Katihar Junction railway station

Katihar Junction
Indian Railway Junction Station
Location	Station Road, Gami Tola, Katihar, Bihar-854105 India
Coordinates	25°32′55″N 87°33′58″E / 25.54869°N 87.56615°E / 25.54869; 87.56615Coordinates: 25°32′55″N 87°33′58″E / 25.54869°N 87.56615°E / 25.54869; 87.56615
Elevation	35 metres (115 ft)
Owned by	North East Frontier Railway of the Indian Railways
Operated by	North East Frontier Railway
Line(s)	Barauni-Katihar section of Barauni-Guwahati line Katihar-Siliguri line Katihar-Malda Town line Katihar-Jogbani line Katihar-Manihari-Teznarayanpur line Katihar-Purnea-Saharsa line
Platforms	7
Tracks	10
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on ground station)
Parking	Available
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	KIR
Zone(s)	North East Frontier Railway
Division(s)	Katihar railway division
History
Opened	1889
Electrified	Electrified(June-2016)
Previous names	East Indian Railway
Traffic
Passengers	1 Lakh per day
Services
Location
Katihar Junction railway station Location in Bihar

Katihar Junction railway station serves Katihar city in Katihar district in the Indian state of Bihar. 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 of Barauni-Guwahati line
Katihar-Siliguri line which serves the city with numerous number of trains to Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi, Dalkhola and with many other cities.

History

East Indian Railway Company (EIR) opened the Manihari-Katihar-Kasba section in 1888 and the North Bengal Railway opened the Katihar-Raiganj section the same year. EIR opnened the Barsoi-Kishanganj section in 1889. All these lines were 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) wide metre gauge lines. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, operating 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge lines, extended their operations from Siliguri to Kishanganj in 1915 and to Dalkhola.

Siliguri was connected to Kolkata via the eastern part of Bengal since 1878 (for details see Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Line). However, with the partition of India 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.^[1] The importance of Katihar station grew because of the jute mill in the region.

Gauge conversion

In the early 1960s, when Farakka Barrage was being constructed, Indian Railways took the initiative to extend 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) wide broad gauge rail link from Kolkata.^[1]

The 2,240 m (7,350 ft) long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges. The rail bridge was opened in 1971 thereby linking the Barharwa-Azimganj-Katwa loop to Malda, New Jalpaiguri and other railway stations in North Bengal.^[2][3]

Gauge conversion work (from metre gauge to broad gauge) in the Barauni–Katihar section was taken up in 1978-79 and completed in 1982.^[4]

The Siliguri-Katihar line was the last surviving metre gauge 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.^[5][6][7]

Amenities

Facilities available are those of Waiting halls, Reservation counters, washrooms, tea stalls, book shops & dairy stalls to name a few .The junction also holds a Railway Police Office.

Looking into the growing importance of the junction & the passenger influx & outflux year after year the junction has been planned to be upgraded and modernised to best of the facilities. The North-East Frontier Railways has planned to install Elevators, Wi-Fi hotspots, trolleys, shops & make the junction lucrative in all ways.

JUNCTION OVERVIEW

Electrification of Katihar junction is under progress and is expeted to complete by May 2016. Katihar is well connected to most of the major cities & almost the entire of India. Trains passing through the junction are bound for nearly all directions.

There are trains departing for Kolkata(Sealdah & Chitpur), Patna(Patna Junction & Rajendra Nagar Terminus), New Delhi (Anand Vihar & Naw Delhi Junction), Dhanbad, Mumbai, Guwahati, Siliguri, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Vishakhapatman, Chennai & Bangalore to name a few .

It is one of the most important junctions in India and interestingly almost every train routed for the North-East region with New Delhi /NCR being their origin pass through Katihar. These trains not only have scheduled halts but in fact receive good number of passengers to & from Katihar, the nearby Purnea & all nearby blocks & villages. Katihar Junction caters to all sorts of needs be it travelling, business, tourism for the people of almost entire Seemanchal region.

It is privileged to have not just one but two Rajdhani Express trains having scheduled stoppages under its premises both of which are bound for Delhi from Guwahati & Dibrugarh respectively. Besides these other major trains which have gained a popular name throughout the nation do have a stoppage at Katihar Junction.

The junction do serve as one of the Divisional Headquarters of Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR).

The junction currently has around 10-11 platforms & continues to expand with all sorts of ultra-modern amenities.

Platforms

There are 7 functional platforms at Katihar junction while more are to be expected in the near future due to the demand and growing importance of the city & nearby regioregions. The platforms are interconnected & have mutiple Foot over bridges (FOB) traversing through the junction to facilitate general locomotio & other city pedestrians . One of the reasons for it is the city centric location othe junction region.

The platforms have been installed with televisions, digital clock display, surveillance cameras, shops with all sorts of seating arrangements. The platforms are also regularly patrolled by the police officials to keep a check on criminal activities owing to the sensitive location of this border town.

Gallery

File:Katihar Station.jpg|frameless|Katihar Station File:KYQ-LTT AC EXPRESS.jpg|frameless|Kamakhya - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus AC Express entering Katihar File:DBRT RAJ.jpg|frameless|12423 Dibrugarh - New Delhi Rajdhani Express waiting to depart Katihar File:SGUJ WDG4 12155.jpg|frameless|A Siliguri-based WDG4 with a Freight Train enters Katihar Junction

Originating Trains

Non Originating Trains

Passenger Trains

References

External links

• Trains at Katihar railway station

Railway stations in Bihar
ER	Malda Banka Junction Bhagalpur Junction Jamalpur Junction Mandar Hill Munger Purabsarai Sultanganj
ECR	Danapur Ara Junction Bakhtiyarpur Junction Barh Barhiya Bihar Sharif Junction Bihta Buxar Danapur Fatuha Junction Gulzarbagh Hathidah Junction Harnaut Jehanabad Jamui Jhajha Khusropur Kiul Junction Lakhisarai Junction Mokama Junction Nalanda Nawada Neora Patliputra Junction Patna Junction Patna Sahib Phulwari Sharif Rajendra Nagar Terminal Rajgir Tilaiya Junction Warisaliganj Mughal Sarai Bhabua Road Dehri-on-Sone Gaya Junction Sasaram Junction Son Nagar Junction Samastipur Bapudham Motihari Bhikhna Thori Darbhanga Junction Laheriasarai Laukaha Bazar Madhubani Mithila Deep Narkatiaganj Junction Purnia Court Raxaul Junction Sonpur Akshaywat Rai Nagar Barauni Junction Begusarai Chak Sikandar Desari Hajipur Junction Khagaria Junction Khudiram Bose Pusa Mohiuddinnagar Muzaffarpur Junction Pahlejaghat Junction Ram Dayalu Nagar Samastipur Junction Sonpur Junction
NER	Varanasi Chhapra Junction Siwan Junction
NFR	Katihar Barsoi Junction Katihar Junction Kishanganj Purnia Junction Thakurganj
Railways in India