Katihar Junction railway station serves

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 ...

city in

Katihar district Katihar district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in India, and Katihar city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is a part of Purnia Division. It is prominently known for its Katihar Junction Railwa ...

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 ...

. It is an A Category railway station of Division. The Katihar Junction railway station is connected to most of the major cities in India by the railway network. Katihar lies in between

Barauni–Katihar section The Barauni–Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections of the Barauni–Guwahati line connects Barauni, Saharsa, Purnia and Katihar in the Indian state of Bihar . History Early developments Railway development on the northern side of the Ganges i ...

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 ...

Katihar–Siliguri line The Katihar–Siliguri line is a railway line connecting in the Indian state of Bihar with in West Bengal, via , , , , , , , and . It was a metre-gauge track that was converted to broad gauge in 2011. Another railway line with a slightl ...

which serves the city with numerous trains to

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

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 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth m ...

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur dist ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

and with many other cities. It is ISO certified

ISO 14001 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b ...

:2015 for its clean and green environment throughout the station premises.

History

East Indian Railway Company 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 ...

opened the Manihari–Katihar–Kasba section in 1888 and the North Bengal Railway opened the Katihar–Raiganj section the same year. The Barsoi–Kishanganj section opened in 1889. All these lines were -wide

metre-gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

lines.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a narrow-gauge, gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It c ...

, operating

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

lines, extended their operations from

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 ...

to in 1915 and to Dalkhola. Siliguri was connected to

via the eastern part of Bengal since 1878 (for details see

Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line The Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line is a railway line connecting with in North Bengal in the Indian state of West Bengal. The line continues through North Bengal and western part of Assam to connect with Guwahati. The – link allows trains from ...

). However, with the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, railway services in the region were completely disrupted. In 1949, the narrow-gauge Siliguri–Kishanganj section was upgraded to metre gauge. Thus there was a direct metre-gauge connection from Manihari to Siliguri via Katihar. The importance of Katihar station grew because of the jute mill in the region.

Development

In the early 1960s, when

Farakka Barrage Farakka Barrage is a barrage across the Ganga river located in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly from the border with Bangladesh near Shibganj. Farakka Barrage Township is located in Farakka (community developmen ...

was being constructed, Indian Railways took the initiative to extend

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

rail link from Kolkata. The long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across 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 rail bridge was opened in 1971 thereby linking the

Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop The Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop is a railway line connecting Barharwa Junction railway station, Barharwa on the Sahibganj loop and Katwa railway station, Katwa. Together with the Bandel–Katwa line, which connects this line to Bandel Junct ...

to Malda, and other railway stations in North Bengal. Gauge conversion work (from metre gauge to broad gauge) in the Barauni–Katihar section was taken up in 1978–79 and completed in 1982. The Siliguri–Katihar line was the last surviving

line in the area. The Aluabari Road–Katihar section already had a broad-gauge line running alongside the metre-gauge line. The Aluabari Road–Siliguri section needed to be converted. Conversion work was taken up in 2008, train services in the section was suspended and conversion work completed early in 2011.

Station Facilities

Following services available in Katihar Jn. Railway Station: * 10 (02 Bedded) AC Retiring Rooms Font_Awesome_5_solid_bed

* 05 (02 Bedded) Non AC Retiring Rooms Font_Awesome_5_solid_bed

* 01 (08 Bedded) AC Dormitory Font_Awesome_5_solid_bed

* 04 (01 Bedded) AC Cabin Dormitory Font_Awesome_5_solid_bed

* 01 (06 Bedded) Non AC Dormitory Font_Awesome_5_solid_bed

* Executive Lounge * High Speed Google Railwire Free Wi-Fi service Wifiservice

* Upper Class/Lower Class Waiting Rooms having Free Wi-Fi/AC/TV/Charging points/Drinking water & separate Ladies/Gents Washrooms Waiting_Room_-_The Noun_Project

* Food Plaza BSicon REST

* Tea Stall AB-Autobahnkiosk

* FOB with 4X Aiga_escalator_up_mirror

Escalator/Elevators Elevator_(AIGA_based)

3X * CCTV Surveillance Surveillance_camera

Platforms

There are 8 functional platforms at Katihar Junction which are interconnected & have multiple foot overbridges.

Gallery

References

External links

* {{Railway stations in Bihar Katihar railway division Railway stations in Katihar district Railway stations in India opened in 1889 Railway junction stations in Bihar Transport in Katihar