Howrah–Kharagpur line
The Howrah–Kharagpur line is part of the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line, Howrah–Chennai main line and Kolkata Suburban Railway.
Geography
The line runs through the plains of West Bengal. From Howrah, it is first the Gangetic Plains and then the basins of the Damodar, Rupnarayan and Kangsabati, Haldi thereby traversing Howrah, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur districts.Kolaghat Thermal Power Station, with its six tall chimneys, one for each of the 210 MW units, is a landmark on this line.
Haldia dock complex handled 31.015 million tonnes of traffic in 2011–12. Haldia Refinery, one of the eight operating refineries of Indian Oil Corporation, was commissioned in 1975. Haldia Petrochemicals, a modern naphtha based petrochemical complex and the second-largest project of its kind in India, has been a catalyst for the development of a large number of downstream industries.
History
Nagpur Railway opened to traffic its main line from Nagpur to Asansol in 1891. Sini, on the Nagpur–Asansol line, was connected to Kharagpur and Kolaghat in 1898–99. The Kharagpur-Cuttack section was also opened the same year. The Kolaghat-Howrah track was completed in 1899–1900. Kharagpur was connected to Howrah with the opening of the Rupnarayan bridge on 19 April 1900.The Panskura–Durgachak line was opened in 1968, at a time when Haldia Port was being constructed. It was subsequently extended to Haldia. Haldia Dock Complex, a part of Kolkata Port Trust, was commissioned in 1977.
The Tamluk–Digha line was opened in 2004.
Electrification
The Howrah–Kharagpur line was electrified in 1967–69. The Panskura–Haldia line was electrified in 1974–76. Santragachi–Bankaranayabaj sector was electrified in 1984–85. All lines were electrified with 25 kV AC overhead system. EMU train services between Panskura and Haldia introduced in 1976 and direct EMU services between Howrah and Haldia in 1979.The Tamluk–Digha line was sanctioned in 1984–85 Railway Budget at an estimated cost of around Rs 74 crore. Finally this line was opened in 2004. This track was electrified in 2012–13.New lines
Indian Railways propose to lay a new line connecting Sealdah and Haldia, with the distance being shorter by 70 km than the Howrah–Haldia track.There is a plan to connect Digha to Jaleswar on the Kharagpur–Puri line.
The Howrah–Kharagpur stretch has three lines. There is a plan to build a fourth line for the Santragachi–Panskura–Kharagpur stretch.Also there is a plan to construct third line in Panskura–Haldia Section for better utilization of goods train from Haldia Port.