Barasat Junction railway station is the primary rail hub in the city of

Barasat Barasat () is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Barasat Sadar subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) ...

It is one of the major suburban city railway stations in the district of

North 24 Parganas North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...

. Generally, the people commuting daily use this station for travelling to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

's Central Business District or other towns, with the busiest times at the station being the morning and evening peak periods. This station provides the facility of separate rest rooms for both male & female passengers. Barasat Junction Railway station consists of 6 permanent platforms (Platform no: 1–6). Recently, the government-owned

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

corporation approved a proposal for an underground metro railway station connecting Barasat Junction to

Noapara metro station Noapara Metro Station is the largest station of the Kolkata Metro Line 1 situated in Noapara, Baranagar. It opened on 10 July 2013. These include four platforms with lengths of 182 meters, unlike other Kolkata Metro stations. It serves the loc ...

. The construction of the project has started in October 2011. An EMU carshed is situated in the vicinity of Barasat Junction railway station.

Structure

A reservations counter for booking long-distance railway tickets is open in the early morning, operating from the main ticket counter at the junction. Two

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

booths are operational for ticket purchasing through the use computerised smart cards. A railway car shade forms a part of the station's overall structure, having been designed to cover two trains for rail engine and car maintenance.

Barasat Basirhat Railway

Barasat Basirhat Railway (BBR) was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railway line started by Martin & Co. in 1914 as part of their wide network of narrow gauge operations under the name of

Martin's Light Railways Martin's Light Railways (MLR) consisted of seven narrow-gauge railway lines in the states of West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India. The railways were built and owned by Martin & Co., which was a British company. Later, it was being op ...

. The line connected the two towns of Barasat and

Basirhat Basirhat is a city of West Bengal, India. It is located on the banks of the Ichamati (Ichhamati) River. Geography Location Basirhat is located at . Area overview The area shown in the map is a part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, located ...

near Calcutta (now Kolkata), in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, India. The line was closed in 1955, after Indian independence (in 1947), when all privately run lines were taken over by the government or were closed. BBR got a fresh lease of life when Indian Railways placed the line under its Eastern Railways zone, Sealdah division and converted the route partly to broad gauge in 1962. Later on, this route was fully restored to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) (Indian gauge) and local trains started using the route.

Metro Railway Kolkata expansion plan

Extension plan from Noapara to Barasat: The proposed

Metro railway Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

extension alignment pass through

Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Etymology During the 19th ...

Cantonment and

Jessore Road Jessore Road is a road connecting Shyambazar through Dum Dum, both neighbourhoods in Kolkata, India, to Jessore in Bangladesh. While the Dum Dum-Barasat sector is now part of NH 12, the Barasat-Petrapole sector is now part of NH 112. It conti ...

up to Biman Bandar station. From there, the line would run under

until

New Barrackpore New Barrackpore is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata & a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. It is the capital of Kolkata. Geo ...

before reaching the surface at

Madhyamgram Madhyamgram is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). History Madhyamgram wa ...

station. From Madhyamgram to Barasat, the alignment would be elevated. However, for crossing the existing road overbridge at Madhyamgram and Barasat, the alignment would descend gradually to ground level and rise again on viaduct. This is supposed to be beneficial for the people of

North 24 Parganas district North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...

and will bring them closer to

's Business district. This would reduce the heavy pressure on Sealdah–Barasat section of

Eastern Railways The Eastern Railway (abbreviated ER) is among the 19 zones of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Fairley Place, Kolkata and comprises four divisions: , , , and . Each division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). The name o ...

. The Madhyamgram Metro railway station is to be constructed in the Madhyamgram-Barasat section. Work for the Noapara–

(via NSC Bose Airport) metro extension has come to a halt as construction giant L&T has pulled out of the 20 km metro corridor project. L&T was unable to get on with the work thanks to encroachment on railway land. L&T has moved out all major equipment from the project site at Barasat and has closed down two of the three site offices. The lone site office is under locked.

Gallery

File:Train In Barasat Junction.jpg, Up and Down Trains in Barasat railway station at platform Number 1 and 2. File:Barasat Metro.jpg, Metro railway construction going on near Barasat Junction File:Barasat Rail Truck.jpg, Passengers are walking on the railway tracks at Barasat File:Barasat Junction railway station (3).jpg, Barasat Junction railway station File:Barasat Junction railway station (2).jpg, Barasat Junction platformboard

References

External links