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Kolkata Suburban Railway

Regional rail system in Kolkata, India

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Through India and Indian Standard Time

The Kolkata Suburban Railway is part of the second passenger railway constructed in British India during the mid 19th century. The first train ran between Howrah and Hooghly stations. A hundred years after the initial run, EMU services began.

The system is operated by two Indian Railways zones; Eastern and South Eastern. These zones are further divided into Howrah and Sealdah railway divisions in Eastern Railways and Kharagpur in South Eastern Railway. Howrah, Sealdah, Shalimar, Santragachi Junction and Kolkata railway station are the five major terminals serving the network in the city for mail/express trains as well as passenger/fast passenger trains.

History

The Kolkata Suburban Railway is an offshoot of the second passenger railway to be built by the British in India. The first train ran between Howrah and Hooghly stations on 15 August 1854 and was operated by the East Indian Railway (EIR). Regular services on the 38.6 km (24.0 mi) line were introduced on the same day, with stops at Bally, Serampore and Chandannagore stations. The broad gauge Sheoraphuli–Tarakeswar branch line was opened by the Tarkessur Railway Company on 1 January 1885.

In 1951, all the railway companies, zone and divisions were integrated and recategorized. This led to the formation of the Eastern Railway (ER) and South Eastern Railway (SER) zones. These zones of Indian Railways currently operate the Kolkata Suburban Railway.

Eastern Railway zone

The Eastern Railway zone was formed on 14 April, 1952, by the amalgamation of the East Indian Railway Company and the entire Bengal – Nagpur Railway (later it formed the SER). It has four divisions; Howrah and Sealdah divisions operate the system. The Sealdah division was part of the Eastern Bengal Railway before the recategorisation. Howrah division is the oldest in the ER zone.

On 1 February, 1957, the EMU services were introduced on the Howrah – Seoraphuli section of the Howrah division. Howrah–Sheoraphuli–Tarakeswar line was electrified in 1957–58. In 1963, services were gradually extended to Bandel and then Barddhaman and in 1964 on the Sealdah Division of Eastern Railway were introduced on the Sealdah – Ranaghat route. In 1968, the Howrah – Barddhaman main and chord line was totally converted to 25 kV 50 Hz AC power supply from a 3000 V DC power supply, whereas the Sealdah – Ranaghat line was electrified as 25 kV 50 Hz AC from the beginning.

South Eastern Railway zone

The Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) Company was incorporated in 1887 to take over from the Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway (NCR) and to convert the line to broad gauge. The work was completed in 1888. The extension of the main line from Nagpur to Asansol was completed by 1891. Later, it formed the Eastern Railway zone. On 1 August, 1955, the former Bengal Nagpur Railway portion was separated and a new zone, the South Eastern Railway (SER), came into existence. The SER comprises four divisions, and Kharagpur is the only division to operate the suburban railway.

In the SER zone, EMU service made its maiden run on 1 May, 1968 between Howrah – Mecheda of the Kharagpur division, and on 1 February, 1969, EMU services were extended to Kharagpur. Gradually, the services were extended to eight other lines by 2003. The system under this zone was completely electrified by 1968 as 25 kV 50 Hz AC from the beginning.

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