Chitpur

Arriving at Kolkata Chitpur Terminal, and meeting soul-mate: WAP-4 Durgiana Superfast on-board

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• published: 04 Feb 2014
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Date taken: March 2013 Camcorder: SONY DCR SX45E After getting badly delayed in the bottle-neck of ER's Sealdah North (Main) division, i.e. Dum Dum Junction, 22377 HWH WAP- 4 hauled 12358 Amritsar (ASR)- Kolkata Chitpur Terminal (KOAA) Bi-Weekly DURGIANA Superfast cruises through the PSR marked Dum Dum- Kolkata Chitpur Terminal CIRCULAR Railway route amidst the countless number of shanties build precariously close to the tracks. At the beginning, you can see a double line section heading for the Chitpur Goods Yard, and the Kidderpore Docks Yard. After that, we take a massive curve, and go below the quadruple Sealdah- Dum Dum lines before finally entering Kolkata Chitpur Terminal, which is one of the cleanest stations in entire IR circuit, approx 1 hour late. And in the station, we meet our soul-mate, i.e. 12357 Kolkata Chitpur Terminal (KOAA)- Amritsar (ASR) Bi-Weekly DURGIANA Superfast, and also 13161 Kolkata Chitpur Terminal (KOAA)- Balurghat (BLGT) TEBHAGA Express, who were awaiting to get the starter. Kolkata Chitpur railway station: Kolkata Station (also known as Chitpur station) is the newest of the four terminal railway stations serving Howrah and Kolkata, India; the others are Sealdah Station, in Kolkata, Shalimar Station in Howrah and Howrah Station in Howrah. Kolkata station is situated in the Chitpur locality of north central Kolkata. The place where the station is situated was formerly a large goods yard. The present car and bus parking areas, as well as the path to the station, formed part of a coal loading yard. The present-day platforms were once used as goods lines and formed part of the large Chitpur Rail Yard. In 2000, the first plans were made to utilise this area as a railway station, since the rapid growth of long distance passengers was overcrowding the Sealdah station. Due to limitations of space, new platform construction is restricted at Sealdah. Two new platforms (9A & 9B) constructed between 2004 and 2005 proved insufficient. Due to its central position in Kolkata, the Sealdah station is too busy for suburban train traffic. To overcome this problem, Eastern Railways suggested constructing another large railway station in Kolkata, to cater mostly to long distance trains.The decision to build a terminal at Chitpur came after a lot of deliberation and a process of elimination. Different locations were suggested for the station site. Three years ago, Majerhat was suggested as a possible location. The idea was shelved owing to technical difficulties involving the construction of a bridge over the Hooghly river from Bauria to Budge Budge. Then there was Shalimar, in Howrah district, which was already a goods terminal operating under the South Eastern Railway. In fact, a passenger service on a trial basis was also started from there through two pairs of trains. But the project could not take off owing to certain problems relating to infrastructure and the considerable distance of the terminal from proper Kolkata. Chitpur was decided upon finally and approved by the Railway Ministry in 2003-04. Certain inherent advantages helped in the selection of this place. Other than being located in the heart of Kolkata, Chitpur has already functioned as an important rail yard for around a century. Moreover, unlike in the case of Majerhat and Shalimar, the huge property in and around the place belongs to the Railways. The proposal has been accepted by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), and on May 15, 2003, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee laid the foundation stone for the project. Construction started in 2004. The tracks from the coal-yard were closed first, and then a large portion of electrified goods tracks were shut down. Those tracks, masts and wires were demolished. Next, the Dum Dum- Majherhat link rail line's (Kolkata Circular Railway) track was temporarily re-aligned. This action permitted the construction of platforms, station buildings and a parking area to begin. After construction was completed, the circular rail tracks were aligned as before, now via the new station. Other tracks were re-aligned, and completely electrified for passenger coaches shunting (up to side of Tala station). Tracks in the opposite direction, which were not electrified and underutilized, were re-laid, re-aligned and fully electrified for goods trains (with wagon to lorry transfer facility). Part of the former electrified goods lines, which were closed, now entered use as a coach siding. After these, the official inauguration occurred in January 2006.