Eastern Railway zone
The Eastern Railway (abbreviated ER) is among the 18 zones of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Fairley Place, Kolkata and comprises four divisions: Howrah, Malda, Sealdah, and Asansol. Each division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). The name of the division denotes the name of the city where the divisional headquarters is located. Eastern Railway Consists Most no. of A1 and A Category Stations like Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Durgapur, Barddhaman, Bhagalpur, Jasidih, Bandel, Dankuni etc. Eastern Railways operates one of the oldest trains of India, Kalka Mail. 3 Popular Zones ECR, SER (again from SER-ECOR and SECR carved out in 2020) NFR were part Indian railways.
 4-Eastern Railway | |
 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Fairley Place, Kolkata |
| Locale | West Bengal and Jharkhand, and some parts of Bihar |
| Dates of operation | 14 April 1952– |
| Predecessor | East Indian Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | Broad gauge (BG) & narrow gauge (NG) |
| Electrification | 2,222.620 kilometres (1,381.072 mi) |
| Length | 2,818.484 kilometres (1,751.325 mi) |
| Other | |
| Website | Eastern Railway |
History
The East Indian Railway (EIR) Company was incorporated in 1845 to connect eastern India with Delhi. The first train ran here between Howrah and Hooghly on 15 August 1854. The train left Howrah station at 8:30 a.m. and reached Hooghly in 91 minutes. The management of the East Indian Railway was taken over by the British Indian government on 1 January 1925.[1]
The Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 by amalgamating three lower divisions of the East Indian Railway: Howrah, Asansol and Danapur, the entire Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) and the Sealdah division of the erstwhile Bengal Assam Railway[2] (which was already added to the East Indian Railway on 15 August 1947). On 1 August 1955, the portions of BNR stretching from Howrah to Visakhapatnam in the South which is now the Headquarters of South Coast Railway zone, Howrah to Nagpur in the Central area and up to Katni in the North Central Region were separated from Eastern Railway and became the South Eastern Railway.[3][4] Three more divisions: Dhanbad, Mughalsarai and Malda were formed later.[5] Till 30 September 2002 ER consisted seven divisions.
On 1 October 2002 a new zone, the East Central Railway, headquarters at Hajipur, was carved out by separating the Eastern Railway's Danapur, Dhanbad and Mughalsarai divisions from it.[4] Presently, it comprises four divisions and they are Malda Town, Howrah, Sealdah and Asansol.
On 28 November 2017, Eastern Railways brought into service, the first rake of upgraded Sealdah–New Delhi ‘Swarna’ Rajdhani. This rake has become India's first Swarna Rajdhani rake under Project ‘Swarna’ of Indian Railways. Under Project ‘Swarna’, Indian Railways had given a free hand to Zonal Railways to develop and create aesthetic and passenger friendly coach interiors on running rakes of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.
The objective was to establish new standards in passengers comfort. A budget of Rs. 50 lakh per rake was allocated for this purpose. The first rake of Sealdah–New Delhi Rajdhani has been upgraded at an expenditure of about Rs. 35 lakh. The new features in the coach are aesthetic International colour scheme and LED lighting to improve illumination, night signage for easy identifications of berth numbers, better hygiene by providing ‘auto janitor’ system in toilets, built-in ladders adjacent to berths for easy access to upper berth and CCTV cameras in doorway area and aisles to monitor any suspicious activity.
Divisions
Routes
Trunk routes
Suburban & non-suburban section
- Howrah–Rampurhat–Sagardighi–Azimganj line
- Sealdah–Ranaghat–Krishnanagar–Berhampore–Lalgola line
- Howrah–Bardhaman main line of Howrah–Delhi main line
- Bandel–Katwa
- Sheoraphuli–Tarakeswar–Arambagh–Goghat branch line
- Howrah–Bardhaman chord of Howrah–Delhi main line
- Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop
- Madhupur–Giridih branch line
- Jasidih–Dumka Rampurhat branch line
- Deoghar–Baka–Bhagalpur branch line
- Bhagalpur–Barapalsi–Dumka–Rampurhat branch line
- Bardhaman–Asansol section of Howrah–Delhi main line
- Andal–Sainthia branch section
- Khana–Barharwa section of Sahibganj loop
- Lalgola and Gede branch lines
- Sealdah–Ranaghat line
- Ranaghat–Shantipur–Krishnanagar City
- Howrah–Belur Math
- Sealdah–Barasat–Bangaon–Ranaghat line
- Barasat–Hasnabad branch single line
- Sealdah–Namkhana of Sealdah South lines
- Ballygunge–Budge Budge of Sealdah South lines
- Sonarpur–Canning of Sealdah South lines
- Baruipur–Diamond Harbour of Sealdah South lines
- Kolkata Circular Railway
- Ahmedpur–Katwa Railway
- Burdwan–Katwa Railway
Express routes
Discontinued routes
Dum Dum–Biman Bandar
Railway sheds
Diesel sheds
- Bamungachi & Bardhaman in Howrah Division
- Beliaghata in Sealdah railway division
- Andal in Asansol railway division
- Jamalpur in Malda Division
Loco Shed
- Bamungachi in Howrah Division
- Asansol in Asansol Division
(Now most of diesel sheds are being converted to electric locomotive sheds.)
EMU Shed
- Sonarpur, Narkeldanga, Barasat & Ranaghat in Sealdah Division
- Howrah & Bandel in Howrah Division
- Bardhaman also holds EMU trains
MEMU Shed
- Asansol in Asansol Division
- Bardhaman also holds MEMU trains
- Ranaghat also holds MEMU trains
Locomotive Sheds
- Electric Loco Shed, Howrah
- Electric Loco Shed, Asansol
- Electric Loco Shed, Sealdah (Beliaghata)
- Electric & Diesel Loco Shed, Bardhaman
- Diesel Loco Shed, Andal
- Diesel Loco Shed, Howrah
- Diesel Loco Shed, Jamalpur
References
- Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.13,34
- "Sealdah division-Engineering details". The Eastern Railway, Sealdah division. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012.
- Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.42–3
- "The Eastern Railway-About us". The Eastern Railway. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008.
- "Focus-Eastern Railway". Press Information Bureau, Government of India.
