Ishwardi is a railway junction in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, situated in the district of
Pabna
Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about .
Etymology
* According to the histo ...
, in the division of
Rajshahi
Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi District ...
.
History
From 1878, the railway route from
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 ...
, then called Calcutta, to
Siliguri
Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...
was in two laps. The first lap was a 185 km journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the
Padma River
The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...
, then across the river in a ferry and the second lap of the journey. A 336 km metre gauge line of the North Bengal Railway linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.
It was during this period that Iswardi came up as a railway station.
The Kolkata-Siliguri main line was converted to broad gauge in stages. The Shakole-
Santahar
Santahar ( bn, সান্তাহার) is a railway junction in Adamdighi Upazila in Bogra District of Rajshahi Division in Bangladesh.
History
From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps. T ...
section was converted in 1910–1914, when
Hardinge Bridge
Hardinge Bridge is a steel railway truss bridge over the Padma River located at Ishwardi, Pabna and Bheramara, and Kushtia in Bangladesh. It is named after Lord Hardinge, who was the Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916. The bridge is long.
Co ...
was under construction. The Hardinge Bridge was opened in 1915.
The Sara-
Sirajganj
Sirajganj ( bn, সিরাজগঞ্জ) is a city in north-western Bangladesh on the right bank of the Jamuna River. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirajganj District, and with a population of 167,200 is the fourteenth most populo ...
line was constructed by the Sara-Sirajganj Railway Company in 1915–1916.
Consequent to the construction of the long
Bangabandhu Bridge
Bangabandhu Bridge, also known as the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge ( bn, যমুনা বহুমুখী সেতু ''Jomuna Bohumukhi Setu'') is a bridge opened in Bangladesh in June 1998. It connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east b ...
in 1998, there was reassessment of the requirements of the railways. First, a long new dual gauge line was to be constructed from Joydebpur to Jamtoil, to connect the eastern part of the Bangladesh railway system to the western part. The problem of two different gauges in two different parts of the country was solved by introducing dual gauge. Second, a length of broad gauge track from Jamtoil to Parbatpur was to be converted to dual gauge.
References
Railway stations in Pabna District
Railway junction stations in Bangladesh
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