 Sealdah Division Headquarters at theSealdah railway station | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Stations called at | 205[1] |
| Headquarters | Divisional Railway Managers's Office, DRM Building, Eastern Railway, Sealdah Division, Kaiser Street,Kolkata-700014 |
| Locale | Kolkata,North 24 Parganas,South 24 Parganas,Nadia,Murshidabad |
| Dates of operation | 14 April 1952– |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)broad gauge |
| Electrification | 25 kV AC railway electrification |
| Length | 715.34 kilometres (444.49 mi) |
Sealdah railway division is one of the four railway divisions under the jurisdiction ofEastern Railway zone of theIndian Railways.[2] Its headquarters is located in Kaiser Street inKolkata,West Bengal near theSealdah railway station. Geographically the division covers the railway tracks and services in the areas between theHooghly river on the west,Bangladesh on the north and east and theSundarbans in the south. The Railway network under Sealdah Division was part of theEastern Bengal Railway (present-dayBangladesh Railway). TheEastern Bengal Railway was formed on 1 July 1884. On 1 January 1942,Assam Bengal Railway (present-dayNortheast Frontier Railway) andEastern Bengal Railway were amalgamated to formBengal Assam Railway. Sealdah Division became a part ofEast Indian Railway (present-dayEastern Railway andEast Central Railway) on 15 August 1947, after thePartition of India andPartition of Bengal. TheEast Indian Railway was formed on 1 June 1845. On 14 April 1952,East Indian Railway was renamed asEastern Railway.[3][4][5]
The division primarily serves five major districts of the state ofWest Bengal inIndia, namely theKolkata,North 24 Parganas,South 24 Parganas,Nadia andMurshidabad districts.[3][6] The division forms the eastern part of theKolkata Suburban Railway with numerous dailyEMU services connecting Kolkata with the suburban areas of the five districts. TheSealdah railway station handles 124mail/express trains connecting it to various parts of India along with 34 passenger trains & 921 suburbanEMU train services, daily,[4][7] while theKolkata railway station handles 72mail/express trains connecting it to various parts of India along with 4 passenger trains & 31 suburbanEMU train services, daily.[7] TheKolkata terminal also acts as an international passenger terminal for trains destined to Bangladesh namely the Maitree Express and Bandhan Express services.[7][8] Being located in the central business district of Kolkata, theSealdah station plays a vital role in the management of suburban railway traffic.[3] Suburban services are also provided to the Hooghly and Howrah districts via theNaihati–Bandel branch line and theCalcutta Chord link line.[7]
Kolkata,Barrackpore,Diamond Harbour,Dakshineswar,Krishnanagar,Nabadwip Ghat,Murshidabad,Plassey,Shantipur,Sagar Island and theSundarbans are some of the major tourist and pilgrimage spots served by the division.[3]
The division handles international freight and passenger traffic with Bangladesh through theGede andPetrapole stations.[6] The major commodities loaded from this division arecontainers,gunny bales,coal andfertilizers.Gunny bales are loaded fromTitagarh andNaihati, whilecontainers are loaded fromContainer Corporation of India sidings atKolkata Dock, Kidderpore Dock and Cossipore Container Rail Terminal whereascoal andfertilizers are loaded from Kidderpore Dock.[7] An average 121 numbers of Freight wagons are interchanged daily wise in average via Gede and Petrapole interchanging points with for the financial year 2019–20 withBangladesh Railway as well.[7] The major commodities received by this division are cement,fertilizers, food grains,containers, POL and coal for thermal power plants. The division also has 15 good sheds and 15 industrial sidings by which average interchange of this division is 28.21 rakes per day.[7][9]
The total route length of the division is 715.34 km (444.49 mi) of which 690.075 km (428.793 mi) is fully electrified.[6] The division is divided into 2 sections namely theSealdah Main and North section and theSealdah South section. The Sealdah Main section handles long-distance trains to the rest of India while the Sealdah North section is a suburban section primarily serving the Northern districts ofNorth 24 Parganas,Nadia andMurshidabad. The Sealdah South section is completely a suburban section connecting the Kolkata district with the numerous towns and villages of theSouth 24 Paraganas district and theSundarbans.[3][7] Both the sections are connected with each other via theKolkata Circular Railway.[3][5]
The following routes fall under the jurisdiction of the division:
The division connects with theKolkata Dock System Railway (KDS Railway) atMajerhat andBrace Bridge stations respectively.[10]
TheEastern Bengal Railway (reporting mark:EBR) company was formed in 1857 for the construction and working of a line fromCalcutta toDacca, with a branch toJessore.[11] The construction of the 112 mi (180 km) longbroad gauge line began in 1859 and was completed in stages up toKushtia by 1864 but the planned branch toJessore was not built.[12][13] The company also acquired a steam vessel service operating betweenKushtia andDacca on thePadma river.[13] In 1871 the line was extended from Poradaha to a new ferry terminal atGoalundo Ghat, about 45 mi (72 km) east ofKushtia and reducing the river trip toDacca. and becoming themain line of the Eastern section of EBR.[12][14] With the successful construction and opening of theHardinge Bridge in 1915 and gauge conversion of theSantahar–Parbatipur–Siliguri line from 1924 to 1926, the Calcutta–Siliguri broad gauge line was completed and became the main line of the Eastern section of EBR.[12][14]
The Bengal Central Railway (reporting mark:BCR) company constructed twobroad gauge lines: one connectingRanaghat andBangaon (21 mi (34 km)) in 1882 and the other connectingDum Dum withKhulna (now in Bangladesh), viaBangaon (108 mi (174 km)) which opened in stages and was completed in 1884. These lines were merged withEastern Bengal Railway in 1904, with the Sealdah–Bangaon–Jessore–Khulna line becoming themain line of the Central section of EBR.[12][14]
TheMartin's Light Railways (reporting mark:MLR) company constructed and opened the 20 mi (32 km) long,2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge Ranaghat–Krishnanagar Light Railway line from Aistalaghat (near Ranaghat on the right bank ofChurni river) toKrishnanagar viaShantipur in 1899.[6] This line was amalgamated with EBR on 1 July 1904.[12][14] EBR further extended the line from Krishnanagar to Nabadwip Ghat and opened the line for traffic from 30 June 1926.[4] EBR further built a 1 mi (1.6 km) long5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge extension from Ranaghat to the left bank of Churni River on 1902.[12][14] In 1925 an alternate5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge line was built from Kalinarayanpur (Churni Bridge) to Shantipur and the old2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge line between Shantipur and Aistola Ghat was abandoned.[14][15] The 94.28 mi (151.73 km) long Murshidabad Branch railway was constructed by EBR from Ranaghat to Lalgola Ghat in stages from 1905 to 1907.[12][14]
MLR also constructed and opened a 26 mi (42 km) long2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge line fromBarasat toBasirhat in 1905, known as theBarasat–Basirhat Light Railway (reporting mark:BBLR).[12][14] It was further extended viaTaki toHasnabad (Chingrighata) in 1909. A 16.62 miles (26.75 km) long extension was built from Beliaghata Bridge on the Barasat–Basirhat line toPatipukur in 1910. This was further extended toBelgachia in 1914 and was known as the Shyambazar Branch.[12][14]
On the southern side, 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.[12][14] 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.[16][17] 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) and the company was dissolved in March 1870.[16][17][18] Thus the line became a part of the Southern Section of theEastern Bengal Railway.[12][14]
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.[12][14][16][17] 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 19 km (12 mi) long line fromBallygunge toBudge Budge viaMajerhat was opened on 1890 by the Eastern Bengal Railway.[12][14][19] TheCalcutta Ports Commissioner's 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[20]) in 1928.[12][14] 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.[12][14]
In 1942, EBR was merged with theAssam Bengal Railway (reporting mark:ABR) to form the Bengal and Assam Railway (reporting mark:B&AR).[3][21]
Post thepartition of India in 1947, the Eastern and Central sections of EBR were divided between India and East Pakistan. The direct connection between South Bengal and North Bengal was affected as the Calcutta–Siliguri line was snapped resulting in Haldibari–Chilahati and Gede–Darsana becoming international transit points for trains. In the Central section,Petrapole railway station was created as the terminus on the Indian side while theBenapole railway station became the terminus in theEast Pakistani side of the line.[22] All the railway lines east of Hooghly, south of Lalgola and west of East Pakistan that were under EBR were reorganised to be under the Sealdah division. The Sealdah division became a part of the Eastern Railway after the reorganization of railway zones on 14 April 1952.[3]
TheBarasat–Basirhat Light Railway closed down in 1955 due to increasing losses.[23] However a new5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge line was built in a new alignment between Barasat and Hasnabad from 1957 to 1962. The Shyambazar branch line was abandoned.[24][25] 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.[26] The line was extended up toKulpi by 1992 and was completed tillKakdwip by 2001.[26][27][28] The Kakdwip–Namkhana section was completed by 2004.[29] TheBaghbazar-Prinsep Ghat line was rehabilitated and commissioned for passenger traffic on 15 August 1984 and services were subsequently extended northwards towardsTala and finally toDum Dum by 17 June 1990.[30] ThePrinsep Ghat-Majerhat elevated section was commissioned in 2005 thus completing the Circular railway line.[31]
The list includes the number of railway stations under the Sealdah railway divisioncategorized by their commercial importance.[32] Only major railway stations[a] are listed.
| Non-Suburban Grade (NSG) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Number of Stations | Major railway stations[b] |
| NSG-1 | 1 | Sealdah |
| NSG-2 | 2 | Kolkata,Naihati Junction |
| NSG-3 | 1 | Berhampore Court |
| NSG-4 | 2 | Beldanga,Murshidabad Junction |
| NSG-5 | 10 | |
| NSG-6 | 9 | |
| Suburban Grade (SG) | ||
| SG-1 | 0 | – |
| SG-2 | 16 | Barasat Junction,Barrackpore,Baruipur Junction,Belgharia,Bidhannagar Road,Chakdaha,Dum Dum Junction,Habra,Khardaha,Krishnanagar City Junction,Madhyamgram,Ranaghat Junction,Shyamnagar,Sodpur,Sonarpur Junction,Ichhapur,Subhasgram |
| SG-3 | 112 | |
| Halt Grade (HG) | ||
| HG-1 | 0 | |
| HG-2 | 0 | |
| HG-3 | 53 | |
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