Amritsar Central railway station (station code: ASR) is a railway located in

Amritsar district Amritsar district is one of the twenty three districts that make up the Indian state of Punjab. Located in the Majha region of Punjab, the city of Amritsar is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, it is the second most populous distr ...

in the Indian state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and serves

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. It is the largest and busiest railway station of Punjab.

History

The

Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway The Scinde, Punjab, Delhi Railway was formed in 1870 from the incorporation of the Scinde Railway, Indus Steam Flotilla, Punjab Railway and Delhi Railway companies. This was covered by the ''Scinde Railway Company's Amalgamation Act'' of 1869 ...

completed the Multan–Lahore–Amritsar line in 1865. The Amritsar–Attari section was completed on the route to Lahore in 1862. The -long Amritsar–Khem Karan railway line runs through Tarn Taran and Patti. A -long line links Amritsar to Dera Baba Nanak on the bank of the

Ravi Ravi may refer to: People * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist * Ravi (music director) (1926–201 ...

. The Amritsar–Pathankot route runs through Batala and Gurdaspur. The

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 ...

Amritsar–Pathankot line was opened in 1884.

Overview

The Amritsar railway station is located at an elevation of and was assigned the code "ASR." With this, it has become the busiest railway station of the state in terms of passenger movement and train traffic. In the 2016 railway budget, the government has aimed to beautify the railway station as it is the main station of the holy city. The railway station is the first and only with WiFi in the division and CCTV has recently been enabled. In the recent railway budget, it has been mentioned that Amritsar Junction will be improved due to its importance in various fields. The Movement Control Office (MCO) for Armed Forces is also available at PF no 1. There are ten platforms under use, 1(A), 1(B), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Platform no. 8 is used for freight trains. Platform no. 1(B) is reserved exclusively for freight and passenger trains of Indian Army.

Electrification

The Phagwara–Jallandhar City–Amritsar sector was electrified in 2003–04.

Development

Amritsar became the first railway station in the state to be WiFi-enabled. With this announcement, concerns have also been raised around increasing the capacity of the railway station from the current 6 platforms to 8 platforms and base this on the standards of the International Airport. This is due to the fact that it is the most important and busiest railway terminus of the state. Two more escalators would be installed in the station from Platform 5, as Platform 1 has already two. Platform No. 6 and 7 are started in January 2018 because of due to large movement of passengers in the city.

Upcoming projects

The electrification work is under progress on the Amritsar–Khemkaran line. This is because, a new rail line has been passed by the railways from

Patti, Punjab Patti is an Old City, near Tarn Taran Sahib city and a municipal council of the Tarn Taran district in the Majha region of Indian state of Punjab, located 47 Kilometres from Amritsar. Patti city is situated close to the Pakistani border ...

Ferozpur Firozpur, also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in Firozpur District, Punjab, India. After the partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan border with memorials to soldiers who d ...

which will reduce the distance of Amritsar from Ferozpur by 80 km. This will also reduces the distance and save the time to visit Rajasthan and Gujarat from Northern cities. It has been planned to run Express trains on this route. In December 2019, it has been announced that Bhagtanwala railway station and Chheharta railway station will be converted into satellite stations. Due to this the burden on Amritsar Junction railway station can be reduced.

Railway workshop

Amritsar railway workshop carries out a periodic overhaul of WDS-4 locos and breakdown cranes and bogie manufacture.

References

External links

* * {{Railway stations in the Punjab, India Railway stations in Amritsar district Firozpur railway division Transport in Amritsar Railway stations opened in 1862 1862 establishments in India Indian Railway A1 Category Stations