The Asansol–Patna section is a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

connecting in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. The line passes through the fringe areas of West Bengal, a portion of

Santhal Parganas Santhal Pargana division constitutes six district administration units known as the divisions of Jharkhand state in eastern India. Origin of name Santal Pargana derives its name from two words: "Santal", a major inhabited tribe in the region and ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

and the

Gangetic Plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses northern and eastern India, eastern Pakist ...

in Bihar.

History

The first rail track between Howrah and Delhi was via what was later named as

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, th ...

and the first through train on the route was run in 1864. The Kiul–Patna sector was ready around 1862. A "shorter main line" connecting Raniganj and Kiul Junction was in position in 1871 and the opening of the

Grand Chord Grand Chord is part of the Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line and Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line. It acts as a link between Sitarampur railway station, Sitarampur, (Asansol) (West Bengal) and Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction (Uttar Pradesh), previous ...

in 1907 shortened the distance from Howrah to Delhi even further.

Electrification

The Asansol–Sitarampur sector was electrified in 1960–61 and the rest of the Asansol–Patna section was electrified during the period 1994–95 to 2000–2001. Sector-wise progress was as follows: Sitarampur–Chittaranjan 1994–95, Chittaranjan–Jamtara 1995–96, Jamtara–Jasidih 1996–97, Jasidih–Narganjo 1997–98, Narganjo–Jhajha 1998–99, Jhajha–Kiul in 1997–98, Kiul–Mankatha 1999–2000, Mankatha–Barhaiya 2000–01, Barhaiya–Mokama 1999–2000 Mokama–Fatuha 1998–99, Fatuha–Danapur 1999–2000.

Speed limit

The entire Sitarampur–Patna–Mughalsarai line is classified as "B Class" line, where trains can run at speeds up to 130 km/h.

Passenger movement

and , on this line, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.

Sheds and workshops

Chittaranjan Locomotive Works Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) is an electric locomotive manufacturer based in India. The works are located at Chittaranjan in the Asansol Sadar subdivision of West Bengal, with an ancillary unit in Dankuni. The main unit is 32 km fr ...

, one of the largest electric locomotive manufacturers in the world, is located on this line. Initially started for manufacturing steam locomotives, it went into production on 26 January 1950, the day when India became a republic. It now produces AC and DC locomotives and accessories. Asansol is home to the oldest electric loco shed of Indian Railways. It houses

WAG-5 The Indian locomotive class WAG-5 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1978 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), goods traffic ...

and

WAM-4 The Indian locomotive class WAM-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1970 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), mixe ...

electric locomotives.

Railway reorganisation

In 1952, Eastern Railway, Northern Railway and North Eastern Railway were formed. Eastern Railway was formed with a portion of

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 ...

, east of Mughalsarai and

Bengal Nagpur Railway The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway. History The opening of the ...

. Northern Railway was formed with a portion of East Indian Railway Company west of Mughalsarai, Jodhpur Railway, Bikaner Railway and Eastern Punjab Railway. North Eastern Railway was formed with

Oudh and Tirhut Railway The Oudh and Tirhut Railway was a Railway company operated in India. History On 1 January 1943, the Bengal and North Western Railway and the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway (R&K worked) were acquired by the Government of India and they were am ...

, Assam Railway and a portion of

Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (reporting mark BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing railway lines between Bombay to the erstwhile Baroda State, that became the present-day Baroda (Vadod ...

. East Central Railway was created in 1996–97.

Trains

The Following trains are famously serving this route. * South Bihar Express * Kolkata Shalimar–Patna AC Duronto Express * Baidyanathdham Express * Himgiri Superfast Express * Bilaspur-Patna Weekly Superfast Express *

Gurumukhi Superfast Express The 12325 / 12326 Gurumukhi Superfast Express is an Express train of the Indian Railways connecting in West Bengal with in Punjab. It is currently being operated with 12325/12326 train numbers on once in week basis. Service The 12325/Gurum ...

* Poorva Express (via Patna) *

Akal Takht Express The 12317 / 12318 Akal Takht Express is an Indian Railways Express train connecting eastern Indian city of Kolkata with northern Indian city of Amritsar. It is named after the Akal Takht, a central Sikh shrine in Amritsar. Background Original ...

* Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express * Pratham Swatrantata Sangram Express * Tatanagar-Buxar Express * Kumbh Express * Upasana Express *

Ananya Express The 12315 / 12316 Ananya Express is an Indian Railways Express-class train running between Kolkata and Udaipur city. It covers a distance of 2134 km at an average speed of 60 km per hour, travelling through the Indian states of West ...

* Howrah-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express * Howrah-Patna Vande Bharat Express * Asansol-Mumbai CSMT Superfast Express * Asansol-Ahmedabad Weekly Express * Howrah-Amritsar Mail * Vibhuti Express * Kolkata-Ghazipur City Weekly Express * Kolkata-Patna Garib Rath Express * Howrah–Rajendra Nagar Express While There are also a lot of Passenger and Express trains that serves this section.

References

External links

Trains at PatnaTrains at Asansol
, {{DEFAULTSORT:Asansol - Patna section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India * * Rail transport in West Bengal Railway lines in Bihar Transport in Asansol 1871 establishments in India