Kharagpur Junction railway station

Kharagpur Junction railway station is a railway station in Kharagpur subdivision of Paschim Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Kharagpur Junction
Regional rail, Commuter rail & Inter-city rail station
Kharagpur railway station
Location	Kharagpur – 721301, West Bengal India
Coordinates	22.339914°N 87.325016°E
Elevation	29 m (95 ft)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	South Eastern Railway
Line(s)	Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line Howrah–Chennai main line Kharagpur–Bankura–Adra line Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line Kharagpur–Puri line
Platforms	12 (1,1A,2,2A,3,3A,4,4A,5,6,7,8)
Tracks	24
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on-ground station)
Parking	Available
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	KGP
Zone(s)	South Eastern Railway zone
Division(s)	Kharagpur
History
Opened	1898-99
Electrified	Yes
Previous names	Bengal Nagpur Railway
Services
Preceding station   Indian Railways   Following station Jakpur South Eastern Railway zone Howrah–Chennai main line Hijli Jakpur South Eastern Railway zone Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line Nimpura Preceding station   Kolkata Suburban Railway   Following station Girimaidan toward Midnapore South Eastern Line Main line & Kharagpur–Bankura–Adra line Jakpur toward Howrah Junction
Route map km Asansol–Tatanagar– Kharagpur line Kharagpur–Puri line Kharagpur–Bankura– Adra line Kalaikunda Kharagpur–Bankura –Adra line Nimpura Nimpura Through Yard Nimpura Goods Yard Girimaidan Hijli Kharagpur-Puri line 0 Kharagpur National Highway 60 7 Jakpur 13 Madpur 19 Shyam Chak 24 Balichak 27 Duan 30 Radhamohanpur 35 Haur 39 Khirai km Kangsabati River 44 Panskura Raghunathbari 20 to Ghatal on Sheoraphuli– Bishnupur branch line (u/c) Rajgoda 28 48 Narayan Pakuria Murail Saheed Matangini 33 51 Bhogpur Tamluk 36 00 54 Nandaigajan Nandakumar 10 57 Mecheda (planned) Mayana 43 Keshabpur (planned) Bolaipanda 49 Satish Samanta Halt National Highway 41 51 Mahishadal Haldi River 60 Barda Lavan Satyagrah Smarak 21 66 Basulya Sutahata Deshapran 33 Tata Chemicals (planned) Nandigram 71 Durgachak (planned) Kandiamari 74 Durgachak Town Silpaprabesh 77 Henria 39 Haldia Petrochemicals Nachinda 52 IOC Haldia Refinery Kanthi 63 79 Bandar Sitalpur 69 Haldia Dock Complex Sujalpur 71 81 Haldia Ashapurna Devi Kolaghat Thermal Power Station Badalpur 78 60 Kolaghat Ramnagar (Bengal) Rupnarayan River Talga Chhari River 64 Deulti (planned) Egra 67 Ghoraghata Tikra 88 70 Bagnan to Jaleswar on Kharagpur– Puri line (under construction) to Amta on Santragachi– Amta branch line (planned) Digha 94 Damodar River 78 Kulgachia km 79 Bir Shibpur to Pujali on Sealdah South lines (planned) 83 Uluberia 85 Phuleswar 88 Chengel Fort Gloster Jute Mill (abandoned) 91 Bauria 95 Nalpur Ambuja Cement 97 Abada │ Abada rail yard 99 Sankrail Delta Jute Mill 103 Andul 105 Mourigram Santragachi–Amta branch line Hindustan Industries and Engineering 108 Santragachi Padmapukur National Highway 12 (Kona Expressway) Guest Keen Williams 109 Ramrajatala 111 Dasnagar Shalimar │ Shalimar rail yard 112 Tikiapara Howrah–Bardhaman main line & Howrah–Bardhaman chord 115 Howrah km Sources:[1][2][3][4]
Location
Kharagpur Junction Location in West Bengal Kharagpur Junction Location in India

Kharagpur
km to Asansol-Tatanagar-Kharagpur line Kalaikunda Nimpura Giri Maidan Hijli to Kharagpur–Bankura–Adra line to Kharagpur–Puri line Kharagpur Jakpur to Howrah-Kharagpur line
Source:Google Maps

History

Kharagpur Junction came up in 1898–99. On one side, Bengal Nagpur Railway's Kharagpur–Cuttack line was opened on New Year's Day in 1899. On the other hand, the opening of the bridge over the Rupnarayan River at Kolaghat, on 19 April 1900, connected Howrah with Kharagpur. Kharagpur was also linked with Sini the same year. The line was ready in 1898–99. The Kharagpur–Midnapore branch line was opened to traffic in 1901.[5]

Infrastructure

After Gorakhpur, and Kollam Junction in Kerala, Kharagpur has the world's third-longest railway platform with a length of 1,072.5 metres (3,519 ft).[6][7][8] Remodelling of Gorakhpur railway station was completed and the new platform inaugurated on 6 October 2013. Till then Kharagpur boasted of the longest platform in the world for many years.[9] Kharagpur also has the Asia's largest Railway Solid State Interlocking (SSI) system.[10]

Platform nos. 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 of Kharagpur Junction are contiguous. The 24-coach Coromandel Express stops at the start of platform no. 3 and its tail extends some distance into platform no. 1.[6] ALOO Khasa[11] is one of the famous dish found at the Kharagpur railway platform.

Background

It is the busiest junction station in South Eastern Railway Zone after Howrah. Hence, it is termed as Gateway to South Eastern Railway. It is one of the fifty highest railway reservation in India. It is a junction which connects Howrah to Mumbai, Chennai, Adra/Purulia and New Delhi via Tatanagar as well. It also connects Bhubaneshwar to New Delhi. Everyday approximately 275 trains pass through this station which includes freight traffic. In terms of passenger traffic it handles 176 trains on a daily basis. So, in a bid to decongest Kharagpur station and speed up locomotives, South Eastern Railway has decided to develop Hijli (close to IIT Kharagpur) as an alternative station for Kharagpur.[12] In future, most of the new trains coming from Balasore side and going towards Adra or Tatanagar will stop at Hijli and bypass Kharagpur. In order to increase passenger commute between Kharagpur and Hijli, new EMU services have been introduced between these two stations.

The Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line is classified under Route A of Indian Railways which allows trains to run at maximum permissible speed of 160 km/hr. However, as a result of the automated block section between Howrah and Kharagpur, the speed is restricted to 120 km/hr. The Howrah–Kharagpur section has been identified as one of the high-density automatic block signaling routes on Indian Railways. Thus plans are to deploy Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) on this section to mitigate the risk of signal passed at danger (SPAD) by train drivers leading to accidents.

Gallery

• 
  The Howrah–Puri Shatabdi Express at Kharagpur
• 
  An aerial view of the station
• 
  An EMU at Kharagpur
• 
  The station
• 
  The station
• 
  Entrance and ticket booking office at night
• 
  Coromandel Express halted at Kharagpur Junction

References

1. Google Maps
2. Kharagpur-Howrah Local 38606 Indiarailinfo
3. Howrah-Haldia Local 68689 ⇒ 38089 Indiarailinfo
4. Santragachi-Digha EMU 78001 ⇒ 68687 Indiarailinfo
5. Saxena, R. P. "Indian Railway History timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
6. "Trivia". IRFCA. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
7. "Indian Railway Facts". iloveindia. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
8. "Gorakhpur gets world's largest railway platform". The Times of India. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
9. Dinda, Archisman (9 October 2013). "Uttar Pradesh gets world's longest railway platform". GulfNews. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
10. "Asia's largest interlocking system at Kharagpur station". Times of India. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
11. AlOOKhasa – Kharagpur Railway Station Special
12. "Hijli to ease congestion at Kharagpur station". Times of India. 31 July 2012.

External links

Kharagpur travel guide from Wikivoyage

• Kharagpur Railway Division
• Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
• Kharagpur Municipality