Katihar–Siliguri line
Kishanganj Junction an Important railway station on Katihar–Siliguri line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	North Bengal–Bihar
Termini	Katihar Siliguri Junction
Stations	35
Service
Operator(s)	Northeast Frontier Railway
History
Opened	1958
Technical
Line length	203.7 kilometres (126.6 mi)
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge
Route map Legend km km Barauni–Katihar section toBarauni Barauni–Katihar section toTeznarayanpur 00 0 Katihar Junction Jogbani–Katihar line Maniyan 06 4 Nayatola Kuretha 11 9 Dandkhora Sahja Halt 15 Pranpur Road 18 12 Gorphar Labha 23 16 Sonaili Dilli Dewan Ganj 26 Barsoi–New Farakka section 19 Bishanpur Halt Babhangaon Halt 32 23 Jhaua Khurial 35 Kamalpur Halt 38 25 Meenapur Azamnagar Road 43 29 Salmari Bhawanipur Bihar Halt 47 34 52 Mukuria 38 Barsoi Barsoi–Radhikapur line 43 Khempur 46 Sanjay Gram 50 Sudhani 56 Ajhrail 59 Telta Bihar West Bengal border Raiganj-Dalkhola line (planned) 67 Dalkhola NH 34 74 Surja Kamal 82 Kanki 87 Hatwar West Bengal Bihar border 93 Tauheed Halt 96 0 Kishanganj planned connection Kishanganj City 97 4 Mahangaon Bihar West Bengal border 12 Kuttihat Panjipara 104 18 Majgaon Ikarchala 108 20 Majhok Halt Gaisal 113 26 Routa Dhantola 115 35 Taslim Nagar Gunjaria 118 40 Pora Halt Aluabari Road Junction 126 45 Khata Halt Jogbani–Katihar line West Bengal Bihar border 50 Jalalgarh Pothia 131 Jogbani–Katihar line Taiabpur 139 Mahananda River Thakurganj 146 0 West Bengal Bihar border construction Dhulabari 131 3 Bhogoabar Mangurjan 137 9 Kooagaon Halt NH 31 15 Pawakhali Bihar West Bengal border 29 Tulsia Tin Mile Hat 143 37 Bibiganj Dumdangi 152 44 Taragach Halt Mahananda River 54 Kaliaganj Chattarhat 161 64 Bardha Halt 75 Lakshmipur Piprithan 152 84 Khawaspur Halt Galgalia 158 90 Bansbari Bihar West Bengal border 97 Rahamatpur Adhikari 167 Jogbani–Katihar line Batasi 170 100 Arariya Naksalbari 179 Jogbani–Katihar line Hatighisa 183 Bagdogra 192 Nijbari 168 Rangapani 175 Mahananda River 196 Raja Rammohanpur Halt New Jalpaiguri Junction 182 Balason River New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section Siliguri Town 186 198 Matigara Siliguri Junction 189 202 Panchai River Siliguri-Kishanganj closedNG section Panchnai Junction 204 Darjeeling Himalayan Railway NG line toDarjeeling New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar– Samuktala Road Line Siliguri-Gielkhola closedNG section km km This diagram: view talk edit

TheKatihar–Siliguri line is a railway line connectingKatihar in the Indian state ofBihar withSiliguri Junction inWest Bengal, viaBarsoi,Dalkhola,Kishanganj,Aluabari Road Junction,Thakurganj,Adhikari,Naxalbari,Bagdogra andMatigara. It was ametre-gauge track that was converted to1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)broad gauge in 2011.

Another railway line with a slightly different route with shorter distance exists between Siliguri Junction and Aluabari Road Junction (Islampur) and its details are available inHowrah–New Jalpaiguri line article.

Railway developments in the area started in the 1880s.East Indian Railway Company opened the Manihari–Katihar–Kasba section in 1888 and the North Bengal Railway opened the Katihar–Raiganj section the same year. The Barsoi–Kishanganj section opened in 1889. All these lines were metre-gauge lines.Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, operating narrow-gauge lines, extended their operations from Siliguri to Kishenganj in 1915.

Siliguri was connected toCalcutta (now spelt as Kolkata) via the eastern part of Bengal since 1878 (for details seeHowrah–New Jalpaiguri line). However, with the partition of India in 1947, railway services in the region were completely disrupted. In 1949, the 108 kilometres (67 mi) narrow gauge Siliguri–Kishanganj section was upgraded to metre gauge. Thus there was a direct metre-gauge connection from Manihari to Siliguri via Katihar.^[1] A generally acceptable route to Siliguri was viaSahibganj loop to Sakrigali ghat. Across the Ganges by ferry to Manihari Ghat. Then metre gauge via Katihar and Barsoi to Kishanganj and finally narrow gauge to Sliguri,^[2] before Kishanganj–Siliguri was converted to metre gauge. This, therefore, remains a historic route, even though for a short period.^[1]

In the sixties, new5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge lines were laid in the area and in 1971 with the rail bridge overFarakka Barrage, Siliguri was once again directly connected withCalcutta (now spelt as Kolkata) by 576 kilometres (358 mi) long broad-gauge track. A section of the broad-gauge line from Mukuria to Aluabari Road ran alongside the metre-gauge line. The metre-gauge line survived for many years until 2011.^[1]

An Indian Railways Fan Club enthusiast reported (in June 2005): "Near Siliguri, a MG line emerges to the right, on a somewhat high embankment and continues to run parallel to the road. This is the Siliguri–Kishanganj–Katihar MG line which still exists. Bagdogra is a station on this line, in fact the airport's runway almost ends within station limits! Both road and rail curve northwards but then diverge with the road crossing over the railway tracks. This overpass is above the Siliguri–New Mal Junction–Alipurduar Junction–Samuktala Road line and the DHR. The former was MG in 2000 and is BG now."

The Siliguri–Katihar line was the last survivingmetre-gauge line in the area. The Aluabari Road–Katihar section already had a broad-gauge line running alongside the metre-gauge line. The 76 kilometres (47 mi) long Aluabari Road–Siliguri section needed to be converted. Conversion work was taken up in 2008, train services in the section was suspended and conversion work completed early in 2011.^[3][4][5]

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• 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India
• Transport in Siliguri
• Rail transport in West Bengal
• Railway lines in Bihar
• Transport in Katihar
• Railway lines opened in 1878
• 1878 establishments in India

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