The Barauni–Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections of the
Barauni–Guwahati line
The Barauni–Guwahati railway line connects Barauni, Saharsa, Purnia and Katihar in the Indian state of Bihar and in Assam via Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar in West Bengal. It is a linkage of prime importance for Northeast ...
connects
Barauni
Barauni is an Industrial City situated on the bank of the river Ganges in Begusarai district in the state of Bihar, India.
Transport
Railways
Barauni Junction is one of the important stations in Bihar and has strategic location. It is a ju ...
,
Saharsa
Saharsa is a city and Municipal corporation in the Saharsa District in the eastern part of the state of Bihar, India. It is situated near the eastern banks of the Kosi River. It serves as the administrative headquarters for Saharsa District an ...
,
Purnia
Purnia ()(also romanized as Purnea) is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia division in the Indian state of Bihar.
Total geographical area of Purnia Urban Agglomeration is which is nex ...
and
Katihar
Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line.
History
Ka ...
in the Indian state of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
.
History
Early developments
Railway development on the northern side of the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
in Bihar came up soon after the opening of the
Howrah–Delhi main line
The Howrah–Delhi main line is a railway line connecting Delhi and Kolkata cutting across northern India. The railway line was opened to traffic in 1866 with the introduction of the "1 Down/2 Up Mail" train.
Sections
The long trunk line, ha ...
on the southern side of the Ganges in 1866. Several railway companies were involved
East Indian Railway
The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...
, Assam Behar State Railway, and Tirhut State Railway. In his book ''The Indian Empire, Its People, History and Products'' (first published in 1886) W.W.Hunter, says "The Tirhut State Railway with its various branches intersects Northern Behar and is intended to extend to the Nepal frontier on one side and to Assam on the other." However, early developments appear to be scattered. EIR built the
Katihar
Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line.
History
Ka ...
–
Kasba and Katihar–
Manihari
Manihari is a town and a notified area in Katihar district in the Indian state of Bihar. Pincode of Manihari is 854113.
Geography
Manihari is located at . It has an average elevation of 31 metres (101 feet).
This place is well kno ...
lines in 1887. Assam Behar State Railway built the
Parbatipur–Katihar line (see
Barsoi–Parbatipur line) in 1889, thereby linking Assam and parts of
North Bengal with Bihar. Tirhoot State Railway built some longer lines such as
Samastipur
Samastipur is a city and a municipal corporation (nagar nigam) in Bihar, India. It is the headquarter of Samastipur district and comes under Darbhanga division. The Budhi Gandak river flows through the town. It is one of the five railway divisi ...
–
Khagaria
Khagaria is a city in Indian state of Bihar and the administrative headquarters of Khagaria district. Khagaria is a part of Munger division. It is located at and has an average elevation of 36 metres (118 feet). The Khagaria Junct ...
, and added branch lines such as the 7 miles long
Barauni
Barauni is an Industrial City situated on the bank of the river Ganges in Begusarai district in the state of Bihar, India.
Transport
Railways
Barauni Junction is one of the important stations in Bihar and has strategic location. It is a ju ...
–Semaria Ghat in 1883, the 11 miles long
Thana Bihpur to Bararighat in 1901 and Khagaria to Hasanpur Road in 1915. Most of these early metre-gauge lines got interconnected in subsequent years.
Bridge links
The construction of the long
Rajendra Setu
Rajendra Setu, or Simaria Bridge, is a bridge across the Ganges that was the first to link the northern and southern portions of the state of Bihar. The location of the bridge was based on the work of M. Visvesvaraya, who was more than 90 year ...
in 1959 provided the first opportunity to link the railway tracks on the north and south banks of the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
.
The long rail-cum-road bridge located at
Munger
Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern In ...
55 km downstream of the
Rajendra Setu
Rajendra Setu, or Simaria Bridge, is a bridge across the Ganges that was the first to link the northern and southern portions of the state of Bihar. The location of the bridge was based on the work of M. Visvesvaraya, who was more than 90 year ...
, now under construction, will link
Jamalpur station on the
Sahibganj loop
The Sahibganj loop is a railway line connecting Khana Junction and Kiul Junction. Originally a part of the Howrah–Delhi main line, it was opened to traffic in 1866. With the construction of a shorter railway line for a part of the route, the ...
line of Eastern Railway to the Barauni–Katihar section of East Central Railway.
Railway reorganization
The Avadh–Tirhut Railway (successor to Tirhut State Railway) was merged with Assam Railway (successor to
Eastern Bengal Railway
The Eastern Bengal Railway (full name: "Eastern Bengal Railway Company"; shortened EBR) was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated from 1857 to 1942, in Bengal and Assam provinces of British India.
History
Formation
The Eastern ...
and
Assam Bengal Railway
The Assam Bengal Railway (ABR) was one of the pioneering railway companies in British India. Headquartered in Chittagong, it functioned from 1892 to 1942.
History
Assam Bengal Railway was incorporated in 1892 to serve British-owned tea planta ...
) in 1952 to create
North Eastern Railway.
Northeast Frontier Railway
The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the Zones and divisions of Indian Railways, 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and e ...
was carved out of North Eastern Railway in 1958. East Central Railway was constituted in 2002 with the Sonpur and Samastipur Divisions of North Eastern Railway, and Danapur, Mughalsarai and Dhanbad Divisions of Eastern Railway.
Gallery
Locale
The entire track lies on the northern side of the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
and traverses the Kosi basin. In Bihar, the
Kosi is widely referred to as the "Sorrow of Bihar" as it has caused widespread human suffering over the centuries through flooding and frequent changes in course. Over the last 250 years, the Kosi has shifted its course over from east to west. In August 2008, it picked up an old channel it had abandoned over a century ago near the
Nepal–India border, and caused enormous damage in a wide area covering several districts. The breach in the Kosi embankment which caused the devastating flood in 2008, was repaired in 2009 and the river has since been flowing along its original course. The floods continue and threaten even the Barauni–Katihar tracks. The entire region portrays "a bleak picture of broken houses, flattened fields and ravaged lives, signs of all the havoc the previous floods and land erosion wreaked here earlier."
Gauge conversion
Gauge conversion work (from metre gauge to broad gauge) in the Barauni–Katihar section was taken up in 1978–79 and completed in 1982. In year 2001 Khagaria-Saharsa route was converted into broad gauge. Katihar–Jogbani route was converted into broad gauge in year 2009. The second main route of this section, Saharsa–Purnia route was converted into broad gauge in 2016. Gauge conversion of Saharsa–Forbesganj and Banmankhi–Bihariganj is on progress.
Electrification
Electrification of the long Barauni–Katihar–Guwahati section was sanctioned in 2008. As of 2011, work on electrification of Barabanki–Gorakhpur–Barauni–New Jalpaiguri route was in progress. Adequate funds have been provided in the budget for 2011–12 to take up work in the New Jalapiguri–New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section.
The section is fully electrified. Most of the Delhi and Amritsar-bound trains run on electric locomotives.
Amrapali Express
The 15707 / 15708 Amrapali Express is an Express train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between and in India. It operates as train number 15707 in Up direction from Katihar Junction of North east Frontier railway to Amritsar of Norther ...
was the first train to run on electric locomotive, then after
Rajdhani Express Rajdhani may refer to:
* ''Rajdhani'' (film), 1956 Indian film
* ''Rajadhani'' (1994 film), Indian Malayalam-language film
* ''Rajadhani'' (2011 film), Indian Kannada-language film
* Rajdhani, Kotli, a village in Pakistan
* Rajdhani, Gorakhpur, a ...
,
North-east Express,
Purvottar Sampark Kranti Express,
Seemanchal Express
The 12487 / 12488 Seemanchal Express is a Superfast train belonging to Northern Railway zone that runs between and in India. It is currently being operated with 12487/12488 train numbers on a daily basis.
Service
The 12487/Seemanchal Expr ...
,
Tripura Sundari Express
The 14619 / 14620 ''Tripura Sundari Express'' is a weekly Express train belonging to Northern Railway Zone of India, that runs between the cities, Agartala in (Tripura) and Firozpur in (Punjab) state. It is currently being operated with 146 ...
have electric engines.
References
External links
Trains at Barauni Trains at Katihar
,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barauni - Katihar section
5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India
Railway lines in Bihar
Transport in Katihar
Transport in Barauni