Darshana–Jessore–Khulna line is a

broad-gauge railway 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 , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countrie ...

Bangladesh Railway Bangladesh Railway () is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains all railways in the country, and is overseen by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Railway. The Bangladesh Railway is governed by the Mi ...

. The line is maintained and operated by West Zone.

History

The

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

n government constructed the

Chilahati–Parbatipur–Santahar–Darshana line The Chilahati–Parbatipur–Santahar–Darshana line is a railway line connecting Chilahati and Darshana, via Parbatipur Junction, Santahar, Abdulpur, Iswardi and Hardinge Bridge in Bangladesh. This track is under the jurisdiction of Bang ...

in 1878 and the Kolkata–Jessore to Khulna line in 1878 to start a direct service from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

. But after the partition of the country in 1947, the railway communication between the two countries was cut off. The direct rail link between

Khulna Khulna (, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. It is the divisional centre of 10 districts of the division. Khulna is also the seco ...

in then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

and

North Bengal North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...

was disrupted. So very quickly the then

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...

quickly laid a new railway line from Darshana Junction to Jessore Junction by 1951.

Sections

Jessore–Benapole section

This section stretches from Jessore Junction via Benapole–Petrapole to

Dum Dum Junction Dum Dum Junction (DDJ) is a Kolkata Suburban Railway junction station in Kolkata. Three lines branch out from Dum Dum in the north direction–the Kolkata Eastern line to Gede, the Calcutta chord line to and the Sealdah–Hasnabad–Bangao ...

. Benapole Express,

Bandhan Express The Bandhan Express train () is an international express rail service which runs between the Indian city Kolkata and the Bangladeshi city Khulna every week. It is the second modern day, fully air conditioned passenger train link between the In ...

, Benapole Commuter, Khulna Commuter and freight trains ply through this route.

Khulna–Mongla section

Khulna–Mongla Port line is being constructed to connect

Port of Mongla The Port of Mongla is a link seaport, located at Mongla Upazila, Khulna Division, Bangladesh. It is a sea port of Khulna city, which is located to the north shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is the second largest and second busiest seaport of Bang ...

with rail across the country. It will be a long broad gauge railway.

Rupsha Rail Bridge Rupsha Railway Bridge is a railway bridge on Rupsha River in Khulna District, Bangladesh. This bridge connects Khulna with Port of Mongla by railway network. Bangladesh Railway Bangladesh Railway () is the state-owned rail transport agency ...

is part of this route.

Rupsha–Bagerhat section

Rupsha–Bagerhat line is a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge line that served as a link between Rupsha and

Bagerhat Bagerhat is a city in southern Bangladesh and the headquarters of Bagerhat district. Located on the banks of the Bhairab river, Bagerhat has a population of around 50,000. It is located near the old city of Khalifatabad The Mosque City of Bag ...

. The railway line was constructed in 1918 and was declared abandoned in 1998. The 20-mile (32 km) long railroad carried 13 coaches and 8 freight cars in 1958.Hughes, Hugh 1994 ''Indian Locomotives Pt. 3, Narrow Gauge 1863-1940''. Continental Railway Circle.

References

Rail transport in Jessore Rail transport in Khulna 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Bangladesh Railway lines opened in 1884 {{DEFAULTSORT:Darshana-Jessore-Khulna line