The Andal–Sainthia branch line is a railway line connecting

Andal Andal (ISO 15919: Āṇḍāḷ), also known as Godhai, Nachiyar, and Godha Devi, is the only female Alvars, Alvar. (Orthodoxy posits the number of Alvars as ten, though there are other references that include Andal and Madhurakavi Alvar, ...

on the Bardhaman–Asansol section of the Howrah–Delhi main line and Sainthia Junction on the Sahibganj loop. This track is under the jurisdiction of Eastern Railway. This track passes through the north-eastern part of the

Raniganj Coalfield Raniganj Coalfield is primarily located in the Asansol and Durgapur subdivisions of Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal. It spreads over to the neighboring districts of Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia and to Dhanbad district of Jharkhand. Mainl ...

Bardhaman district Bardhaman (, ), or sometimes Burdwan and Barddhaman, is a former district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Bardhaman. On 7 April 2017, the district was bifurcated into two separate districts namely Purba Bardhaman and Pas ...

and the western part of

Birbhum district Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impo ...

in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. This track serves

Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited is a power station with an installed capacity of 1050 MW (5x210 MW) and it is proposed for capacity expansion of another 500 MW. Location Bakreshwar Thermal P ...

History

The Andal–Sainthia branch line was built in 1913.

Branch lines

There are two branch lines in this section. The first is the Andal–Barabani–Sitarampur section. The other is the Bhimgara–Palasthali branch line. Service on this line was suspended for safety reasons. The track became unfit because of unauthorized mining under the track.

Electrification

Electrification of Andal–Pandabeshwar section was completed in 2010–11. Electrification of the Pandabeshwar-Sainthia section was sanctioned in the rail budget for 2011–12, which is expected to be completed until 2013 and completed in 2016.

References

, {{DEFAULTSORT:Andal-Sainthia branch line 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in West Bengal 1913 establishments in India Railway lines opened in 1913 Transport in Birbhum district Transport in Paschim Bardhaman district