Eastern Railway zone
 4-Eastern Railway | |
 Eastern and South eastern railway HQ Kolkata पूर्व रेलवे | |
| Locale | West Bengal and Bihar |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 14 April 1952– |
| Predecessor | East Indian Railway |
| Track gauge | Mixed |
| Length | 2414 |
| Headquarters | Fairley Place, Kolkata |
| Website | ER official website |
The Eastern Railway (ER) is one of the largest and High-Tech Zone in IR, it is among the 16 zones of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Fairlie Place, Kolkata, and comprises four divisions: Howrah, Malda, Sealdah, and Asansol. Each division is headed by a divisional railway manager (DRM). The name of the division denotes the name of the city where the divisional headquarters is located. Eastern Railways Consists Most no. of A1 and A Category Stations, Howrah, Sealdah, Siliguri, Asansol, Durgapur are Commonly known. Eastern Railways Operates the Oldest Train of IR Which is of Age 150 years and Name is Kalka mail. 3 Popular Zones ECR, SER and NFR were Part of ER before.
It has three major workshops: Jamalpur, Liluah, and Kanchrapara. The Jamalpur Workshop is for wagon repair, periodic overhaul (POH) of diesel locomotives, manufacturing of cranes and tower-wagons; the Liluah workshop is for POH of coaching & freight vehicles and the Kanchrapara workshop is for POH of electric locomotives, EMU Locals and coaches.
History
The East Indian Railway (EIR) Company was incorporated in 1845 to connect East India with Delhi. The first train ran here between Howrah and Hooghly on 15 August 1854. The train left Howrah Station at 08:30 a.m. and reached Hooghly in 91 minutes. The management of the East Indian Railway was taken over by the British Indian government on 1 January 1925.[1]
The Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 by amalgamating three lower divisions of the East Indian Railway: Howrah, Asansol and Danapur, the entire Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) and the Sealdah division of the erstwhile Bengal Assam Railway[2] (which was already added to the East Indian Railway on 15 August 1947). On 1 August 1955, the portions of BNR stretching from Howrah to Visakhapatnam in the South, Howrah to Nagpur in the Central area and up to Katni in the North Central Region were separated from Eastern Railway and became the South Eastern Railway.[3][4] Three more divisions: Dhanbad, Mughalsarai and Malda were formed later.[5] Till 30 September 2002 ER consisted seven divisions. On 1 October 2002 a new zone, the East Central Railway, headquarters at Hajipur, was carved out by separating the Eastern Railway's Danapur, Dhanbad and Mughalsarai divisions from it.[4] Presently, it comprises five divisions.
Routes
Trunk routes
Other sections
- Howrah-Bardhaman Main Line of Howrah-Delhi main line
- Bandel-Katwa Double Broad Gauge Line
- Sheoraphuli-Tarakeswar Branch Line Double Broad Gauge Line
- Tarakeswar - Arambagh Branch Single Line
- Howrah-Bardhaman Chord of Howrah-Delhi main line
- Barharwa-Azimganj-Katwa Loop Line
- Jasidih Dumka Rampurhat Rail line
- Bardhaman-Asansol section of Howrah-Delhi main line
- Khana-Barharwa section of Sahibganj Loop
- Ranaghat - Gede Branch Lines
- Andal-Sainthia Branch Line
- Sealdah-Ranaghat Line (including Sealdah-Dankuni and Bandel-Naihati lines)
- Ranaghat - Krishnanagar City - Lalgola
- Ranaghat - Shantipur - Krishnanagar City
- Howrah-Belur Math
- Sealdah-Barasat-Bangaon-Ranaghat Line
- Barasat - Hasnabad Branch Single Line
- Dum Dum - Biman Bandar
- Sealdah - Baruipur - Diamond Harbour of Sealdah South Lines
- Sonarpur - Canning of Sealdah South Lines
- Baruipur - Lakshmikantapur - Namkhana of Sealdah South Lines
- Sealdah - Budge Budge of Sealdah South Lines
- Kolkata Circular Railway
- Ahmedpur Katwa Railway (narrow gauge)
- Burdwan Katwa Railway (narrow gauge)
Important trains from Eastern Railway
- Sealdah - New Jalpaiguri Darjeeling Mail (Superfast Express)
- Sealdah - New Jalpaiguri Padatik Express
- Sealdah-Lalgola Bhagirathi express
- Kolkata-Lalgola Hazardurari express
- Kolkata-Lalgola Tri-weekly Dhanodhanya express
- Howrah - Ranchi Shatabdi Express
- Howrah - New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Gaya/Patna)
- Sealdah - New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Gaya)
- Howrah - New Delhi Duronto Express
- Sealdah - New Delhi Duronto Express
- Kalka Mail
- Howrah - New Delhi Yuva Express
- Howrah - Dhanbad Double Decker Express
- Poorva Express (via Gaya/Patna)
- Mumbai Mail
- Saraighat Express
- Parasnath Express
- Farakka Express
- Bhagalpur - Lokmanya Tilak Superfast Express
- Jamalpur - Howrah Express
- Bhagirati Express
- Hazarduari Express
- Darjeeling Mail
Notes
- ↑ Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.13,34
- ↑ "Sealdah division-Engineering details". The Eastern Railway, Sealdah division.
- ↑ Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.42–3
- 1 2 "The Eastern Railway-About us". The Eastern Railway.
- ↑ "Focus-Eastern Railway". Press Information Bureau, Government of India.
