The Barauni–Katihar section of the Barauni–Guwahati line connects

Barauni Barauni is an industrial town situated on the bank of the river Ganges in the Begusarai district in the state of Bihar, India. It lies north of the Ganges (Ganga) River. Economy Industries Major industrial plants in Barauni include: * B ...

and

Katihar Katihar (; ), is the tenth largest city in the state of Bihar in India in terms of population, Along with being one of the largest economic, educational and administrative centre in the eastern part of Bihar. The city situated in the eastern ...

in the Indian state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

History

Early developments

Railway development on the northern side of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

in Bihar came up soon after the opening of the Howrah–Delhi main line on the southern side of the Ganges in 1866. Several railway companies were involved

East Indian Railway The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Baroda ...

, Assam Behar State Railway, and Tirhut State Railway. In his book ''The Indian Empire, Its People, History and Products'' (first published in 1886) W.W.Hunter, says "The Tirhut State Railway with its various branches intersects Northern Behar and is intended to extend to the Nepal frontier on one side and to Assam on the other." However, early developments appear to be scattered. EIR built the

– Kasba and Katihar– Manihari lines in 1887. Assam Behar State Railway built the Parbatipur–Katihar line (see Barsoi–Parbatipur line) in 1889, thereby linking Assam and parts of

North Bengal North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...

with Bihar. Tirhoot State Railway built some longer lines such as

Samastipur Samastipur is a City and Municipal Corporation in Bihar, India. It is the headquarter of Samastipur district and comes under Darbhanga division. The Burhi Gandak River flows through the city. It is one of the five railway divisions of ECR, H ...

– Khagaria, and added branch lines such as the 7 miles long

–Semaria Ghat in 1883, the 11 miles long Thana Bihpur to Bararighat in 1901 and Khagaria to Hasanpur Road in 1915. Most of these early metre-gauge lines got interconnected in subsequent years.

Bridge links

The construction of the long

Rajendra Setu Rajendra Setu, or Simaria Bridge, is a bridge across the Ganges that was the first to link the northern and southern portions of the state of Bihar. The location of the bridge was based on the work of M. Visvesvaraya, who was more than 90 years ...

in 1959 provided the first opportunity to link the railway tracks on the north and south banks of the

. The long rail-cum-road bridge located at

Munger Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern ...

55 km downstream of the

, now under construction, will link Jamalpur station on the

Sahibganj loop The Sahibganj loop is a railway line connecting Khana Junction and Kiul Junction. Originally a part of the Howrah–Delhi main line, it was opened to traffic in 1866. With the construction of a shorter railway line for a part of the route, th ...

line of Eastern Railway to the Barauni–Katihar section of East Central Railway.

Railway reorganization

The Avadh–Tirhut Railway (successor to Tirhut State Railway) was merged with Assam Railway (successor to

Eastern Bengal Railway The Eastern Bengal Railway (full name: "Eastern Bengal Railway Company"; shortened EBR) was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated from 1857 to 1942, in the Bengal and Assam provinces of British India (now part of Bangladesh Railw ...

and

Assam Bengal Railway The Assam Bengal Railway (ABR) was one of the pioneering railway companies in British Raj, British India. Central Railway Building, Headquartered in Chittagong, it functioned from 1892 to 1942. History Assam Bengal Railway was incorporated in ...

) in 1952 to create North Eastern Railway.

Northeast Frontier Railway The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across N ...

was carved out of North Eastern Railway in 1958. East Central Railway was constituted in 2002 with the Sonpur and Samastipur Divisions of North Eastern Railway, and Danapur, Mughalsarai and Dhanbad Divisions of Eastern Railway.

Gallery

Locale

The entire track lies on the northern side of the

and traverses the Kosi basin. In Bihar, the

Kosi KOSI (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Denver, Colorado. KOSI is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International and airs an adult contemporary music format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. ...

is widely referred to as the "Sorrow of Bihar" as it has caused widespread human suffering over the centuries through flooding and frequent changes in course. Over the last 250 years, the Kosi has shifted its course over from east to west. In August 2008, it picked up an old channel it had abandoned over a century ago near the Nepal–India border, and caused enormous damage in a wide area covering several districts. The breach in the Kosi embankment which caused the devastating flood in 2008, was repaired in 2009 and the river has since been flowing along its original course. The floods continue and threaten even the Barauni–Katihar tracks. The entire region portrays "a bleak picture of broken houses, flattened fields and ravaged lives, signs of all the havoc the previous floods and land erosion wreaked here earlier."

Gauge conversion

Gauge conversion work (from metre gauge to broad gauge) in the Barauni–Katihar section was taken up in 1978–79 and completed in 1982.

Electrification

Electrification of the long Barauni–Katihar–Guwahati section was sanctioned in 2008. As of 2011, work on electrification of Barabanki–Gorakhpur–Barauni–New Jalpaiguri route was in progress. Adequate funds have been provided in the budget for 2011–12 to take up work in the New Jalapiguri–New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section. The section is fully electrified. Most of the Delhi and Amritsar-bound trains run on electric locomotives. Amrapali Express was the first train to run on electric locomotive, then after

Rajdhani Express The Rajdhani Express () is a series of passenger train services in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capitals or the largest cities of various states. ''Rajdhani'', derived from the Sanskrit m ...

, North-east Express, Purvottar Sampark Kranti Express, Seemanchal Express, Tripura Sundari Express have electric engines.

References

External links

Trains at Barauni

Trains at Katihar
, {{DEFAULTSORT:Barauni - Katihar section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Railway lines in Bihar Transport in Katihar Transport in Barauni