Sealdah–Bangaon line

The Sealdah–Bangaon line connects Sealdah and Bangaon in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is connected to the Sealdah–Ranaghat line at Dum Dum Junction, the Barasat–Hasnabad line at Barasat Junction and the Bangaon–Ranaghat line at Bangaon Junction. This line has change-over facilities with both the Kolkata Metro and the Kolkata Circular Railway at Dum Dum Junction and with the Kolkata Metro at Dum Dum Cantonment. It is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway system and is under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Railway.


Sealdah–Bangaon line
A local train at the Hridaypur railway station
Overview
TypeCommuter rail
SystemKolkata Suburban Railway
StatusOperational
LocaleWest Bengal
TerminiSealdah
Bangaon
Stations24
ServicesSealdah–Barasat and Barasat–Bangaon
Daily ridership0.5 million
WebsiteEastern Railway
Operation
Opened1884 (1884)
OwnerIndian Railway
Operator(s)Eastern Railway
CharacterAt grade
Depot(s)Sealdah
Barasat
Technical
Line length77 km (48 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge
Old gauge762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge
Electrification25 kV overhead line
Operating speedup to 100 km per hour
Route map

km
km
to Jessore
 Benapole
Bangladesh
India
border
 Petrapole Goods
Ichamati River
Bagdah (planned)
77
 Bangaon
Chandabazar (planned)
Poramaheshtala (planned)
NH 35
Satberia
28
72
 Bibhuti Bhushan Halt
Gopalnagar
23
Akaipur
19
67
 Chandpara
Majhergram
15
Gangnapur
11
63
 Thakurnagar
Naba Raynagar
6
Coopers Halt
58
 Gobardanga
Ranaghat
0
Lalgola and Gede
branch lines
Jamuna River
Sealdah–Ranaghat line
Machlandapur
54
Swarupnagar (planned)
Hingalganj (planned)
75
 Hasnabad
73
 Taki Road
71
 Nimdanri
Sanhati Halt
50
69
 Madhyampur
67
 Matania Anantapur
Habra
45
65
 Basirhat
63
 Bhyabla Halt
Ashoknagar Road
41
58
 Champapukur
56
 Ghovarash Ghona
NH 35
54
 Malatipur
49
 Kankra Mirzanagar
Guma
38
46
 Harua Road
43
 Bhasila
Bira
34
41
 Lebutala
37
 Beliaghata Road
Duttapukur
30
35
 Sondalia
32
 Bahira Kalibari
Bamangachhi
27
29
 Karea Kadambagachhi
26
 Kazipara
NH 35
23
 Barasat
NH 34
21
 Hridaypur
19
 Madhyamgram
Noai Canal
17
 New Barrackpur
15
 Bisharpara Kodaliya
14
 Birati
12
 Durganagar
14
 Biman Bandar
12
 Jessore Road
line closed
Sealdah–Ranaghat line
10
 Dum Dum Cantonment
Calcutta chord link
to Dankuni
7
 Dum Dum
Patipukur
Kolkata Circular Railway
Kolkata
4
 Bidhannagar Road
Sealdah North & Main
0
Sir Gurudas
Banerjee Halt
Sealdah South
0
Park Circus
3
Sealdah South lines
km
km
Source: Indian Railway Time Table

History

The main line of the Eastern Bengal Railway, from Sealdah to Ranaghat, was opened way back in the year 1862. It was then extended during the same year up to Kushtia, which is now located in Bangladesh.[1]In 1882–84, the Bengal Central Railway Company was commissioned to construct two lines: one from Dum Dum to Khulna, now in Bangladesh, via Bangaon; and the other linking Ranaghat and Bangaon.[1] [1] The line was converted into a 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)-wide broad gauge between 1957 and 1962.[2][3] It was merged with Eastern Bengal Railway in 1903.[4]

Electrification

The Sealah-Ashoknagar sector was electrified in 1963–64.[5] The remaining line was electrified in the 1970s.

Passengers

Line-wise or route-wise passenger data is not available, but Sealdah Station handles 1.5 million passengers arriving or departing in 704 trains daily (including EMU locals), and a good proportion of that uses this line, as it is the main line out of the station.[6]

Car shed

There is a large EMU car shed beside the Narkeldanga Canal, near Sealdah, which has a lot of space to accommodate locomotives. Barasat also has an EMU car shed which forms a part of that station's overall structure, having been designed to accommodate trains for rail engine and car maintenance.[7]

Tracks

The Sealdah-Bangaon Line presently has two tracks; though at some stations, an additional platform and track has been built to originate and halt certain local trains.

Border

Though Bangaon is the last station on this particular route, the line extends up to the Indo-Bangladesh border and beyond that.[8][9]

Petrapole, which is pn the Indian side of the international border, has a land customs station and handles about more than half of the 4 billion dollar trade between India and Bangladesh. With the remote possibility of improvements in the extremely narrow roads leading to the Indo-Bangladesh border, because of land acquisition problems, the principal focus is now on improving the railway system.[10]

Trains

The only and the most important train from that uses this track is the Bandhan Express which runs from Kolkata to Dhaka. Apart from that a lot of local trains ply on this route which are: [11][12]

  • The Sealdah-Bangaon Local
  • The Sealdah-Thakurnagar Local
  • The Sealdah-Gobardanga Local
  • The Sealdah-Habra Local
  • The Sealdah-Duttapukur Local
  • The Sealdah-Barasat Local
  • The Sealdah-Madhyamgram Local
  • The Sealdah-Dum Dum Cantonment Local
  • The Sealdah-Hasnabad Local
  • The Sealdah-Basirhat Local

Stations

The railway stations on this route are:

Station No Railway Station
1 Sealdah
2 Bidhannagar Road
3 Dum Dum Junction
4 Dum Dum Cantonment
5 Durganagar
6 Birati
7 Bisharpara Kodaliya
8 New Barrackpur
9 Madhyamgram
10 Hridaypur
11 Barasat Junction
12 Bamangachhi
13 Duttapukur
14 Bira
15 Guma
16 Ashoknagar Road
17 Habra
18 Sanhati Halt
19 Machlandapur
20 Gobardanga
21 Thakurnagar
22 Chandpara
23 Bibhuti Bhushan Halt
24 Bangaon Junction
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References
  1. "The Chronology of Railway development in Eastern Indian". railindia. Archived from the original on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. Moonis Raza & Yash Aggarwal. "Transport Geography of India: Commodity Flow and the Regional Structure of Indian Economy". page 60. Concept Publishing Company, A-15/16 Commercial Block, Mohan Garden, New Delhi – 110059. ISBN 81-7022-089-0. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  3. "Non-IR Railways in India". IRFCA. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  4. "Bengal Central Railway". fibis. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  5. "History of Electrification". IRFCA. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  6. "Few Toilets at Howrah, Sealdah". The Times of India, 28 November 2001. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  7. "Sheds and Workshops". IRFCA. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  8. "Bongaon a green fresh border". Travel template. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  9. "Capexil plea to convert Petrapole LCS into port". The Hindu Business Line, 26 March 2004. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  10. Pratim Ranjan Bose and Abhisek Law. "Customs wants better rail link through Petrapole". The Hindu Business Line, 3 April 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  11. "Trains from Dum Dum to Bangaon". India Rail Info.
  12. "Trains from Dum Dum to Dum Dum Cantonment". erail.in.
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