Asansol railway station

Asansol
Indian Railway Junction Station
Asansol railway station
Location	Station Road, Asansol, Bardhaman, West Bengal India
Coordinates
Elevation	96 metres (315 ft)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway
Line(s)	Bardhaman-Asansol section and Asansol-Patna section of Howrah-Delhi main line Asansol-Gaya section of Grand Chord and Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line
Platforms	7
Connections	Arrival, Departure time: 131 (manual), 133 (pre-recorded) Reservation Enquiry: +91 341 2204630
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on ground station)
Parking	Available
Bicycle facilities	Available
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	ASN
Division(s)	Asansol railway division
History
Opened	1863-64
Electrified	1957-1962
Previous names	East Indian Railway, Bengal Nagpur Railway

Asansol is a railway station in Asansol subdivision of Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It serves Asansol and the surrounding areas.

Overview

Asansol railway station nameplate

Mining-industry zone

"The entire belt between Durgapur (158 km from Howrah), and all the way up to Dhanbad and beyond is industrialized. Apart from factories, there are many coalmines, some closed now, and some with fires burning deep in the mineshafts. The mining area extends for a large area, mostly to the south of the tracks. Quite a portion of the track passes through cuttings, where the surrounding area is higher than the track level, resulting in the profusion of characteristic small masonry bridges crossing the tracks." This description is from "Gomoh loco shed and CLW trip record" by Samit Roychoudhury.

History

station platform

station platformboard

During the middle of the nineteenth century, M/s Carr, Tagore & Company transported coal from Narayankuri ghat on the Damodar River to Kolkata, then known as Calcutta. However, as the flow of water in the river was inconsistent, supplies were irregular. In order to capture the lucrative coal transport business, East Indian Railway, extended the railway track that had been laid between Kolkata and Hooghly to Raniganj in 1855 and up to Asansol in July 1863.

The East Indian Railway needed land to develop the infrastructure for the railways. While the Searsol Raj, then the zamindar in the Raniganj area, refused to provide the land, the Panchakot Raj, then functioning from Kashipur, agreed to provide the land in Shergarh, of which Asansol was then a part. In 1863-64, East Indian Railway purchased a large area of jungle land from the Panchakot Raj, thereby initiating the development of Asansol as an industrial area.

Subsequently, Asansol gained further in importance. What was later known as the Sahibganj Loop was the first line from Kolkata to Delhi and the first direct train started in 1866, but the shorter line via Asansol and Jhajha came up in 1871. It was initially called the Chord line but as it attracted more traffiic, was rechristened the main line and the earlier main line became Sahibganj loop. With the completion of the Sitarampur-Gaya-Mughalsarai Grand Chord in 1901 (formally inaugurated in 1906 and finally opened in 1907), the Kolkata-Delhi rail distance became even shorter, and Asansol started functioning as the junction station of the main and chord lines, as Sitarampur, the actual junction, near Asansol, is a comparatively smaller station.

While momentous developments were taking place in connecting Delhi and Kolkata by rail, Bengal Nagpur Railway extended its tracks to the Asansol coal belt in 1887, thus connecting Adra with Asansol.

The railway establishment at Asansol contributed substantially to its development and growth.

Electrification

Electrification of the railways gained momentum in the early fifties. Although initial installatons were with 3 kV DC traction, the railways subsequently adopted the 25 kV AC system. Electrification of the Bardhaman-Mughalsarai section was completed in 1957 and the Howrah-Gaya stretch was electrified by around 1960. The Tatanagar-Adra-Asansol section was electrified in the 1957-1962 period.

Loco shed

Asansol is home to the oldest electric loco shed of Indian Railways. It houses WAG-5 and WAM-4 WAG-7 and WAG-9 electric locomotives.

Asansol Division

Established in 1925, Asansol Division is one of the oldest divisions of Indian Railways. On the Howrah-Delhi main line, its jurisdiction extends from the distant signal of Khana junction to the distant signal of Jhajha . On the Grand Chord line its jurisdiction extends up to the distant signal of Pradhankhunta. Branch lines under its jurisdiction are: Andal-Sainthia, Andal-Tapasi-Barabani-Sitarampur, Madhupur-Giridih, Jasidih-Baidyanathdham and Jasidih-Dumka. With a total of 565 route kilometers, the division has quadruple lines (two up and two down line) from Khana to Sitarampur. It handles 100 mail/express trains daily and 212 passenger train runs per day. The number of originating passengers per day is 144,070.

Passenger movement

Asansol is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway. 152 trains (including weeklies and bi-weeklies) originate or pass through Asansol railway station. All trains except the Howrah Rajdhani and Howrah/Sealdah Duronto stop here.

Amenities

Asansol railway station has 3 double-bedded AC retiring rooms, 2 double-bedded non-AC retiring rooms and an eight-bedded dormitory.

References

Railways in the Asansol area
Legend km to Mughalsarai via Grand Chord to Mughalsarai via Main Line Sodepur coal siding 9 Sitarampur Radhanagar goods station to Andal via Barabani line Chinakuri coal siding 5 Barachak IISCO Steel Plant of SAIL to Adra / Damodar / Burnpur 0 Asansol Freight bypass to Damodar station Burnpur Airstrip 6 Kalipahari Asansol Airfield to Bardhaman

Bardhaman–Asansol section

Legend to Asansol–Gaya section, Main Line to Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line 106 Asansol Burnpur Airport / Grand Trunk Road freight bypass to Damodar Station 101 Kalipahari / Asansol Airfield Nunia River 88 Raniganj Damodar River Mejia Thermal Power Station 83 Baktarnagar Halt to Andal–Sitarampur branch line to Andal–Sainthia branch line 80 Andal / Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport Andal Marshalling Yard 74 Pinjrapol Halt DTPS 72 Waria Durgapur Steel Plant Alloy Steels Plant Raturia Angadpur industrial area Durgapur Projects Limited (DPL) 64 Durgapur Jai Balaji Industries Indian Oil Corporation depot 56 Rajbandh 48 Panagarh / Panagarh Airport NH 2 / Grand Trunk Road 38 Mankar 29 Paraj 23 Galsi 20 Ishan Chandi Halt to Sahibganj Loop 13 Khana 8 Talit to Burdwan Katwa Railway 0 Bardhaman Main line, Chord Source: Bardhaman-Asansol MEMU 63505 Railindiainfo Asansol Division System Map and Google maps

Adra–Asansol line
Legend
km to Bardhaman- Asansol section 0 Asansol to Asansol-Gaya section of Grand Chord 5 Burnpur IISCO Steel Plant (Steel Authority of India Limited) to Kalipahari (freight line) Colliery sidings 11 Damodar Damodar River 16 Madhukunda 23 Muradi Parbeliya Colliery 28 Ramkanali 33 Bero 38 Joychandi Pahar to Adra-Gomoh branch line 42 Adra to Adra-Kharagpur line to Adra-Purulia line

External links

• Trains at Asansol

Asansol travel guide from Wikivoyage

Preceding station		Indian Railways		Following station
Kalipahari		Eastern Railway zone Howrah-Delhi main line		Barachak
Terminus		South Eastern Railway zone Asansol-Tatanagar-Kharagpur line		Burnpur