Kharagpur Junction
Regional rail, Commuter rail & Inter-city rail station
Kharagpur railway station
General information
LocationKharagpur, West Bengal
India
Coordinates22°20′24″N 87°19′30″E / 22.339914°N 87.325016°E / 22.339914; 87.325016
Elevation29 m (95 ft)
Owned byIndian Railways
Operated bySouth Eastern Railway
Line(s)Howrah-Kharagpur line
Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line
Howrah–Chennai main line
Kharagpur–Bankura–Adra line
Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line

Kolkata Suburban Railway
Platforms8 (1,1A,2,2A,3,3A,4,4A,5,6,7,8)
Total length: 1,072 m (3,517 ft)
Tracks24
ConnectionsAuto stand, Bus stand
Construction
Structure typeStandard (on-ground station)
ParkingAvailable
AccessibleWheelchair facilities available
Architectural styleBritish
Other information
StatusFunctioning
Station codeKGP
Zone(s) South Eastern Railway zone
Division(s) Kharagpur
History
Opened1898–1899 (1899)
ElectrifiedYes
Previous namesBengal Nagpur Railway
Passengers
More than 5,00,000 daily
Services
Preceding station Indian Railways Following station
Jakpur
towards Howrah Junction
 South Eastern Railway zone Hijli
towards Chennai Central
South Eastern Railway zone Nimpura
towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Preceding station Kolkata Suburban Railway Following station
Girimaidan
towards Midnapore
 South Eastern Line Jakpur
towards Howrah Junction
Location
Kharagpur Junction is located in West Bengal
Kharagpur Junction
Kharagpur Junction
Location in West Bengal
Kharagpur Junction is located in India
Kharagpur Junction
Kharagpur Junction
Location in India

Kharagpur Junction railway station is a railway station in Kharagpur of Paschim Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also the fourth longest railway station by platform length after Hubli Junction railway station, Gorakhpur Junction railway station and Kollam Junction railway station. It is an A-1 category station of Indian Railways.[5]

History

Kharagpur Junction came up in 1898–99. On one side, Bengal Nagpur Railway's Kharagpur–Cuttack line was opened on New Year's Day in 1899. On the other hand, the opening of the bridge over the Rupnarayan River at Kolaghat, on 19 April 1900, connected Howrah with Kharagpur. Kharagpur was also linked with Sini the same year. The line was ready in 1898–99. The Kharagpur–Midnapore branch line was opened to traffic in 1901.[6]

Infrastructure

After Hubballi Junction, Gorakhpur, and Kollam Junction in Kerala, Kharagpur has the world's fourth-longest railway platform with a length of 1,072.5 metres (3,519 ft).[7][8][9] Remodelling of Gorakhpur railway station was completed and the new platform inaugurated on 6 October 2013. Till then Kharagpur held the distinction of having the longest platform in the world for many years.[10] Kharagpur also has the Asia's largest Railway Solid State Interlocking (SSI) system.[11]

Platform nos. 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 of Kharagpur Junction are continuous. The 24-coach Coromandel Express stops at the start of platform no. 3 and its tail extends some distance into platform no. 1.[7] Aloo Khasa is one of the famous dish found at the Kharagpur railway platform.

Background

It is the busiest junction station in South Eastern Railway Zone after Howrah. Hence, it is termed as Gateway to South Eastern Railway. It is one of the fifty highest railway reservation in India. It is a junction which connects Howrah to Mumbai, Chennai, Adra/Purulia and New Delhi via Tatanagar as well. It also connects Bhubaneshwar to New Delhi. Everyday approximately 275 trains pass through this station which includes freight traffic. In terms of passenger traffic it handles 176 trains on a daily basis. So, in a bid to decongest Kharagpur station and speed up locomotives, South Eastern Railway has decided to develop Hijli (close to IIT Kharagpur) as an alternative station for Kharagpur.[12] Now most of the new trains coming from Balasore side and going towards Adra or Tatanagar stop at Hijli and bypass Kharagpur. In order to increase passenger commute between Kharagpur and Hijli, new EMU services have been introduced between these two stations.

The Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line is classified under Route A of Indian Railways which allows trains to run at maximum permissible speed of 160 km/h. However, as a result of the automated block section between Howrah and Kharagpur, the speed is restricted to 130 km/h. The Howrah–Kharagpur section has been identified as one of the high-density automatic block signaling routes on Indian Railways. Thus plans are to deploy Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) on this section to mitigate the risk of signal passed at danger (SPAD) by loco pilots leading to accidents.

References

  1. ↑ Google Maps
  2. ↑ Kharagpur-Howrah Local 38606 Indiarailinfo
  3. ↑ Howrah-Haldia Local 68689 ⇒ 38089 Indiarailinfo
  4. ↑ Santragachi-Digha EMU 78001 ⇒ 68687 Indiarailinfo
  5. ↑ "Category of stations over S E Railway". ser.indianrailways.gov.in. Indian Railways. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  6. ↑ Saxena, R. P. "Indian Railway History timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Trivia". IRFCA. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "Indian Railway Facts". iloveindia. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Gorakhpur gets world's largest railway platform". The Times of India. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  10. ↑ Dinda, Archisman (9 October 2013). "Uttar Pradesh gets world's longest railway platform". GulfNews. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  11. ↑ "Asia's largest interlocking system at Kharagpur station". Times of India. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "Hijli to ease congestion at Kharagpur station". Times of India. 31 July 2012.

Kharagpur travel guide from Wikivoyage

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