Sealdah South section
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Kolkata South 24 Parganas
Termini	•Sealdah •Budge Budge •Canning •Diamond Harbour •Namkhana
Stations	Total stations: 67 Interchange stations: 5
Website	Eastern Railway
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Kolkata Suburban Railway
Services	Sealdah –Diamond Harbour Ballygunge –Majerhat –Budge Budge Sonarpur –Canning Baruipur –Lakshmikantapur –Namkhana
Operator(s)	Eastern Railway
Depot(s)	Sonarpur EMU Carshed (with 32 rake strength)
History
Opened	2 January 1862; 163 years ago (1862-01-02)
Technical
Line length	238 km (148 mi)
Number of tracks	1/2/3
Character	At-grade
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge
Electrification	25 kV AC overhead line
Operating speed	up to 110 km/h (68 mph)
Route map Legend km Sealdah Main & North section 5 Bidhannagar Road Press House siding Kankurgachi Road 02 Kankurgachi Road Junction Narkeldanga EMU Carshed 3 Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt Circular Canal Sealdah North 00 Kankurgachi Chord line Sealdah Main 00 Sealdah Green Line Sealdah South 00 Beliaghata Diesel Loco Shed 6 Kamardanga Halt Beruck & Comens siding 03 7 Park Circus Maa Flyover Hindusthan Engineering & Industrial Ltd. siding BESCO siding Bijon Setu 5 Ballygunge Junction Lake Gardens 07 6 Dhakuria Tollygunge 08 8 Jadabpur Blue Line 10 Bagha Jatin Rabindra Sarobar Orange Line Tollygunge Bridge New Garia Metro Depot Adi Ganga river New Garia–Baruipur Metro (planned) New Alipore 09 11 New Garia Jai Hind Bridge Kavi Subhash Blue Line Kalighat–Falta Railway (narrow gauge) Majerhat 10 Purple Line Kolkata Circular Railway 12 Garia KDS Railway 14 Narendrapur Brace Bridge 12 16 Sonarpur Junction KDS Railway Sonarpur EMU Carshed Santoshpur 15 Clive jute mill siding 19 Bidyadharpur Union jute mill siding 22 Kalikapur Akra 18 planned branch Nangi 21 46 Ghatakpukur Batanagar factory siding 60 Minakhan Caledonian jute mill siding 24 Champahati K.M. Budge Budge 24 27 Piali IBP/IOCL Depot 29 Gourdaha Budge Budge Rail Yard 31 Ghutiari Shariff HPCL siding 34 Betberia Ghola Budge Budge jute mill siding 38 Taldi BPCL siding 41 Matla Halt IOCL siding 45 Canning Charial Canal planned extension Lothian jute mill siding Matla River (planned) Kalipur 29 50 Bhangankhali Magadi Soda factory siding 60 Sonakhali Orient jute mill siding 65 Basanti Albion jute mill siding 87 Jharkhali FCI siding Charial Extension Canal CESC siding planned extension Pujali 31 Howrah–Kharagpur line Hooghly River 19 Subhasgram Bir Shibpur 41 22 Mallikpur Howrah–Kharagpur line BESCO siding New Garia–Baruipur Metro (proposed) Pujali–Bankrahat line (planned) Baruipur (proposed) Bankrahat 42 25 Baruipur Junction Gurudasnagar–Bankrahat line (planned) Baruipur Metro Depot Kalyanpur 28 27 Shasan Road Dakshin Durgapur 30 29 Krishna Mohan Hotar 32 31 Dhapdhapi Dhamua 34 33 Surjyapur Uttar Radhanagar 37 35 Gocharan Magra Hat 40 38 Hogla Bahirpuya 43 41 Dakshin Barasat Sangrampur 45 44 Baharu (planned) Sangrampur– Krishnachandrapur line 49 Jaynagar Majilpur Deula 50 87 Durgapur(planned) Netra 53 planned branch Basuldanga 55 Gurudas Nagar 63 57 70 57 Krishnachandrapur Gurudasnagar–Bankrahat line (planned) 61 Uttar Kashinagar 66 Companirthek Diamond Harbour 60 70 Raidighi Hara Fort goods siding 54 Mathurapur Road 59 Madhabpur Gurudasnagar–Kulpi line (planned) 62 Lakshmikantapur 67 Udairampur 75 71 Kulpi 76 Karanjali 82 Nischintapur Market 84 Nischintapur 88 Madhabnagar 92 Kashinagar 95 Kakdwip planned extension Budhakhali 103 103 Ukilerhat Muriganga river 110 Namkhana Sagar Island 108 112 Namkhana Ghat 124 Chandranagar 141 Bakkhali planned extension km Key Indian Railways broad gauge (1676 mm) Kolkata Metro (KM)broad gauge (1676 mm) Kolkata Metro (KM)standard gauge (1435 mm) narrow gauge (762 mm) in use   out of use, planned, or under construction (u/c)   tunnel

Sealdah South section consists of a set of four lines which connectSealdah inKolkata with its southern suburbs and with the entireSouth 24 Parganas district ofWest Bengal,India. It is a part of theKolkata Suburban Railway and is under the jurisdiction of theSealdah railway division of theEastern Railway zone ofIndian Railways.^[1]

It is linked to theSealdah Main and North section via the Kankurgachi Chord line atPark Circus and via theKolkata Circular Railway atMajerhat Junction.^[1]

It also connects to theKolkata Dock System Railway (KDS Railway) atMajerhat andBrace Bridge respectively.^[2]

The Sealdah South section consists of four lines or four sub-sections:^[3]

• Sealdah –Diamond Harbour (60 km (37 mi))
• Ballygunge Junction –Budge Budge (20 km (12 mi))
• Sonarpur Junction –Canning (29 km (18 mi))
• Baruipur Junction –Namkhana (83 km (52 mi))

The section is primarily a suburban section with a total of 334 daily services and 288 Sunday services serving the four lines of the section.^[4] A majority of the services are served by 12-carEMU rakes from the SonarpurEMU Carshed.^[5] There are many "Galloping local" services which only stop at the important stations of a line.^[6][7]

TheGangasagar mela, which attracts thousands of pilgrims duringMakar Sankranti in mid-January, and is held inSagar Island is approached through theNamkhana branch line of this section.Kakdwip andNamkhana railway stations serve as handy rail heads for travel to the 'mela'.Eastern Railway runs a lot of special trains for the 'mela' to cope with the increase in passenger traffic.^[8][9][10] There also are special trains fromNew Delhi toNamkhana viaLucknow Junction andAllahabad Junction during 'mela'.^[11]

Interchanges with theCircular line are available at stations atPark Circus,Ballygunge Junction,Lake Gardens,Tollygunge,New Alipore andMajerhat stations respectively. TheNew Garia Station serve as major interchange with theBlue Line andOrange Line of theKolkata Metro^[12] whileTollygunge,Sealdah andMajerhat serve as interchanges withBlue Line,Green Line andPurple Line respectively.^[13][14] A new metro line fromNew Garia toBaruipur has been proposed as well.^[15][16]

This section connects to theKolkata Port, via theKDS Railway, from where major freight commodities like containers, coal and fertilizers are loaded and transferred throughout theIndian Railways network.^[4]

The Calcutta and South-Eastern Railway (reporting mark:CSER) was formed in 1859 to connectCalcutta withPort Canning on theMatla River. It constructed and completed the 45 km (28 mi) long line on 15 May 1863.^[17][18] It was the first railway track on the eastern bank of theHooghly River and ran from what was then the Beliaghata railway station (presentlySealdah South railway terminus) toPort Canning on theMatla River viaJadavpur andSonarpur.^[19][20]

In 1868, CSER having suffered extensive losses due to floods and other problems, sold the line to the Indian government (management then being leased to theEastern Bengal Railway (reporting mark:EBR)) and the company was dissolved in March 1870.^[19][20][21] Thus the line became a part of the Southern section of theEastern Bengal Railway.^[17][18]

Postpartition of India in 1947 and re-organisation of railway zones in 1952, the entire Southern section ofEastern Bengal Railway was amalgamated under theSealdah division ofEastern Railway.^[1]

While multiple feasibility reports and proposals, beginning from 1839, were made for the construction of a railway line betweenCalcutta andDiamond Harbour, no action were taken on these.^{[22][23][24][25][26]}

Finally in 1883, a 44 km (27 mi) branch line to Diamond Harbour viaBaruipur andMagrahat was constructed fromSonarpur on the Sealdah–Canning line of theEastern Bengal Railway. This line, from Sealdah to Diamond Harbour, then became themain line of the Southern section of the Eastern Bengal Railway.^{[17][18][19][20]}

A small 0.81 km (0.50 mi) branch line was constructed in 1883, from Diamond Harbour to Hara Fort near theHooghly River to transport goods and military supplies as well.^[17][18][27]

The Budge Budge branch line was initially sanctioned in 1886 as a line to connectBallygunge with the Kidderpore Docks. Sanction to an extension to Budge Budge was given in 1888 and the whole of 21 km (13 mi) long line fromBallygunge toBudge Budge viaMajerhat was opened on 1890 by the Eastern Bengal Railway.^[17][18][27]

TheCalcutta Port Commissioners' Railway (reporting mark:CPCR) built a branch line from Kidderpore Docks to Majerhat on 1893. It further constructed a branch line from the subsidiary marshaling yard atBrace Bridge to King George's Dock (renamed to Netaji Subhas Dock in 1973^[28]) in 1928.^[17][18]

In 1928, a 37 km (23 mi) long line fromBaruipur on the Diamond Harbour branch line toLakshmikantapur viaJaynagar Majilpur was constructed by theEastern Bengal Railway and became a branch line of its Southern section.^[17][18]

In an effort to give access to remote areas and promote new growth areas, the 47 km (29 mi) long Lakshmikantapur–Namkhana line project was sanctioned in 1987-88 amongst other projects.^[29] The line was extended up toKulpi by 1992 and was completed tillKakdwip by 2001.^[29][30][31] The Kakdwip–Namkhana section was completed by 2004.^[32]

The Kalighat–Falta Railway (reporting mark:KFR) was a 40 km (25 mi) longnarrow gauge(762 mm) railway line constructed by the Kalighat–Falta Railway Company, and operated as a part ofMcLeod's Light Railways, opening to traffic on 28 May 1917 from Gholeshapur (nearKalighat) toFalta.^[17][18] Gholeshapur was connected to Majerhat junction on the Eastern Bengal Railway on 1920.^[17][18] The railway line was closed on 1955 due to ever increasing losses. The tracks were dismantled and the land was reclaimed to build a road, now called James Long Sarani, inBehala.^[19][20]

The Sealdah South section lines are fully electrified with 25 kV AC overhead system. The electrification process was started in 1965 fromSealdah toLakshmikantapur line and the other lines in this division with the different phases and completed up to 1966 from that time the whole division is also fully electrified.^[33]

The Sealdah South section is primarily served by all 12 CoachEMU rakes from theSonarpur (SPR)EMU Carshed.^[5] They are also served with a few 12 Coach EMU rakes from theNarkeldanga (NKG),Barasat (BT) andRanaghat (RHA) EMU Carshed which comes to Sealdah South as North/Main to South Link Trains viaKolkata Circular Railway.^[5]

While the section was initially served by the Narkeldanga EMU carshed which opened on 1963, a need for a dedicated EMU carshed for the section led to the construction of the Sonarpur EMU carshed in 1978.^[5] This reduced the inconvenience faced by the overburdened Narkeldanga EMU Carshed.^[5]

As of November 2021, the Sonarpur Carshed had 32 12 Coach EMU rakes which exclusively served the Sealdah South section.^[5]

Names inbold indicate that the station is a galloping train stop as well as important terminal station.

Multiple new lines and extensions on this section have been planned by theEastern Railway; however, most remain blocked due to land issues.^[35][36]

Budge Budge–Pujali–Uluberia (Birshibpur) line

The 11 km (6.8 mi) long Budge Budge–Pujali line was sanctioned in the railway budget on 2009-10 while a 10.25 km (6.37 mi) extension fromPujali toBirshibpur nearUluberia on theHowrah–Kharagpur line was sanctioned in 2011-12.^[35][37] Once completed this will connect theSouth Eastern Railway network underKharagpur division directly with theMajerhat station in the Sealdah South section of theEastern Railway via a bridge over theHooghly river.^[38] As of 2021, work could not be started on this extension due to non-availability of land and as such the project had been kept under abeyance.^[35]

Kalikapur–Ghatakpukur–Minakhan line

In the 2011-12 railway budget, a 38 km (24 mi) long line fromKalikapur on the Canning branch line toMinakhan via Ghatakpukur was sanctioned.^[36][37] However, work could not be started on this extension due to non-availability of land and as such the project had been kept under abeyance as of 2021.^[36]

Canning–Jharkhali extension

A 4.84 km (3.01 mi) extension fromCanning toBhangankhali was sanctioned in the 2009-10 railway budget with a railway bridge proposed over theMatla river.^[39][40][37] In 2011-12 this line was further proposed to be extended by 14.3 km (8.9 mi) toBasanti from where another extension of 23 km (14 mi) toJharkhali was planned to be taken up.^[39] However, work could not be started on this extension due to non-availability of land and as such the project had been kept under abeyance as of 2021.^[36]

Planned branches to Raidighi and Durgapur

The 20 km (12 mi) longJaynagar Majilpur–Raidighi line viaKrishnachandrapur was sanctioned in 2009-10.^[37][40] In 2011-12 railway budget, a 25 km (16 mi) long new line fromSangrampur on theSealdah–Diamond Harbour line to Krishnachandrapur was sanctioned along with a 32 km (20 mi) new line fromJaynagar Majilpur to Durgapur.^[37] However, work could not be started on this extension due to non-availability of land and as such the project had been kept under abeyance as of 2021.^[36]

Namkhana–Chandranagar–Bakkhali extension

TheNamkhana branch line was sanctioned to be extended by 14 km (8.7 mi) to Chandranagar in 2009-10 and then by 17.2 km (10.7 mi) km toBakkhali in 2011-12.^[37][40] However, work could not be started on this extension due to non-availability of land and as such the project had been kept under abeyance as of 2021.^[36][41]

Dankuni–Sagar Island rail line

While there have been multiple proposals to build a railway line toSagar Island, none have been constructed yet. In 2017, a preliminary survey for a 138 km (86 mi) long line was sanctioned by theIndian Railways in order to boost connectivity betweenDankuni and the proposed deep sea port at Sagar Island.^[42] The below sections are supposed to be a part of the line if built:^[42][43]

• Pujali–Bankrahat–Diamond Harbour (Gurudasnagar)–Kulpi line: The 10 km (6.2 mi) Pujali–Bankrahat line and the 21 km (13 mi) Diamond Harbour (Gurudas Nagar)–Bankrahat line were sanctioned in 2011-12 railway budget.^[36] The 17.25 km (10.72 mi) Diamond Harbour (Gurudas Nagar)–Kulpi line was sanctioned in 2012-13.^[36] As of 2021, work could not be started on this extension due to non-availability of land and as such the project had been kept under abeyance.^[35]
• Kakdwip–Budakholi–Sagar Island line: A 5 km (3.1 mi) extension fromKakdwip to Budhakholi was sanctioned in the 2011-12 railway budget^[36] with plans to further extend it toSagar Island via a rail-road bridge.^[43] As of 2021, work could not be started on this extension due to non-availability of land and as such the project had been kept under abeyance.^[35]

• 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India
• Transport in Kolkata
• Sealdah railway division
• Eastern Railway zone
• Kolkata Suburban Railway lines
• Railway lines opened in 1862

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