Howrah railway station

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Howrah Station
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″E / 22.5818°N 88.3423°E / 22.5818; 88.3423Coordinates: 22°34′54″N 88°20′32″E / 22.5818°N 88.3423°E / 22.5818; 88.3423
Elevation 12 m (39 ft)
Line(s) Howrah-Delhi main line
Howrah-Gaya-New 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 26
Tracks 26
Parking Available
Baggage check Available
Other information
Opened 1854
Electrified 1954[1]
Station code HWH
Division(s) Howrah(ER) Kharagpore(SER)
Owned by Indian Railways
Operator Eastern Railway
Station status Functioning
Formerly East Indian Railway Company

Howrah Station is the largest station in India by area. Its sheer size and awe-inspiring train handling capacity are unmatched in India. It is one of the four intercity railway stations serving Kolkata, the others are Sealdah Station, Shalimar Station and Kolkata railway station in Kolkata. Howrah is situated on the West bank of the Hooghly River, linked to Kolkata by the magnificent Howrah Bridge which is an icon of Kolkata. It is the oldest station and the largest railway complex in India.

Howrah Station

History

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.

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 Company in 1854 on its 23-mile line from Howrah to Pandua.

Platforms

There are currently 26 platforms in Howrah Station (1-15 for Eastern Railway; 16 - 26 for South Eastern Railway) actually local trains of Eastern railway arrives mainly at 1-9 platforms but sometimes in busy traffic local trains of Eastern Railway may arrive from platform 10 to 12. Local trains of South Eastern Railway are mainly arrives at platform 12 to 23. Platform 17 to 26 are situated in New Complex.

Confluence of two railway zones

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 and Kharagpur; 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

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-Tikiaparha link, and other is Rajchandrapur/Dankuni-Bankrha 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.

A Howrah bound EMU train in 2011.
EMU local trains at Howrah station.
The Bus Terminal which is located next to the station.

Trains Originating from Howrah Junction

Rajdhani Express

  • Howrah - New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Grand Chord
  • Howrah - New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Patna

Shatabdi Express

  • Howrah - Ranchi Shatabdi Express
  • Howrah - New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi Express
  • Howrah - Puri Shatabdi Express

Jan Shatabdi Express

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

Garib Rath

  • PURI-HOWRAH GARIB RATH EXPRESS

Double Decker Express

  • Howrah - Dhanbad Double Decker Express

Superfast

  • Howrah - New Delhi Yuva Express
  • Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express
  • Poorva Express (via Grand Chord)
  • Poorva Express (via Patna)
  • Coromandel Express
  • Howrah-New Delhi Express
  • Howrah-Mumbai Mail via Nagpur
  • Howrah-Mumbai Mail via Allahabad
  • 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 CST Express
  • Howrah-Mumbai LTT Samarsata Express
  • Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express
  • Chennai Mail
  • Howrah-Kannyakumari Express
  • Howrah-Okha Express
  • Howrah-Ahmedabad 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-Trichy Express
  • Howrah-Bikaner Express
  • Howrah-Puri Express
  • Howrah-Puri Express
  • Howrah-Digha Tamralipta Express
  • Howrah-Ahmedabad Express

Mail/Express

  • Howrah-Amritsar Mail
  • Howrah-Amritsar Express
  • Howrah-Mumbai Mail
  • Howrah-Sri Ganganagar 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/Rajgir Janta 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

Yatri Nivas (Travellers' Lodge) at Howrah Station
Double Decker Train arrives at Howrah Station after a trial run.
Howrah Railway Station Area

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 Shatabdi expresses.

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 all trams for Howrah station now depart from Barhabazar (1 km away). Some poles and stretches of track still exist.

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

See also

References

  1. ↑ "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Electric Traction - I". Irfca.org. Retrieved 2012-06-13. 
  2. ↑ Diaries of George Turnbull (Chief Engineer, East Indian Railway Company) held at the Centre of South Asian Studies at Cambridge University, England
  3. ↑ 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
  4. ↑ "Howrah Station is veritably the heartbeat of Kolkata". The Hindu. 2005-12-02. Retrieved 2009-01-02. 
  5. ↑ Ahrons, E.L. (1966). The British Steam Railway Locomotive. I, to 1925. Ian Allan. p. 142. 

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