Barauni–Guwahati line

The Barauni–Guwahati railway line connects Barauni, Saharsa, Purnia and Katihar in the Indian state of Bihar and Guwahati in Assam via Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar in West Bengal. It is a linkage of prime importance for Northeastern India with India.

Barauni–Guwahati line
A Humsafar train passes through Barauni–Guwahati line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Bihar, Assam
Termini	Barauni Guwahati
Stations	Barauni Junction Begusarai Khagaria Junction Naugachia Katihar Dalkhola Kishanganj New Jalpaiguri Siliguri Junction Jalpaiguri Junction Jalpaiguri Road railway Station New Maynaguri Dhupguri Falakata New Cooch Behar New Alipurduar Kamakhyaguri Fakiragram Kokrajhar New Bongaigaon Rangia Kamakhya Guwahati
Service
Operator(s)	East Central Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway
History
Opened	1950
Technical
Line length	784 km (487 mi)
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Electrification	Yes
Operating speed	110 km/h
Route map Legend km to Barauni–Gorakhpur, Raxaul & Jainagar lines to Mokama–Barauni section 0 Barauni NH 28 Barauni–Katihar section 15 Begusarai to Hasanpur Road & Samastipur 61 Khagaria 69 Mansi to Saharsa NH 31 128 Naugachhia Koshi River to Teznarayanpur 185 Katihar Katihar–Siliguri line 225 Barsoi to Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line Bihar West Bengal border NH 34 281 Kishanganj Bihar West Bengal border Katihar–Siliguri line to Siliguri via Thakurganj Mahananda River 386 New Jalpaiguri to New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar– Samuktala line New Jalpaiguri– New Bongaigaon section 409 Jalpaiguri Junction to Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line 420 Jalpaiguri Road Teesta River 386 New Maynaguri Jaldhaka River 452 Dhupguri Torsa River to Alipurduar Junction via Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line 497 Ghoksadanga 519 New Cooch Behar to Bamanhat via Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line 542 New Alipurduar to New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar– Samuktala Road line Raidāk River Sankosh River Assam–West Bengal border to Fakiragram–Dhubri branch line 596 Fakiragram Junction Gourang River 606 Kokrajhar 634 New Bongaigaon New Bongaigaon– Guwahati section Beki River 676 Barpeta Road 724 Nalbari Pagladiya River 740 Rangia to Tezpur Saraighat Bridge across Brahmaputra River to New Bongaigaon via Goalpara 798 Kamakhya to Pandu 804 Guwahati to Lumding

Sections

The 784 km (487 mi)-long trunk line, been treated in more detail in smaller sections:

1. Barauni–Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections
2. Katihar–New Jalpaiguri, Thakurganj and Siliguri sections
3. New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section
4. New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section

History

Pre-independence era

The earliest railway tracks in Assam were laid in the Dibrugarh area in 1882 for the transportation of tea and coal. The first passenger railway was also in that area.^[1]

Linking Guwahati was the challenge. In response to the demands of tea planters in Assam for a rail link to Chittagong port, the Assam Bengal Railway started construction of a railway track on the eastern side of Bengal in 1891. A 150 km (93 mi) track between Chittagong and Comilla was opened to traffic in 1895. The Comilla–Akhaura–Kulaura–Badarpur section was opened in 1896–1898 and finally extended to Lumding in 1903.^[2][3][4] The Assam Bengal Railway constructed a branch line to Guwahati, connecting the city to the eastern line in 1900.^[5]

During the period 1884–1889, Assam Behar State Railway linked Parbatipur, now in Bangladesh, with Katihar in Bihar. North Bengal State Railway had opened a metre-gauge line from Parbatipur and the line subsequently got extended beyond the Teesta, and through Geetaldaha to Golokganj in Assam. During the 1900–1910 period, the Eastern Bengal Railway built the Golakganj–Amingaon branch line, thus connecting the western bank of the Brahmaputra to Bihar and the rest of India.^[5] Katihar got linked to Barauni around the turn of the century.^[5][6]

Assam Link project

With the partition of India railways in Assam got delinked from those in the rest of India. Indian Railway took up the Assam Link project in 1948 to build a rail link between Fakiragram and Kishanganj. Fakiragram was connected to the Indian railway system in 1950 through the Indian portion of North Bengal with a metre-gauge track.^[5][7] The New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section was partly new construction, partly old line converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge in 1966. Broad gauge reached Guwahati in 1984.^[8][9]

Bridges

Including major & minor bridges, approx. 100 Bridges falls in Barauni-Guwahati mainline.

The construction of the 2.025 km (1.258 mi)-long Rajendra Setu near Barauni in 1959 provided the first opportunity to link the railway tracks on the north and south banks of the Ganges.^[10]

The 3.792 kilometres (2.356 mi)-long rail-cum-road bridge located at Munger 65 kilometres (40 mi) downstream of the Rajendra Setu, links Jamalpur Junction station on the Sahibganj loop line of Eastern Railway to the Barauni–Katihar section of East Central Railway.^[11]

The 1,600 m (5,200 ft)-long Kosi River Bridge at Kursela connects Barauni & Katihar.

The 2,256.25 m (7,402.4 ft)-long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges. The rail bridge was thrown open to the public in 1971, thereby linking Kolkata with North Bengal and Assam.^[5][12]

The 1,024 metres (3,360 ft)-long Teesta River bridge, the 792 metres (2,598 ft)-long Jaldhaka River bridge & the 748 metres (2,454 ft)-long Torsha River bridge connects New Jalpaiguri with New Coochbehar section of Barauni - Guwahati mainline.

The construction of the 1.495 km (0.929 mi)-long Saraighat Bridge, the first rail-cum-road bridge across the Brahmaputra, was an event of great excitement. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister formally laid the foundation stone on 10 January 1960 and it was completed in 1962, connecting the two parts of the metre-gauge railways in Assam.^[5][13]

The construction of the 2.304 km (1.432 mi)-long Naranarayan Setu in 1998 lessened the load on Saraighat Bridge. The bridge named after Coochbehar King Sri Naranarayan Koch (Rajbangsi) Maharaj falls in 182.9 km (113.6 mi) long New Bongaigaon - Goalpara Town - Guwahati Railway line. This line is the alternate railway link of 157.5 km (97.9 mi) New Bongaigaon - Rangiya - Guwahati section.

Electrification

Electrification of the 784 km (487 mi)-long Barauni–Katihar–Guwahati section was sanctioned.^[14] As of July 2021, Katihar New Srirampur Assam and Bongaigaon Kamakhya section has been electrified, and many electric passenger trains are going up to NCB.^[15]

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
2. Fida, Quazi Abul (2012). "Railway". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
3. "Report on the administration of North East India (1921-22)". p. 46. 1984. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
4. S.N.Singh; Amarendra Narain; Purnendu Kumar (January 2006). Socio Economic and Political Problems of Tea Garden Workers: A Study of Assam, Published 2006, ISBN 81-8324-098-4. ISBN 9788183240987. Retrieved 16 December 2011. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
5. R. P. Saxena. "Indian Railway History Time line". Irse.bravehost.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
6. "Indian Railways line history 2. North Eastern Railway" (PDF). Retrieved 24 January 2012.
7. . Northeast Frontier Railway. IRSE. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
8. . Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
9. "Gauge conversion project in Assam". The Hindu Business Line. 24 May 2000. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
10. . Indian Railways. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
11. . PPPNOW.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
12. Salman, Salman M. A.; Uprety, Kishor (2002). Conflict and cooperation on South Asia's international rivers: a legal perspective. World Bank Publications. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-0-8213-5352-3. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
13. (PDF). National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
14. "Electrification of 809 route Kilometers of Barauni–Katihar–Guwahati section of East Central and Northeast Frontier Railways". Press Information Bureau, 7 February 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
15. "Railway electrification project to touch North East soon". Business Standard. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2012.

|