Asansol–Gaya section
Dhanbad Junction, an important railway station on Asansol–Gaya section
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	West Bengal,Jharkhand,Bihar
Termini	Asansol Gaya
Stations	38
Service
System	Electrified
Operator(s)	Eastern Railway,East Central Railway
History
Opened	1907
Technical
Line length	267 km (166 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge
Electrification	Yes
Operating speed	130 km/h
Route map Asansol–Gaya section Legend km   Gaya–Mughalsarai section of Grand Chord,Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line andHowrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line 0 Gaya Junction Patna–Gaya line Falgu River 3 Saheed Iswar Choudhery (halt) 5 Manpur Gaya–Kiul line 12 Bandhua 19 Tankuppa 25 Bansinala 32 Paharpur 34 Gurpa 39 Dilwa Jharkhand Bihar border 46 Gujhandi 56 Koderma to Hazaribagh &Barkakana toGiridih &Madhupur 64 Hirodih 72 Samatanr 77 Jadudih 81 Parsabd Barakar River 92 Chaube 103 Hazaribagh Road 113 Chichaki 121 Chaudhuribandh 130 Parasnath Parasnath Hill ( 1350 m 1476 yd ) NH 19 Grand Trunk Road 138 Nimiaghat 148 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Gomoh to Bokaro & Barkakana Tatanagar-Barkakana section 72 Barkakana toSon Nagar to Hazaribagh Damodar River 69 Argada 63 Ranchi Road NH 33 55 Karmahat 51 Chainpur 46 Jogeshwar Bokaro River 38 Danea Tenughat Thermal Power Station 27 Dumari Indian Explosives Limited 20 Gomia Gomia Airport Konar River 15 Bokaro (Thermal) Bokaro Thermal Power Station B (Damodar Valley Corporation) 9 Jarangdih 6 Bermo 3 Amlo (halt) Kargali colliery and washery 0 Phusro 5 Bhandaridah Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh–Hatia line Bokaro airport Bokaro Steel Plant (Steel Authority of India Limited) 0 Bokaro Steel City Adra-Bokaro Steel City branch line 5 Tupkadih Damodar River 12 Rajabera Chandrapura TPS (Damodar Valley Corporation) 16 12 Chandrapura Dugda Adra–Gomoh branch line 23 Telo Jamunia River 33 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Gomoh 157 Matari 162 Nichitpur to Katrasgarh ( Jharia Coalfield rail network ) 168 Tetulmari 173 Bhuli (halt) to Jharia ( Jharia Coalfield rail network ) 177 Dhanbad Junction 182 Dokra (halt) to Katrasgarh ( Jharia Coalfield rail network ) 187 Pradhankhunta to Pathardih ( Jharia Coalfield rail network ) 193 Chota Ambana 202 Kalubathan 206 Thapar Nagar 212 Mugma Grand Trunk Road 216 Kumardubi Barakar River Jharkhand West Bengal border 219 Barakar 222 Kulti toMughalsarai Junction viaHowrah–Delhi main line 227 Sitarampur 231 Barachak Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line 236 Asansol Junction Bardhaman–Asansol section km Sources: Google maps Indian Railway Time Table (Indiarailinfo) Hatia-Bardhaman Passenger 53062 Gomoh-Barkakana Passenger 461EC This diagram: view talk edit

TheAsansol–Gaya section is arailway line connectingAsansol andGaya in India. This 267-kilometre-long (166 mi) track is part of theGrand Chord,Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line andHowrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line. This section includes the NSC Bose Gomoh–Barkakana line. It is under the jurisdiction ofEastern Railway andEast Central Railway. The section links toSouth Eastern Railway throughBokaro Steel City andAdra.

TheBardhaman–Asansol line was first extended to Barakar in 1858 and then in 1894East Indian Railway Company extended the line toJharia andKatras, opening up the Jharia Coalfield. Dhanbad emerged as a premier coal loading area.^[1] One railway-related source says that the line from Sitarampur to Dhanbad was built in 1880.^[2]

Once the rail link from Howrah to Delhi was completed in 1866, the East Indian Railway was making constant endeavour to reduce the distance of theHowrah–Delhi main line. After several surveys, one in 1888–89 and two more subsequently, a route was determined from Dhanbad to Mughal Sarai via Koderma and Gaya. The major works in this section were a bridge across theSon River atDehri, and tunnelling and ghat line construction between Gurpa and Gujhandi.^[2]

The 22-kilometre (14 mi) Gujhandi (altitude 370 m)–Gurpa (altitude 193 m) section, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west ofKoderma, is a ghat (mountain/hill slope), with theKoderma Plateau sloping down to the Gaya plain.^[3]

The Grand Chord was opened on 6 December 1906 byLord Minto, thenViceroy andGovernor General of India with a function at Gujahandi. The Viceroy and Lady Minto travelled to Gaya, from where they travelled in a special observation car to Gujhandi. Two special trains, running from Howrah, carried the invitees. The Viceroy screwed on a silver bolt with a silver spanner to formally complete the line.^[2]

A repeat of the historic event was organized by East Central Railway on 6 December 2006, with a special heritage train "Grand Chord ki Rani", pulled by a 1965 steam engine, carrying the guests from Gaya to Gujhandi.^[4]

Several years before the Grand Chord was built, a connection from the Howrah–Delhi main line to Gaya was developed in 1900 (presumably the Patna–Gaya line) and the South Bihar Railway Company (operated by EIR) had laid a line fromLakhisarai to Gaya in 1879.^[1] Track doubling of the 130-kilometre-long (81 mi) Kiul–Gaya section was announced in theRailway Budget for 2010–2011.^[5]

TheBengal Nagpur Railway system was connected to theEast Indian Railway Company lines in 1889, thus connecting Asansol toAdra. In 1907 Adra was connected to theGrand Chord atGomoh.^[1]

The construction of the 143-kilometre-long (89 mi) Chandrapura–Muri–Ranchi–Hatia line started in 1957 and was completed in 1961.^[6]

In 1902, a branch line of EIR was opened from Sone East Bank (later renamedSon Nagar) to Daltonganj. With the development ofSouth Karanpura Coalfield, the Central India Coalfields Railway opened a line from Gomoh toBarkakana in 1927 and from Barkakana to Daltonganj in 1929. These lines were subsequently taken over byEIR.^[1]

Electrification of the stretch of mainline of this section fromAsansol toNetaji SC Bose Gomoh was completed in 1960–61. Electrification of the stretch from Netaji SC Bose Gomoh toGaya was completed in 1961–62.^[7]

On the Gomoh–Barkakana branch line electrification was done from both ends: Gomoh to Phusro in 1986–87, Barkakana to Danea in 1996–97, Danea to Gomia and Gomia to Jarandih in 1997–98.^[7]

In 1965, Asansol–Bareilly Passenger was the first long-distance train on Eastern Railway to be hauled by an AC loco.^[8]

The Gaya–Jahanabad sector was electrified in 2002–2003.^[7] Completion of electrification of the 97-kilometre-long (60 mi) Patna–Gaya rail route before the end of 2003 was announced by the railway ministerNitish Kumar.^[9]

Asansol is home to the oldest electric loco shed of Indian Railways. It housesWAG-5 andWAM-4 electric locomotives.^[10]

Netaji SC Bose Gomoh has an electric loco shed with capacity to hold 125+ locos. Locos housed at the shed include WAG-7, WAG-9, WAG-9I, WAP-7. WAP-7 locos serve the prestigiousHowrah Rajdhani Express.^[10]

Bokaro Steel City has a diesel loco shed with WDM-2 and WDM-3A locos. It has a large yard forBokaro Steel Plant.^[10]

Most of the Asansol–Gaya section is classified as ‘A’ class line where trains can run up to 160 km per hour but in certain sections speeds may be limited to 120–130 km per hour. The Howrah Rajdhani (between Howrah and New Delhi) travels at an average speed of 85.8 km per hour and the Sealdah Rajdhani (between Sealdah and New Delhi) travels at an average speed of 84.70 km per hour.^[11][12]

In 1952,Eastern Railway,Northern Railway andNorth Eastern Railway were formed. Eastern Railway was formed with a portion ofEast Indian Railway Company, east of Mughalsarai andBengal Nagpur Railway. Northern Railway was formed with a portion of East Indian Railway Company west of Mughalsarai, Jodhpur Railway, Bikaner Railway and Eastern Punjab Railway. North Eastern Railway was formed withOudh and Tirhut Railway, Assam Railway and a portion ofBombay, Baroda and Central India Railway.^[13] East Central Railway was created in 1996–97.^[14]

The following trains are famous trains of this section

• Netaji Express
• Garba Superfast Express
• Pratap Express
• Shabd Bhedi Superfast Express
• Ajmer–Sealdah Express
• Howrah-Bikaner Superfast Express
• Howrah-Jodhpur Express
• Howrah-Mumbai CSMT Mail (via Gaya)
• Howrah-Gaya Vande Bharat Express
• Howrah–Lalkuan Express
• Howrah-Bikaner Weekly Superfast Express
• Poorva Express (via Gaya)
• Durgiana Express
• Kolkata–Agra Cantonment Express
• Kolkata-Jammu Tawi Express
• Kolkata-Gwalior Superfast Express
• West Bengal Sampark Kranti Express
• Jallianwalla Bagh Express
• Sealdah-Jammu Tawi Humsafar Express
• Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Gaya)
• Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express
• Parasnath Express
• Howrah–Agra Cantonment Chambal Express
• Howrah–Gwalior Chambal Express
• Howrah–Mathura Chambal Express
• Shipra Express
• Howrah-Barmer Superfast Express
• Doon Express

While There are also a lot of Passenger and Express trains that serves the section.

External videos
Gurpa Gajhandi Ghat Section (Part I)
Gurpa Gajhandi Ghat Section (Part II)

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• 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India
• Asansol railway division
• Railway lines in Bihar
• Transport in Asansol
• Dhanbad railway division

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