The Kolkata Suburban Railway (colloquially called Kolkata local trains or simply locals) is a suburban and regional rail system serving the Kolkata metropolitan area and its surroundings in West Bengal, India. Its network has 458 stations and a track length of making it the largest suburban railway network in the country, and also one of the largest in the world. There are five main lines and 19 branch lines. It operates more than 1,500 services, carrying 3.5 million people daily and 1.2 billion people annually. It runs from IST 03:00 am until 02:00 am approximately and fares range from Rs.5 to Rs.120. The system is electrified with overhead line and runs on broad gauge track. It has interchange stations with the Kolkata Metro at various locations.
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 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.Multiple Units (EMU/DMU) and other self-propelled vehicles, irfca.org,28 November 2018History of EMU on Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway, 27 November 2018 In 1968, the Howrah – Barddhaman main and chord line was totally converted to 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.History of Electrification, core.indianrailways.gov.in, 29 November 2018
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.Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, p. 28 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.
Network
Kolkata is the smallest of India's six A-1 cities in terms of area. However, the Kolkata Suburban Railway is the largest suburban railway network in India by track length and number of stations. The overall track length is and has 458 stations. The system is operated by two zonal divisions (under Indian Railways), Eastern Railways (ER) and South Eastern Railways (SER). The fast commuter rail corridors on Eastern Railway as well as South Eastern Railway are shared with long-distance and freight trains, while inner suburban services operate on exclusive parallel tracks. SER operates the South Eastern Line and ER operates the Eastern Line, Circular Line, Chord link Line as well as the Sealdah South lines.Survey on Kolkata Suburban Railway , indiansss.org, 1 January 2013
Junction stations are marked in bold ZoneMajor terminalLineFirst runStations (with interchange)LengthCorridorsTerminalsSouth Eastern RailwayHowrahSouth Eastern line19 April 190087 (5)341 kmMain lineHowrahMidnaporeWest branch lineShalimarAmtaSoutheast branch linePanskuraHaldiaSouth branch lineTamlukDighaEastern RailwayEastern line15 August 1854266 (23)906 kmMain lineHowrahBarddhamanChord lineHowrahBarddhamanWest Elevated branch lineSeoraphuliTarakeswarFar West Elevated branch lineTarakeswarBishnupurNorth branch lineBandelKatwaNorth East branch lineBarddhamanKatwaBelur Math branch lineHowrahBelur MathSealdahMain lineSealdahGedeNorthern branch line 1RanaghatKrishnanagarNorthern branch line 2KalinarayanpurShantipurMid East branch lineRanaghatBangaonMid North East branch lineDum DumBangaonEast branch lineBarasatHasnabadHooghly branch lineNaihatiBandelKalyani branch lineKalyaniKalyani SimantaFar North branch lineKrishnanagarLalgolaSealdah South lines2 January 186270 (9)190 kmMain lineSealdahNamkhanaBudge Budge branch lineBallygungeBudge BudgeCanning branch lineSonarpurCanningDiamond Harbour branch lineBaruipurDiamond HarbourChord link line186515 (8)22 kmMain lineSealdahDankuniBranch lineDankuniAndulKolkata Circular Railway16 August 198420 (8)42 kmCircular LineDum DumMajerhatTotal458 (53)
Lines
South Eastern line
The South Eastern line in Kolkata consists of three major corridors, which divide into two branches as they run into the suburban satellite towns. Two corridors—one local and the other through—follow the South Eastern Railway and run from Howrah Junction to Midnapore, a distance of . The mainline bifurcates (splits) into two branch lines—the Panskura–Haldia line at Panskura Junction to the south-east—and the Santragachi–Amta line at Santragachi Junction to the north. These corridors constitute the 'main' South Eastern line. In this section, the Howrah – Santragachi section has quadruple line, where first track is mainly for up train shunting up-to Santragachhi along with some suburban trains, second track is for both up suburban and express trains, third track is mainly for down train shunting from Santragachhi along with some suburban and express trains, and the fourth and final track is for both down suburban and express trains. From Santragachhi to Kharagpur has triple line, where one track for up trains, another track for both up and down trains, and final track for down trains. All tracks are used by both suburban and express trains.The South Eastern line also includes two branch lines, and , connecting Santragachi with Shalimar and Tamluk to Digha, respectively. The Midnapore and Haldia branches are double line, whereas Amta and Digha branches are single line.
The South Eastern line has one interchange station with the Eastern Line at Howrah Junction. Rolling stock consists of a fleet of AC EMUs. The major car sheds on this line are at Kharagpur, Tikiapara, and Panskura.
On 6 September 2009, then Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee announced the introduction of Ladies Special local trains, namely Matribhumi (i.e. motherland), in the Kolkata suburban section. The first local Matribhumi Special local ran from Howrah to Kharagpur.
Eastern line
The Eastern line in Kolkata, the largest network of the Kolkata Suburban Railway, consists of two divisions—Howrah and Sealdah divisions (named after their respective terminals)—which serve both sides of the Hooghly River.
In the Howrah division of the Eastern line, there are five corridors, which also bifurcates and runs into the northwestern suburbs. The first two corridors are the Howrah–Bardhaman main line and the chord line. In this section, the Howrah – Bally section has quintuple line, where first and second tracks are for up and down trains for chord line, third track for up trains, fourth track for both up and down trains, and final track for down trains. From Bally to Shaktigarh has triple line, where one track for up trains, another track for both up and down train, and the third and final track for down trains. On Chord line, from Bally to Dankuni has triple line, where one track for up trains, another track for both up and down trains, and final track for down trains. From Dankuni to Shaktigarh has quadruple line up-to Chandanpur, and the rest of the portion is triple line where the fourth track is under construction. All tracks are used by both suburban and express trains. On these two corridors, the small Belur Math branch splits at Liluah, however unlike down trains, up trains of this branch does not touch Liluah station. On these two corridors, the Howrah–Tarakeswar branch line bifurcates at and terminates at Tarakeswar with a length of crossing over the chord line at . Kamarkundu now this line has been extended to Bishnupur from Tarakeswar, under Tarakeswar - Bishnupur rail project. However through running from Tarakeshwar to Bishnupur is still not possible for a long gap between Goghat and Maynapur due to some land acquisition problem. After the gap, the line is running between Maynapur to Bishnupur, but due to not possibility of supplying Eastern Railway EMU rakes, that section is presently served by only one MEMU rake of South Eastern Railway. The Bandel–Katwa line bifurcates at Bandel Jn with a length of ; the Bardhaman–Katwa branch line, which was originally a narrow gauge line and later converted to broad gauge, bifurcates at Bardhaman Jn with a length of . The Bandel - Katwa and Tarakeshwar branches are double line, whereas Belur Math, Barddhaman - Katwa and Goghat (with the isolated Bishnupur) branches are single line.