Sheoraphuli–Bishnupur branch line
Kamarkundu railway station lies on Sheoraphuli–Tarakeswar branch line
Overview
Status	Partially Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	West Bengal
Termini	Sheoraphuli Goghat
Stations	9
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	Electrified
Operator(s)	Eastern Railway
History
Opened	1885; 140 years ago (1885)
Technical
Line length	39 km (24 mi)
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge
Operating speed	up to 100 km/h (62 mph)
Route map Legend km 119 Bishnupur Kharagpur–Bankura– Adra line NH-14 (old NH-60) 111 Birshamunda Halt 102 Gokulnagar Joypur 96 Maynapur 89 Baragopinathpur 80 Jayrambati 76 Kamarpukur 70 Goghat SH-2 Kalipur Bridge over Dwarakeswar River toPanskura on Howrah–Kharagpur line Ghatal Irphala to Bowaichandi on Bankura–Masagram line ( under construction ) 60 Arambagh P.C.Sen 51 Mayapur Mundeswari River 45 Takipur Halt Damodar River toBaruipara on Howrah–Bardhaman chord (planned) Furfura Sharif toBargachia on Santragachi–Amta branch line (planned) Jangipara Champadanga 40 Talpur Halt 35 Tarakeswar toDhaniakhali on Howrah–Bardhaman chord ( under construction ) 33 Loknath 28 Bahirkhanda 25 Kaikala 22 Haripal 20 Maliya 17 Nalikul 13 Kamarkundu Howrah–Bardhaman chord 11 Singur NH-19 (old NH-2) 7 Nasibpur 5 Diara SH-13 (Palsit–Dankuni Road) Baidyabati Canal Grand Trunk Road 0 Sheoraphuli Howrah–Bardhaman main line km Sources: [1][2][3][4]

TheSheoraphuli–Bishnupur branch line also known asBishnupur—Tarakeshwar Railway line is a railway line connectingSheoraphuli on theHowrah–Bardhaman main line andBishnupur. The 39-kilometre-long (24 mi) railway line traversesHooghly in the Indian state ofWest Bengal. Sheoraphuli is 23 kilometres (14 mi) fromHowrah. It is part of theKolkata Suburban Railway system.

The broad gauge Sheoraphuli–Tarakeswar branch line was opened by the Tarkessur Railway Company on 1 January 1885 and was worked byEast Indian Railway Company.^[5][6] The Tarkessur company was taken over by the East Indian Railway in 1915.^[7]

TheHowrah–Bardhaman chord, which crosses this branch line atKamarkundu, was opened in 1917.^[6] In Railway budget 2010–11, restoration of 51-kilometre-long (32 mi) Tarakeswar-to-Magra section as 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) Broad Gauge railway line was proposed. The work is sanctioned in 2010–11. at a cost of 365.17 Cr. Also Tarakeswar–Furfura Sharif 21.8-kilometre-long (13.5 mi) New Line project work was sanctioned in year 2012–13 at a cost of Rs. 162.37 Cr. Final location survey completed. Alignment plan for 20.1 kilometres (12.5 mi) approved. Land plan under finalisation. Formation and bridge work completed in railway land. 219 hectares of land will be required. Formation and bridge work completed in railway land. Work could not be started due to non-availability of land. However, the work has been kept in abeyance by Railway board.^[8]

The Sheoraphuli–Tarakeswar branch line was first electrified with 3,000 V DC system in 1957. Subsequently, when the Railways decided to adopt the AC system, the branch line was converted to 25 kV AC system in 1967.^[9]EMU coaches were introduced on electrification.

The 102-kilometre-long (63 mi) Tarakeswar–Bishnupur project was sanctioned in 1999–2000, but not much work was done for the next decade. After Mamata Banerjee again became railway minister in 2009, work was speeded up.^[10] Eastern Railway gave out details of the project in 2003. The proposed fully electrified line was divided into three parts: Tarakeswar–Arambagh 25.6 kilometres (15.9 mi) long, Arambagh–Kodabari 19.6 kilometres (12.2 mi) long, and Kodabari–Bishnupur 56.8 kilometres (35.3 mi) long.^[11]

Train services were opened in the Tarakeswar–Talpur section on 25 April 2010.^[12] The Talpur–Arambagh sector was opened on 4 June 2012, without electrification and auto signaling.^[13]

At the time of inaugurating the line, the Chief Minister had said that the Arambag railway station was to be named after former West Bengal chief minister Prafulla Chandra Sen and the Mayapur railway station was to be named after Raja Rammohan Ray.^[14]

Without the overhead electrification the railways had no option but to rundiesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) trains initially.^[13] Mukul Roy, railway minister, inaugurated the electrified line to Tarakeswar on 16 September 2012.EMU services have since been introduced.^[15]

The completion of the Bishnupur–Gokulnagar sector was announced in the railway budget for 2009–10.^[8]

In June 2016, the Tarakeshwar–Goghat section was commissioned for EMU trains with the introduction of three pairs of Howrah–Goghat locals.^[16]

In March 2024, construction work between Maynapur & Kamarpukur has started.^[17]

• 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India
• Howrah railway division
• Railway lines opened in 1885

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2016
• Use Indian English from January 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English