The first Railway establishment at Kharagpur started with the commissioning of the rail link between Cuttack – Balasore – Kharagpur and from
Sini to Kolaghat via Kharagpur. Kharagpur as a junction station was established in Railway map in December 1898. The public mood and the
reaction of society on introduction of rail transport in this region has been nicely depicted by the famous Bengali Novelist Dr Ramapada
Choudhury who was born and brought up in Kharagpur, in his Bengali novel Prothom Prohor. It is said that the people were initially afraid to
travel by train for the fear of accident over the bridge (fear of collapsing of bridge), fear of getting outcaste status since there were no
separate seating arrangement for different castes and religions. However, things changed due to famines in the early 20th century. The Railway
Company came forward and offered jobs to the local unemployed men, gave them free ride by train and even offered a blanket for traveling by
train. This promotional scheme broke the taboos and made rail transport acceptable to the society.
Midnapur, the District Headquarters was connected (up to the bank of Kosai river) in February 1900. Construction of the bridge over Kosai
completed in June 1901. The rail line from Howrah to Kolaghat up to the Eastern bank and from Kharagpur up to Western bank of Rupnarayan River
was completed in 1899. However through trains between Howrah and Kharagpur could only be possible in April 1900 after the bridge over
Rupnarayan river was completed.
Howrah – Amta light Railway (2 ft gauge - 610 mm ) line was completed in 1898 and was operated by M/s Martin & Co. of Calcutta. This link
remained operative till 1971. After closure of the light Railways, demand for a broad gauge line between Howrah and Amta gained momentum. The
project got completed in four phases. In the first phase, the line between Santragachi and Domjur was completed in 1984. In the 2nd phase under
Project Unigauge it got extended up to Bargachia in 1985. Extension up to Mushirhat (Mahendralal Nagar station) was completed in 2000 and the
final lap up to Amta got completed in December 2004
Sini to Kolaghat via Kharagpur. Kharagpur as a junction station was established in Railway map in December 1898. The public mood and the
reaction of society on introduction of rail transport in this region has been nicely depicted by the famous Bengali Novelist Dr Ramapada
Choudhury who was born and brought up in Kharagpur, in his Bengali novel Prothom Prohor. It is said that the people were initially afraid to
travel by train for the fear of accident over the bridge (fear of collapsing of bridge), fear of getting outcaste status since there were no
separate seating arrangement for different castes and religions. However, things changed due to famines in the early 20th century. The Railway
Company came forward and offered jobs to the local unemployed men, gave them free ride by train and even offered a blanket for traveling by
train. This promotional scheme broke the taboos and made rail transport acceptable to the society.
Midnapur, the District Headquarters was connected (up to the bank of Kosai river) in February 1900. Construction of the bridge over Kosai
completed in June 1901. The rail line from Howrah to Kolaghat up to the Eastern bank and from Kharagpur up to Western bank of Rupnarayan River
was completed in 1899. However through trains between Howrah and Kharagpur could only be possible in April 1900 after the bridge over
Rupnarayan river was completed.
Howrah – Amta light Railway (2 ft gauge - 610 mm ) line was completed in 1898 and was operated by M/s Martin & Co. of Calcutta. This link
remained operative till 1971. After closure of the light Railways, demand for a broad gauge line between Howrah and Amta gained momentum. The
project got completed in four phases. In the first phase, the line between Santragachi and Domjur was completed in 1984. In the 2nd phase under
Project Unigauge it got extended up to Bargachia in 1985. Extension up to Mushirhat (Mahendralal Nagar station) was completed in 2000 and the
final lap up to Amta got completed in December 2004
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