Patna Junction railway station

Patna Junction
पटना जंक्शन
Indian Railway Station

The main entrance of the station
Location Station Road, Near Mahavir Mandir, Patna- 800001 Bihar
India
Coordinates 25°36′10″N 85°8′15″E / 25.60278°N 85.13750°E / 25.60278; 85.13750
Elevation 57 metres (187 ft)
Owned by ECR
Operated by Indian Railways
Line(s) Howrah-Delhi main line
Asansol-Patna section
Patna-Mughalsarai section
Patna-Gaya line
Patna-Sonepur-Hajipur Section (under construction)
Platforms 10[1]
Tracks 15
Construction
Structure type Standard (on ground station)
Parking Available
Other information
Status Functioning
Station code PNBE
Zone(s) East Central Railway
Division(s) Danapur division
History
Opened 1862[2]
Electrified 2003–2004[3]
Previous names Eastern Railway zone
Traffic
Passengers (2013) 3 lakh per day[4]
Services
Preceding station   East Central Railway zone   Following station
R-Block
Digha, Patna
Sachivalaya Halt
Patna–Mughalsarai section
Parsa Bazar
Patna–Gaya line
Towards Jehanabad
Location
Patna Junction
पटना जंक्शन
Location with patna

Patna Junction, station code PNBE, is the railway station serving the capital city of Patna in the Patna district in the Indian state of Bihar. The Patna Junction railway station is connected to most of the major cities in India by the railway network.[5] Patna lies in between New Delhi and Kolkata which is one of the busiest rail routes in India. Patna has trains running frequently to Delhi and Kolkata.[6] The city is a major railway hub and has six major stations: Patna Junction, Rajendranagar Terminal, Gulzarbagh Station, Danapur railway station, Patliputra Junction and Patna Sahib Station. Patna is well connected with Gaya, Jehanabad Biharsharif, Rajgir, Islampur through daily passenger and express train services. Currently, the Indian Railways has floated tenders to modernize Patna Junction.[7]

History

Patna Junction railway station was opened in 1862 as Bankipore Junction[8] in Bankipore town (Bankzpur), headquarters of the division and Patna district in Bengal, British India.[9] The construction of railway line through Patna was started in 1855 and was completed and opened in 1862.[10] Prior to that the transport of raw materials and finished goods was done through the river transport on Ganga river.[2] There are two branch lines one is in the western zone that connects Patna junction railway station with Digha Ghat and the other is in the eastern zone connecting the Patna City railway station with Patna Ghat.[2] The Danapur Division came into existence on 1 January 1925. The present Divisional Railway Managers’s office building was built in 1929.[11]

In 1948 Eastern Railway (ER) started an exclusively third class express train known as 'Janta Express' on 1 October 1948. This initially ran between Patna and Delhi and later on was extended from Delhi up to Howrah in 1949. This was the first Janta Express train in India.[12]

At the Rajendra Nagar Terminal and Patna Junction route relay interlocking (RRI) system were installed between 7 February 2012 till 12 February. The presence of RRI system allows computer operated change of tracks for running trains.[13] The presence of RRT system improves the safety of the railway traffic in the region.[1]

Bridge

In 2009, the construction of India's longest road-cum-rail bridge, Ganga Rail-Road Bridge, was underway on the banks on the Ganges nearby and will connect Patna to Pahleja Ghat. The bridge is expected to be completed by end of 2015.[14] Sources say that when completed it will be 4.55 kilometres (2.83 mi) long and therefore the longest road cum rail bridge in India and one of the longest in the world.[15]

New developments

In February 2012, The Indian Railways had planned to set up a Railway Station Development Corporation (RSDC) that will work on improving the major railway stations including Patna Junction by building and developing Restaurants, shopping areas and food plaza for commercial business and improving passenger amenities.[16]

Facilities

The major facilities available are Waiting rooms, retiring room, computerised reservation facility, Reservation Counter, Vehicle parking etc.[17] The vehicles are allowed to enter the station premises. There are refreshment rooms vegetarian and non-vegetarian, tea stall, book stall, post and telegraphic office and Government Railway police (G.R.P) office.[18] There is a special foreign tourist ticket counter at the first floor reservation office in the right hand wing of the railway station premises.[19] Patna Junction is located close to the bus terminal and domestic airport providing transport to important destinations of Bihar.[18]

To modernise the train inquiry system a call centre has been opened at Patna in 2005.[20] People from Bihar can inquire about arrival and departure of trains, reservation status, fare, concessions, etc., by dialling a universal telephone number 139 at local call rates. 200 to 500 lines are used in a call centre to ensure that the phone lines do not remain busy and a large number of people can access the facility of enquiry simultaneously. This facility was extended throughout India by the end of 2005–06 to get the desired train related information by dialling a universal number 139 at local call charges.[20] Automatic ticket vending machines have been installed to reduce the queue for train tickets on the station.[21] One of the two departmental catering units of Danapur division are located at Patna Junction, the other being at Kiul Junction.[22] Patna Junction is going to have a Metro Station under Patna Metro.[23]

Platforms

There are 10 platforms at Patna Junction.[1] The platforms are interconnected with three foot over bridge (FOB). The Western Overbridge is called the Delhi end FOB and the easternmost FOB is called Kolkata end FOB.[24]

Escalators

Patna Junction is among the selected Railway Stations of India where Automated Escalators are being installed. Escalators are installed on Platform 10 and by end of this year it will be installed on the rest of the platforms.[25]

Trains

Patna Junction railway station is a major station of the East Central Railways. Its location on the Delhi Kolkata rail route, makes Patna Junction served by numerous express and superfast trains from all over the country. Several electrified local passenger trains also run from Patna to neighbouring destinations on frequent intervals.[18]

The following table lists all the trains passing from Patna Junction (as on 4 April 2012):[26][27]

Nearest airports

The nearest airports to Patna Junction are:[28]

  1. Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport, Patna 5 kilometres (3.1 mi)
  2. Gaya Airport 108 kilometres (67 mi)

See also

Patna travel guide from Wikivoyage

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Route relay interlocking system now operational at Patna junction". The Times of India. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Intra Urban Market Geography. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 35–. GGKEY:H0N03P8ZTPB. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "History of Electrification". information published by CORE (Central Organization for Railway Electrification). CORE (Central Organization for Railway Electrification). Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Kumod Verma (17 December 2013). "Patna Junction to get two escalators by Jan-end". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Kory Goldberg; Michelle Dcary (9 November 2009). Along the Path – The Meditator's Companion to the Buddha's Land. Pariyatti. pp. 200–. ISBN 978-1-928706-56-4. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  6. ↑ Tom Woodhatch (1999). Nepal handbook. Footprint Travel Guides. pp. 435–. ISBN 978-1-900949-44-6. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Rlys to build 5 deluxe toilets". The Times of India. 14 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Amit Bhelari (2015-02-28). "Train to trace travels of Mahatma". Telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  9. ↑ "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 6, page 382 - Imperial Gazetteer of India - Digital South Asia Library". Dsal.uchicago.edu. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  10. ↑ "Bihar And Orissa District Gazetteers Patna - L.S.S. O`malley - Google Books". Books.google.co.in. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  11. ↑ "Danapur Division". Background. Official Website of the East Central Railway, Gov of India. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "Indian Railway History Time line". Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "Several trains rescheduled, cancelled from Feb 7 to 12". The Times of India. 5 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  14. ↑ "India's longest rail-cum-road bridge to come up in Bihar". Hindustan Times. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "Digha bridge cost likely to jump by Rs 3,000 cr". The Times of India. 3 July 2011.
  16. ↑ "Railways to set up body to develop stations". The Times of India. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "List of Locations (Irrespective of States) Where Computerized Reservation Facilities Are Available". Official website of the Indian Railways. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  18. 1 2 3 "Patna Railway station". Travel, Indian Railways. makemytrip.com. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  19. ↑ Sarina Singh; Lindsay Brown; Mark Elliott; Paul Harding; Abigail Hole; Patrick Horton (1 September 2009). Lonely Planet India. Lonely Planet. pp. 573–. ISBN 978-1-74179-151-8. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Speech: Railway Budget 2005–06". Press Information Bureau, Govt of India. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  21. ↑ "8 more stations to be made models". The Times of India. 12 May 2002. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  22. ↑ "Rly catering services to be privatised". The Times of India. 28 November 2004. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  23. ↑ Patna Metro
  24. ↑ "'Stampede' on Patna Junction FOB". The Times of India. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  25. ↑ "Patna Junction to have Automatic Escalators for Passengers". Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  26. ↑ "Trains at Patna Junction". India Rail Info. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  27. ↑ "Patna Junction Railway Station Details". indiantrains.org. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  28. ↑ "Patna Railway Station". onefivenine.com. Retrieved 31 March 2012.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Patna.
ER
Malda Town
ECR
Danapur
Mughal Sarai
Samastipur
Sonpur
NER
Varanasi
NFR
Katihar
Railways in India
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