Its twenty-three platforms handle over six hundred trains each day, serving more than a million passengers, making it the one of the busiest railway platforms in India . It is served by two zones of the Indian Railways:Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway.

The station is operated by the Eastern Railway.

South Eastern Railway was previously known as the Bengal-Nagpur Railway (BNR, derisively called "Be Never Regular" because of its notorious tardiness) which built the truck route from Kolkata to Nagpur connecting to Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) route to Mumbai and the trunk route to Vijayawada Junction connecting with the GIP route to Chennai. Eastern Railway was previously known as East Indian Railway (EIR) which built the trunk route from Kolkata to Delhi and beyond.

Four of India's most important trunk rail routes end in Howrah. They are Howrah-Delhi, Howrah-Mumbai, Howrah-Chennai and Howrah-Guwahati. Today there are 23 platforms in Howrah Junction /Central. The first Rajdhani Express in the country ran between Howrah and New Delhi in 1969. Eastern Railway handles trains for northern, north-western, north-eastern & eastern India through Barddhaman line & Katwa line. South Eastern Railway handles trains for southern, south-western, south-eastern, western, and central India through the Medinipur Line. The Kanthi line is also serving long distance intrastate trains.

The Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway section are connected by two links, one is Lilua-Tikiapara link, and other is Rajchandrapur/Dankuni-Bankura link, currently used by only goods trains. There are proposals to introduce passenger train service on these two links to facilitate quick travel between the two sections avoiding Howrah.

Gallery[edit]

A Howrah bound EMU train in 2011.
The Bus Terminal which is located next to the station.
Howrah Station
The first locomotive, shown on the right and christened "multum in parvo" (barely visible on the wheel casing), which was used by the East Indian Railway Companyin 1854 on its 23-mile line from Howrah toPandua.
Yatri Nivas (Travellers' Lodge) at Howrah Station
Double Decker Train arrives at Howrah Station after a trial run
Howrah Railway Station Area
Old steam loco outside Howrah Junction
Old steam loco details
Howrah Junction - Welcome
Howrah Junction - Platformboard

Trains[edit]

Trains Originating from Howrah Junction[edit]

Rajdhani Express[edit]

AC Duronto Express[edit]

Shatabdi Express[edit]

Jan Shatabdi Express[edit]

Howrah-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express
Howrah-Bhubaneswar Jan Shatabdi Express
Howrah-Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express

Garib Rath[edit]

Puri Howrah Garib Rath Express

Double Decker Express[edit]

Howrah - Dhanbad Double Decker Express

Superfast[edit]

Howrah - New Delhi Yuva Express
Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express
Poorva Express (via Grand Chord)
Poorva Express (via Patna)
Coromandel Express
Howrah New Delhi Express
Kolkata Mail via Nagpur
Howrah Mumbai Mail via Allahabad Junction
Kalka Mail
Howrah-Allahabad City Vibhuti Express
Howrah-Haridwar Kumbha Express
Howrah-Guwahati Saraighat Express
Howrah-Dehradun Upasana Express
Howrah-Jammu Tawi Himgiri Express
Howrah-Mumbai LTT Jnaneshwari Express
Gitanjali Express
Howrah Mumbai Mail
Howrah-Mumbai LTT Samarsata Express
Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express
Chennai Mail
Howrah-Kannyakumari Express
Howrah-Okha Express
Howrah Ahmedabad Superfast Express
Howrah-Yesvantpur Express
Howrah-Mysore Express
Howrah-Puri Dhauli Express
Howrah-Tatanagar Steel Express
Ispat Express
Howrah-Indore Shipra Express
Howrah-Gandhidham Garbha Express
Howrah Jodhpur Express
Howrah-Lalkuan Express
Howrah-Danapur Express
Howrah-Gwalior Chambal Express
Howrah-Mathura Chambal Express
Howrah-Sambalpur Express
Howrah-Asansol Agniveena Express
Coalfield Express
Howrah-Purulia Express
Howrah-Purulia Lalmati Express
Howrah-Purulia Rupashi Bangla Express
Howrah-Prasanti Nilyam Express
Howrah-Bolpur Shantiniketan Express
Howrah-Jaisalmer Express
Howrah-Sainagar Shirdi Express
Howrah-Rampur Hat Express
Howrah-Puri Express
Howrah-Puducherry Express
Howrah-Porbandar Express
Howrah – Tiruchirappalli Superfast Express
Howrah-Bikaner Express
Howrah-Puri Express
Howrah-Digha Tamralipta Express
Howrah Ahmedabad Superfast Express

Mail/Express[edit]

Howrah-Amritsar Mail
Howrah-Amritsar Express
Kolkata Mail
Howrah-Sri Ganganagar Udyan Abha Toofan Express
Howrah-Muzaffarpur Jan Sadharan Express
Howrah-Darbhanga Express
Howrah-Gaya Express
Howrah-Raxaul Mithila Express
Howrah-Jabalpur Shaktipunj Express
Howrah-Jamalpur Express
Kamrup Express
Howrah Delhi Janata Express
Samleshwari Express
Howrah Hatia Express
Doon Express
Howrah-Puri Sri Jagannath Express
Bagh Express
Howrah Malda Town Intercity Express
Howrah-Ranchi Intercity Express via Asansol
Howrah-Ranchi Intercity Express via Tatanagar
Howrah-Azimganj Kaviguru Express
Howrah-Bhopal Express
Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express
Howrah-Bolpur Kaviguru Express
Howrah-Siuri Hool Express
Howrah-Dhanbad Black Diamond Express
Howrah-Azimganj Gandevta Express
Howrah-Digha Kandari Express
Howrah-Vasco-da-Gama Amravathi Express
Howrah-Siuri Intercity Express

Facilities[edit]

Howrah Station houses the divisional headquarters of the Howrah Division of the Indian Railway's Eastern zone.

For passengers it has an enormous covered waiting area between the main complex and the platforms. The main complex has waiting and retiring rooms for passengers awaiting connecting trains. In addition there is a Yatri Niwas with dormitory/ single room/ double room accommodation. The vehicular carriageways along the length of platforms allow passengers to be dropped near rail compartments — a facility unique among most major stations of the country.

The station complex includes the following:

Two vehicular carriageways between platforms 8-9 (Eastern Railway) and 22-23 (South Eastern Railway) up to the length of the platforms. They connect to the flyovers at the end of platforms; facilitating quick exit of vehicles.
Diesel Loco shed (84 locos)
Electric Loco Shed (96 locos). This also includes an electric trip shed with the capacity to hold around 15–20 locos. Interestingly, Howrah loco shed houses the second most number of WAP-4 class of locos, numbering a total of 100 locos.
EMU Car Shed (15+ parking slots)
Coach Maintenance Complex services many prestigious trains such as the Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdiexpresses.

South Eastern railway's EMU car shed and electric loco shed are situated respectively at Tikiapara and Santragachhi. The Howrah Railway Complex also has a Railway Carriage and Wagons Workshop at Liluah, one of the three in the Eastern Railways. The other two being at Kanchrapara and Jamalpur.

North of the station there is now a new Railway Museum displaying artifacts of historical importance related to the development of Eastern Railway. For many years the Fairy Queen, now the world's oldest operational steam locomotive, was displayed on a plinth inside the station.^[5]

Before 1992, there was a tram terminus at Howrah station. Trams departed from here towards Rajabazar, Sealdah Station, High Court, Dalhousie Square, Park Circus and Shyambazar. Trams also departed from here towards Bandhaghat and Shibpur. That terminus was partially closed in 1971 for closure of the Bandhaghat and Shibpur lines. Many unauthorised vehicles and people took over the tram-track carrying streets and it was impossible to continue the tram service on these routes. The state government wanted to close these lines rather than control buses, taxis, rickshaws and people to allow free tram movement. After these closures, the part of the terminus which served these two lines was re-constructed for underpasses and a bus terminus. But the other part still functioned until 1992, when the Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) was declared not fit to carry trams, because it is a cantilever bridge. The tram line ran from the opening of the bridge until 1992. Previously routes 11, 20, 26, 30 & 32 served this terminus. Now the terminus is used by buses, and Some poles and stretches of track still exist.

When the Kolkata metro line 2 is built, it will pass through Howrah.

References[edit]

Jump up^ "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Electric Traction - I". Irfca.org. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
Jump up^ Diaries of George Turnbull (Chief Engineer, East Indian Railway Company) held at the Centre of South Asian Studies atCambridge University, England
Jump up^ George Turnbull, C.E. pages 110, 121, 122, 125 and 127 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007
Jump up^ "Howrah Station is veritably the heartbeat of Kolkata". The Hindu. 2005-12-02. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
Jump up^ Ahrons, E.L. (1966). The British Steam Railway Locomotive. I, to 1925. Ian Allan. p. 142.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Howrah station.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Howrah.

Indian railway fan club
Satellite View of Howrah

Preceding station		Indian Railway		Following station
Liluah		Eastern Railway zone Howrah-Bardhaman main line andHowrah-Bardhaman chord		Terminus
Tikiapara		South Eastern Railway zone Howrah-Kharagpur line		Terminus

[show] v t e Kolkata topics

[show] v t e Top 100 booking stations of Indian Railways

[show] v t e Howrah district topics

[show] v t e Tourist attractions in Kolkata

Categories:

Showing results for howrah railway station inaugurated
Search instead for howrah railway station inaugrated

Search Results

Howrah Junction railway station - Wikipedia, the free ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howrah_Junction_railway_station

Opened, 1854 ... Howrah railway station is the oldest station and largest railway complex in India. It is one ... This building is the current Howrah station building.

Howrah–Delhi main line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howrah–Delhi_main_line

The 1,532 kilometres (952 mi) railway line was opened to traffic in 1866 with the ...Howrah terminus was rebuilt as the largest railway station in India in 1905.

Howrah Bridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howrah_Bridge

2.2 million, and opened to traffic on 17 October of that year. ... by electric lamp-posts, powered by the dynamo at the Mullick Ghat Pumping Station. .... The main piers on theHowrah side were sunk by open wheel dredging, while those on the ...

[PDF]Important Events - Indian Railway

www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/.../stat.../27.pdf

Harangul Road Over Bridge near Latur inaugurated. ... train between Panvel and Vasai Road Station and a new DMU ... Howrah Station, Eastern Railway.

Howrah Railway Station Howrah Photos and Image Gallery ...

www.holidayiq.com › ... › Howrah Railway Station

The Howrah Railway Station is recognised as one of the biggest railway platforms across the globe. Inaugurated in 1854, the very first train that departed from ...

[PDF]HOWRAH STATION and BRIDGE - Studio Basel

www.studio-basel.com/assets/files/07_Howrah%20Station_web.pdf

Reference to the land acquisition undertaken by East India Railway. DRAFT. © ETH Studio ... On the place where Howrah Station will grow till nowadays. History. In 1854, a ..... toon and it could be opened to let the river traffic through. 70 years ...