The first public train from the station was on 15 August 1854, on what is now the Howrah – Hooghly Main Line. At present, about 600 passenger trains pass through the station, serving more than 1 million passengers a day. Utilising its 23 platforms, the station handles a total of 252 Mail/Express trains and 500 suburban EMU trains daily; ten of the platforms are long enough to cater to trains with more than 24 coaches. Goods and parcel trains also originate and terminate here. The Howrah–Barddhaman main line is the busiest line that connects this station.
History
In 1849, a contract was signed between the East Indian Railway Company and East India Company and an initial amount allocated for the first section between Howrah and Raneegunge (Raniganj) via Pandooah (Pandua, Hooghly) and Burdwan (Bardhaman). Frederick Walter Simms, the consulting engineer to Government of India, initially envisaged a station on the right side of Hooghly in 1846. However following the fund sanctioning, Howrah was chosen as the location of the terminus for the new line. A bridge across the Hooghly River, a span of 1,700 feet (520 m) at the concerned stretch, was unfeasible at that time. In the coming years, the question of connecting the rail line to Calcutta was discussed frequently.
On 17 June 1851, George Turnbull, the Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Company and his team of engineers submitted plans for a railway station at Howrah. Not realizing the future importance of railways in the country, the government authorities decided not to purchase the land and expensive water front needed for the project in January, 1852. Turnbull then developed alternative development plans that estimated the cost at 250,000 rupees. In October 1852, four tenders for the building of the station were received: they varied from 190,000 to 274,526 rupees. The size of the construction project - of whether Howrah should be a large station or Howrah be a smaller station in favour of a larger station being developed at another time - was debated from time to time during this process. Eventually land was bought.
The first experimental locomotive left Howrah on 18 June 1853 for the 37.5 miles to Pandoah. There was a gap between laying the line and opening it up since the ship carrying the carriages sank while the locomotive ended up in Australia. Eventually the carriages were built locally and the locomotive was directed to Calcutta. The first public departure from Howrah for the 23.5 miles to Hooghly was on 15 August 1854. During this period, the station was located at what is now the office of the divisional railway manager of Howrah. It consisted of one line and platform, a ticket window and a supporting building. Two weeks later the line to Pundoah was opened. In the first 4 months, over 109,000 passengers used the service. The locomotive was of the same type as the Fairy Queen.
Indians on their way to European colonies in the early 1800s came through the Howrah Station.
The increase of residents in the region around Howrah and Kolkata and the booming economy lead to an increasing demand for rail travel. Also, the rail network kept on growing continuously, e.g. was the bridge over the Rupnarayan River at Kolaghat completed on 19 April 1900 and connected Howrah with Kharagpur. The Bengal-Nagpur Railway was extended to Howrah in 1900, thus making Howrah an important railway centre. So in 1901, a new station building was proposed. The British architect Halsey Ricardo designed the new station. It was opened to the public on 1 December 1905, and completed by 1911.
In the 1980s, the station was expanded to 15 platforms. At the same time, a new Yatri Niwas (transit passenger facility) was built south of the original station frontage.
The new terminal complex was finished in 1992, creating a total of 19 platforms. This was extended by a further four platforms in 2009.
The book Vibrant Edifice: The Saga of Howrah Station by Eastern Railways was released in 2005. This was written to celebrate the centenary of the building.
Tram terminus, Howrah
Until 1992, there was a tram terminus at Howrah Station. Trams departed for Sealdah Station, Rajabazar, Shyambazar, High Court, Dalhousie Square, Park Circus, Ballygunge, Tollygunge etc. Trams also departed for Bandhaghat and Shibpur. The tram terminus was partially closed in 1971 while the Bandhaghat and Shibpur lines were closed. Many unauthorized vehicles and pedestrians began to traverse the tram tracks and so the routes were not continued. The terminus station was converted to underpasses and a bus terminus. The part of the tram terminus for other routes continued to function until 1992, when the Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) was declared unfit to carry trams because it was a cantilever bridge.
Heritage museum
The nearby Rail Museum, Howrah was opened in 2006, and contains a section dedicated to the heritage and history of Howrah railway station. The railway museum, located south of the station, displays artefacts of historical importance related to the development of Eastern Railway. From 1909 to 1943 the Fairy Queen, the world's oldest operational steam locomotive, was displayed on a plinth inside the station.
The Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway sections are connected by two links. One is the Lilua–Tikiapara link and the other is the Rajchandrapur–Dankuni–Mourigram link. They are used by goods trains and the Sealdah–Puri Duronto Express avoiding Howrah.
Four major rail routes end at Howrah. They are the Howrah–Delhi, Howrah–Mumbai, Howrah–Chennai and Howrah–Guwahati routes.
The station is the divisional headquarters for the Eastern Railway.
The station has 23 platforms. Platforms 1 to 16 are located in the old complex, referred to as "Terminal 1". It serves the local and long-distance trains of Eastern Railway and local trains of South Eastern Railway. Platforms 17 to 23 are in the new complex, referred to as "Terminal 2". It serves the long-distance trains of South Eastern Railway. Currently Platform No. 8 in "Terminal 1" is the longest in Howrah Station at 961 metres (3,153 ft), followed by Platform No. 21 in "Terminal 2" which is 930.25 metres (3,052.0 ft) long & Current Platform No. 1 "Terminal 1" in which is 916 metres (3,005 ft) long. Work is going on at Platform No. 1 far end to link the 380 metres (1,250 ft) long Goods Train Platform under Bankim Setu, which is slated to be completed by October 2023. Once completed Platform No. 1 of Howrah Station "Terminal 1" will measure a staggering 1,296 metres (4,252 ft) in length & become the 3rd Longest railway Platform in India & in the World.
There is a large covered waiting area between the main complex and the platforms and other areas for passengers awaiting connecting trains. Free wifi is present at the station. In addition, there is a transit passenger facility with dormitory, single-room and double-room accommodation. First-class passengers wait in an air-conditioned area with balcony views of the Kolkata Skyline and the Howrah Bridge.
The station platforms have carriageways for motor vehicles within the complex including two carriageways to platforms 8 and 9 for Eastern Railway and to platforms 21 and 22 for South Eastern Railway. Flyovers at the ends of the platforms allow motor vehicles to exit the complex quickly.
Sampath Rail Yatri Niwas and Regional Rail Museum are a part of "Terminal 2" Howrah station complex.
The station has a diesel-locomotive shed with room for 84 locomotives. The electric-locomotive shed has room for 96 locomotives. There is also an electric-trip shed with the capacity to hold up to 20 locomotives. The sheds accommodate 175+ WAP-4, WAP-5, and WAP-7 locomotives. The EMU car shed has over 15 parking slots. The station has a coach maintenance complex.
Howrah station has an underground station, which in turn, is a part of Line 2 of the Kolkata Metro serves the area. It will be the deepest station on the East-West Metro line of the Kolkata Metro and also the deepest in the country. To the east, the station connects to Mahakaran station in Kolkata through India's biggest under-river metro tunnel beneath the Hooghly river; whilst to the west the adjacent station is Howrah Maidan. The station was opened to the public on 15th March 2024.
^ George Turnbull, C. E . pages 110, 121, 122, 125 and 127 of the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007
^Hill, Arthur H. (September 1919). "Emigration from India". Timehri: The Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana. 6: 50–51 – via Internet Archive.
Khosla, GS (1988). A History of the Indian Railways. New Delhi: Ministry of Railways (Railways Board) and Y. P. Chopra of A H Wheeler & Co. – via Internet Archive.
Further reading
Vibrant Edifice: The Saga of Howrah Station. Eastern Railway. 2005.
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