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Asansol Junction railway station

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ASANSOL JUNCTION
আসানসোল জংশন
Indian Railways junction station
Entrance view of Asansol Junction railway station
General information
LocationStation Road, Asansol, Paschim Bardhaman district, West Bengal
 India
Coordinates23°41′29″N 86°58′29″E / 23.69131°N 86.974792°E / 23.69131; 86.974792
Elevation96 metres (315 ft)
Owned byIndian Railways
Operated byEastern Railways
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
Platforms7
Tracks11
ConnectionsAuto stand, bus stand, cab zone
Construction
Structure typeStandard (on-ground station)
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleDisabled access
Other information
StatusActive
Station codeASN[1]
Zone(s) Eastern Railway zone
Division(s) Asansol
ClassificationNSG-2
History
Opened1864; 160 years ago (1864)
Electrified1957–1962
Previous namesEast Indian Railway
Location
Asansol Junction is located in West Bengal
Asansol Junction
Asansol Junction
Location within West Bengal
Map
Interactive map

Asansol Junction (station code: ASN) is a railway station of Eastern Railway in Asansol of Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The station is on the Howrah–Delhi main line. It is the 8th busiest railway station in India in terms of frequency of trains after Kanpur Central, Vijayawada Junction, Delhi Junction, New Delhi, Ambala Cant, Howrah and Patna Junction.[citation needed] Around 171 trains pass through the station daily. It serves Asansol and the surrounding areas.

View of Asansol railway junction
Entrance gate of Asansol Railway Junction

Overview

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Mining-industry zone

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"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. 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.[9]

History

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During the middle of the nineteenth century, Carr, Tagore and 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.[10][11][12]

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.[11][12]

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 traffic, was rechristened the main line and the earlier main line became Sahibganj loop. With the completion of the SitarampurGayaMughalsarai 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.[12][13]

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.[10]

The railway establishment at Asansol contributed substantially to its development and growth.[11]

Electrification

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Electrification of the railways gained momentum in the early fifties. Although initial installations 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.[14] The Tatanagar–Adra–Asansol section was electrified in the 1957–1962 period.[15]

Locomotive shed

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Asansol Electric Loco Shed is home to the oldest electric locomotive shed of Indian Railways. It houses WAP-4, WAG-5, WAM-4 and WAG-7.[16]

Asansol Division

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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.[17]

Passenger movement

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Asansol is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.[18] 228 trains (including weeklies and bi-weeklies) originate or pass through Asansol railway station.[19] All trains including Sealdah Rajdhani, Howrah Rajdhani, Howrah Duronto, Sealdah Humsafar Express and Shalimar Duronto stops at Asansol Junction except 12259/60 Sealdah - Bikaner Duronto Express and 12305/06 Howrah - New Delhi Rajdhani Express. Halt of 12301/02 Howrah - New Delhi Rajdhani Express was provided at Asansol Jn on request of politician Babul Supriyo in May 2018.

Amenities

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Asansol railway station has three double-bedded AC retiring rooms, two double-bedded non-AC retiring rooms and an eight-bedded dormitory. Escalators are present at platforms no. 2 and 7.[20] WiFi service is available here. A food plaza in the station premises is open 24/7. It also has an air-conditioned premium lounge for upscale passengers.

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References

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  1. ^ "Indian railway codes". Indian Railways. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Asansol Division Railway Map". Eastern Railway.
  3. ^ "Adra Division Railway Map". South Eastern Railway.
  4. ^ "Bardhaman-Asansol MEMU 63505". India Rail Info.
  5. ^ "Asansol Division System Map". Eastern Railway. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016.
  6. ^ "South Eastern Railway Pink Book 2017-18" (PDF). Indian Railways Pink Book.
  7. ^ "Asansol Division Railway Map". Eastern Railway.
  8. ^ "Adra Division Railway Map". South Eastern Railway.
  9. ^ "Gomoh loco shed and CLW trip record". Indian Railway Reports. IRFCA.
  10. ^ a b "The Chronology of Railway Development in Eastern India". railindia. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  11. ^ a b c "Asansol". railindia. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  12. ^ a b c "Indian Railway History Timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  13. ^ "Hazaribagh District (1918)". IRFCA. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  14. ^ "Electric Traction – I". IRFCA (Indian Railways Fan Club). Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  15. ^ Ghose, Arabinda. "Platinum Jubilee of Railway Electrification in India". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  16. ^ "Sheds and Workshops". IRFCA. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  17. ^ "Eastern Railway". Asansol Division. Eastern Railway. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  18. ^ "Indian Railways Passenger Reservation Enquiry". Availability in trains for Top 100 Booking Stations of Indian Railways. IRFCA. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  19. ^ "Trains at Asansol Junction". IRFCA. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  20. ^ "Retiring Room Details". Eastern Railway. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
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Asansol travel guide from Wikivoyage

Preceding station Indian Railways Following station
Kalipahari Eastern Railway zone Barachak
towards New Delhi
Terminus South Eastern Railway zone Burnpur