Kolkata Hawrah Station

Properly organized too much crowded railway station. Maintenance is very nice. Cops and railway employees are too much helpful.

Decently maintained. Connectivity with buses is good, but if you aren't from Kolkata, it's very difficult to catch right bus

Very Busy Station . Went Last Year . Overall the place is Good

In 2000, the first plans were made to use 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[when?], 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 Kolkata proper.

Howrah Junction (station code HWH), also known as Howrah Station, is the largest railway complex in India and it is a railway station which serves Kolkata and Howrah, India. Approximately 687 passenger trains pass through the station each day requiring its 23 platforms and serving more than 1 million passengers per day with a high train handling capacity.  Howrah Junction is one of five intercity railway stations serving the city of Kolkata, the others being Sealdah, Santragachi, Shalimar, and Kolkata railway station. The station is located in Howrah on the west bank of the Hooghly River.1373 stations across India are directly connected to Howrah Railway Station.The Station is one of the largest stations in India.nnOn 17 June 1851, George Turnbull, the Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Companysubmitted plans for a railway station at Howrah. In January 1852, the government authorities decided not to purchase the land and water frontage needed for the project. However, in May 1852, Turnbull was asked to render detailed plans for the station. The station's estimated cost was 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.nnIn 1901, a new station building was proposed due to increased demand for rail travel. The British architect Halsey Ricardo designed the new station. It was opened to the public on 1 December 1905. This is the current Howrah station building including 15 platform tracks.nnIn 1969, the first Rajdhani Express left Howrah Junction for New Delhi.nnIn the 1980s, the station was expanded including 8 new platform tracks on the south side of the station.On the other hand, the opening of the bridge over the Rupnarayan River at Kolaghat, on 19 April 1900, connected Howrah with Kharagpur. At the same time, a new Yatri Niwas (transit passenger facility) was built south of the original station frontage.nnUntil 1992, there was a tram terminus at Howrah station. Trams departed for Rajabazar, Sealdah Station, High Court, Dalhousie Square, Park Circus and Shyambazar. Trams also departed for Bandhaghat and Shibpur. The 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.nnIn October 2011, India's first double-decker train left Howrah for Dhanbad.nnNorth of the station there is a railway museum displaying artefacts of historical importance related to the development of Eastern Railway. For many years the Fairy Queen, the world's oldest operational steam locomotive, was displayed on a plinth inside the station.