Barsoi–New Farakka section

Barsoi–New Farakka section (including Old Malda-Singhabad branch line)
New Farakka Junction is an important railway station on Barsoi–New Farakka section
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	West Bengal, Jharkhand
Termini	Barsoi New Farakka
Stations	29
Service
System	Electrified
Operator(s)	Eastern Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway
History
Opened	1963
Technical
Line length	126 km (78 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Old gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Operating speed	up to 110 km/h (68 mph)
Route map Legend km Katihar–Siliguri line Barsoi–Radhikapur line 127 Barsoi 122 Mukuria Katihar–Siliguri line 117 Bhawanipur Bihar Halt 113 Azamnagar Road 108 Kamalpur Halt 105 Khurial 102 Babhangaon Halt Bihar West Bengal border Katihar–Siliguri line 98 Kumedpur Junction 91 Harischandrapur 86 Milangarh 81 Bhaluka Road 77 Malahar 71 Samsi 67 Sripur Halt 62 Kumarganj 58 Mahananda Bridge Mahananda River Eklakhi–Balurghat branch line 55 Eklakhi 48 Adina 41 0 Old Malda Junction 5 Malda Court 13 Mochia 15 Bulbulchandi 25 Singhabad India Bangladesh border Rohanpur Old Malda–Abdulpur line Mahananda River 35 Malda Town NH 81 27 Gour Malda 21 Jamirghata 14 Khaltipur 6 Chamagram Farakka Barrage across Ganges 0 New Farakka Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop km Source: India Rail Info[1]

The Barsoi–New Farakka section is an Indian railway line connecting Barsoi with New Farakka junction on the Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line. This 126-kilometre (78 mi) track is under the jurisdiction of Eastern Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway.

With the partition of India in 1947, a major portion of the Calcutta–Siliguri line ran through East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. With several rail links in Bihar, the attention was on those links, and new links were developed. However, one hurdle stood out. There was no bridge across the Ganga river even in Bihar. A generally acceptable route to Siliguri was via Sahibganj loop to Sakrigali ghat. Across the Ganges by ferry to Manihari Ghat. Then metre gauge via Katihar and Barsoi to Kishanganj and finally narrow gauge to Sliguri.^[2] In 1949 Kishanganj-Siliguri section was converted to metre gauge.

In the early 1960s, when Farakka Barrage was being constructed, a far reaching change was made. Indian Railways constructed a new broad-gauge rail link from south Bengal. New Jalpaiguri, a new broad-gauge station was built south of Siliguri Town. While a 10 km (6 mi) new line was built from Tildanga station in the B.B loop line to Farakka Ghat on the south bank of Ganges by 1958, a 37 km (23 mi) long 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) wide 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge new line was constructed from Khejuria Ghat (near present-day Chamagram station), on the north bank of the Ganga to Malda Town by 1961. This Kumedpur-Barsoi section was built in 1959. The entire section from Barsoi to Khejuriaghat was completed and connected by 1962. Steamer services connected the north and south banks of the river thereby linking North & South Bengal^[3]

The 2,240 m (7,350 ft) long Farakka Barrage, which carries a Rail-cum-Road bridge across the Ganges was opened in 1971 thereby directly linking the Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop to Malda Town, New Jalpaiguri and other railway stations in North Bengal.^[4] Consequently, Tildanga-Farakka Ghat & Chamagram-Khejuria Ghat lines were dismantled. The current Rail-cum-Road bridge will be made solely a Railway bridge for New Farakka-Malda Town 3rd Line construction. A new Road bridge on NH 12 is being made at Farakka, which will span 2,401 m (7,877 ft) across the river.

The Old Malda–Abdulpur section is used up to Singhabad on the Indian side. Bangladesh started export of fertilizer to Nepal utilizing the Rohanpur–Singhabad transit point in November 2011.^[5]