Sealdah railway division
broad gauge | |
Electrification | 25 kV AC railway electrification |
---|---|
Length | 715.34 kilometres (444.49 mi) |
Sealdah railway division is one of the four railway divisions under the Eastern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is located in Kaiser Street in Kolkata, West Bengal near the Sealdah railway station. Geographically the division covers the railway tracks and services in the areas between the Hooghly river on the west, Bangladesh on the north and east and the Sundarbans in the south.[2][3][4]
Services
The division primarily serves five major districts of the state of West Bengal in India, namely the Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad districts.[2][5] The division forms the eastern part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway with numerous daily EMU services connecting Kolkata with the suburban areas of the five districts. The Sealdah railway station handles 124 mail/express trains connecting it to various parts of India along with 34 passenger trains & 921 suburban EMU train services, daily,[3][6] while the Kolkata railway station handles 72 mail/express trains connecting it to various parts of India along with 4 passenger trains & 31 suburban EMU train services, daily.[6] The Kolkata terminal also acts as an international passenger terminal for trains destined to Bangladesh namely the Maitree Express and Bandhan Express services.[6][7] Being located in the central business district of Kolkata, the Sealdah station plays a vital role in the management of suburban railway traffic.[2] Suburban services are also provided to the Hooghly and Howrah districts via the Naihati–Bandel branch line and the Calcutta Chord link line.[6]
Kolkata, Barrackpore, Diamond Harbour, Dakshineswar, Krishnanagar, Nabadwip Ghat, Murshidabad, Plassey, Shantipur, Sagar Island and the Sundarbans are some of the major tourist and pilgrimage spots served by the division.[2]
The division handles international freight and passenger traffic with Bangladesh through the
Routes
The total route length of the division is 715.34 km (444.49 mi) of which 690.075 km (428.793 mi) is fully electrified.
The following routes fall under the jurisdiction of the division:
- Sealdah Main and North section
- Sealdah–Ranaghat–Gede line
- Naihati–Bandel branch line (Naihati Junction railway station only)
- Calcutta Chord link line (up to Bally Halt railway station)
- Ranaghat–Krishnanagar City–Lalgola line
- Shantipur loop line
- Krishnanagar City–Nabadwip Ghat line (under conversion to broad-gauge and extension)
- Sealdah–Bangaon line
- Barasat–Hasnabad branch line
- Ranaghat–Bangaon branch line
- Sealdah South section
- Kolkata Circular Railway
The division connects with the Kolkata Dock System Railway (KDS Railway) at Majerhat and Brace Bridge stations respectively.[9]
History
The
The Bengal Central Railway (reporting mark :BCR) company constructed two broad gauge lines: one connecting Ranaghat and Bangaon (21 mi (34 km)) in 1882 and the other connecting Dum Dum with Khulna (now in Bangladesh), via Bangaon (108 mi (174 km)) which opened in stages and was completed in 1884. These lines were merged with Eastern Bengal Railway in 1904, with the Sealdah–Bangaon–Jessore–Khulna line becoming the main line of the Central section of EBR.[11][13]
The Martin's Light Railways (reporting mark :MLR) company constructed and opened the 20 mi (32 km) long, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge Ranaghat–Krishnanagar Light Railway line from Aistalaghat (near Ranaghat on the right bank of Churni river) to Krishnanagar via Shantipur in 1899.[5] This line was amalgamated with EBR on 1 July 1904.[11][13] EBR further extended the line from Krishnanagar to Nabadwip Ghat and opened the line for traffic from 30 June 1926.[3] EBR further built a 1 mi (1.6 km) long 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge extension from Ranaghat to the left bank of Churni River on 1902.[11][13] In 1925 an alternate 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge line was built from Kalinarayanpur (Churni Bridge) to Shantipur and the old 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge line between Shantipur and Aistola Ghat was abandoned.[13][14] The 94.28 mi (151.73 km) long Murshidabad Branch railway was constructed by EBR from Ranaghat to Lalgola Ghat in stages from 1905 to 1907.[11][13]
MLR also constructed and opened a 26 mi (42 km) long 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge line from
On the southern side, the Calcutta and South-Eastern Railway (
In 1883, a 44 km (27 mi) branch line to Diamond Harbour via
In 1942, EBR was merged with the Assam Bengal Railway (reporting mark :ABR) to form the Bengal and Assam Railway (reporting mark :B&AR).[2][20]
Post the partition of India in 1947, the Eastern and Central sections of EBR were divided between India and East Pakistan. The direct connection between South Bengal and North Bengal was affected as the Calcutta–Siliguri line was snapped resulting in Haldibari–Chilahati and Gede–Darsana becoming international transit points for trains. In the Central section, Petrapole railway station was created as the terminus on the Indian side while the Benapole railway station became the terminus in the East Pakistani side of the line.[21] All the railway lines east of Hooghly, south of Lalgola and west of East Pakistan that were under EBR were reorganised to be under the Sealdah division. The Sealdah division became a part of the Eastern Railway after the reorganization of railway zones on 14 April 1952.[2]
The
List of major railway stations by commercial importance
The list includes the number of railway stations under the Sealdah railway division categorized by their commercial importance.[31] Only major railway stations[a] are listed.
Non-Suburban Grade (NSG) | ||
---|---|---|
Category | Number of Stations | Major railway stations[b] |
NSG-1 | 1 | Sealdah |
NSG-2 | 2 | Kolkata, Naihati Junction |
NSG-3 | 0 | – |
NSG-4 | 1 | Berhampore Court |
NSG-5 | 10 | |
NSG-6 | 9 | |
Suburban Grade (SG) | ||
SG-1 | 0 | – |
SG-2 | 16 | Barasat Junction, Barrackpore, Baruipur Junction, Belgharia, Bidhannagar Road, Chakdaha, Dum Dum Junction, Habra, Khardaha, Krishnanagar City Junction, Madhyamgram, Ranaghat Junction, Shyamnagar, Sodpur, Sonarpur Junction, Subhasgram |
SG-3 | 112 | |
Halt Grade (HG) | ||
HG-1 | 0 | |
HG-2 | 0 | |
HG-3 | 53 |
References
- ^ Major railway station here refer to any railway station which is categorized by the Indian railways by commercial importance as between NSG-1 to NSG-4 or between SG-1 to SG-2 grade
- ^ Major railway station here refer to any railway station which is categorized by the Indian railways by commercial importance as between NSG-1 to NSG-4 or between SG-1 to SG-2 grade
- ^ "List of Station categories in Eastern Railways division". Indianrailways.gov.in. Indian Railways. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brief Detail of Sealdah Division Archived 2018-06-25 at the Wayback Machine, Eastern Railway
- ^ a b c "Zones and their Divisions in Indian Railways" (PDF). Indian Railways. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Sealdah Division System Map" (PDF). Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Eastern Railway". er.indianrailways.gov.in. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Details of Operating Department: Sealdah Division, Eastern Railway". Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Excitement mounts over train link". BBC. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "Operative Goods Sheds and Sidings over Eastern Railway. As on 01.11.2019" (PDF). Eastern Railway. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Railway Facilities - Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port Trust, Kolkata". Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ "Money Market and City Intelligence", The Times, Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Administration Report on Railways 1918". Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ a b H.M. Government "Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012"; pages 127-8, paragraphs 3.51 - 3.55 Retrieved on 2 Jun 2016
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "History Of Indian Railways, constructed and in progress', 31 March 1937 by 'The Government of India - Railway Department'" (PDF). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ "The Santipur Local - Part 2". Get Bengal. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "Indian Railway History Time line". Indian Railways. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ a b c "The Chronology of Railway development in Eastern Indian". railindia. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "H.M. Government "Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ "Bengal District Gazetteers: 24-Parganas" – page 168 by Lewis Sydney Steward O'Malley,I.C.S;Retrieved 10 December 2015
- ^ "Explained: The significance of the Kolkata port, renamed by PM Modi". The Indian Express. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
- ^ "Railway". Banglapedia – National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Thapliyal, Sangeeta. "India-Bangladesh Transportation Links: A Move for Closer Cooperation". Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses". Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ^ "The Chronology of Railway development in Eastern Indian". railindia. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- )
- ^ "Non-IR Railways in India". IRFCA. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ a b "STANDING COMMIlTEE ON RAILWAYS (1993-94) TENTH LOK SABHA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS FOURTH REPORT" (PDF). Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Travel: A Great Escape". The Statesman, 13 June 2006. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Speech of Kumari Mamata Banerjee Introducing the Railway Budget for 2001-02, on 26th February 2001" (PDF). Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Speech of Shri Lalu Prasad Introducing the Railway Budget, for 2004-05, on 6th July, 2004" (PDF). Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Speech of Shri Bansi Lal Introducing the Railway Budget for 1985-86 on 14th March, 1985" (PDF). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ "Speech of Shri Lalu Prasad Introducing the Railway Budget for 2006-07, on 24th February 2006" (PDF). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ "Category-wise No. of stations over Eastern Railway as of 30 April 2021" (PDF). Eastern Railway.