Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line

Railway route in India

Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line

New Cooch Behar Junction is an important railway station at Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line

Overview
Status| Operational
Owner| Indian Railways
Locale| West Bengal
Termini|

* Alipurduar Junction
* Bamanhat

Service
Type| Rail line
Operator(s)| Northeast Frontier Railway
History
Opened| 1894 onwards
Technical
Track length| 72 km
Track gauge| 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Old gauge| Narrow gauge 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) (1894–1910)
Metre gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) (1910–2007)
Electrification| Yes
Operating speed| 100 Km/Hr

Route map

Legend

|  |  |

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New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line

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| Alipurduar Junction
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New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala line

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| Alipurduar Court
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| Alipurduar
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Kaljani River

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| Baneswar
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New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section

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New Cooch Behar–Changrabandha line

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| New Cooch Behar Junction
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New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section

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New Cooch Behar–Golokganj line

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| Cooch Behar
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Torsa River

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| Dewan Hat
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| Bhetaguri
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| Dinhata College Halt
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| Dinhata
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| Falimari
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closed MG section

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| Gitaldaha Junction
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| Gitaldaha Ghat
|  |

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| India

Bangladesh
border ( broken bridge

over Dharla River

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| Mogalhat
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Lalmonirhat–Parbatipur line

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| New Gitaldaha
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| Abutara Halt
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| Bamanhat
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closed MG section

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| India

Bangladesh
border

|  |

| Bhurungamari
|  |

| Pateswari
|  |

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Dudhkumor River

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| Sonahat
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| Bangladesh

India
border

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Dudhkumor River

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closed MG section

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New Cooch Behar–Golokganj line

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| Golokganj
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to Fakiragram

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to Dhubri & Jogighopa

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|  |  |  |  |  |

The Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line is an Indian railway line connecting Alipurduar Junction with Bamanhat. This 72-kilometre (45 mi) track is under the jurisdiction of Northeast Frontier Railway.

## History

[edit]

### Cooch Behar State Railway

[edit]

The Cooch Behar State Railway (CBSR) was a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge railway line that was built between Jayanti in the current Alipurduar district of West Bengal, India to Lalmonirhat in the current Lalmonirhat district in Bangladesh before partition between 1893 and 1898. The line originated from Jayanti near the foothills of Eastern Himalayas and went via Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Dinhata and Gitaldaha to finally join the narrow-gauge track of Kaunia–Dharlla State Railway at Mogalhat. This line was later brought by Eastern Bengal Railway in 1899.[1]

### Eastern Bengal Railway

[edit]

The Kaunia–Dharlla State Railway was constructed as a narrow-gauge line from Teesta railway junction to Mogalhat in 1882 by Eastern Bengal Railway. As a part of linking with the 581 kilometres (361 mi) long Katihar–Raiganj–Dinajpur–Parbatipur–Rangpur–Kaunia main metre-gauge line the Kaunia–Mogalhat–Gitaldaha NG section was converted to metre gauge from 1901 to 1902. The 25.27 kilometres (15.70 mi) long Gitaldaha-Golakganj section was built as a part of the main metre-gauge line in 1902 via Bamanhat & Sonahat. This metre-gauge line was further extended to Amingaon via Fakiragram & Kokrajhar in 1906. The Jayanti–Gitaldaha junction section was converted to metre gauge in 1910.[2]

### Post Partition

[edit]

With the partition of India in 1947, the Assam links to Bengal were snapped. Further the Gitaldaha–Mogalhat rail transit point became defunct as floods washed away the railway bridge over Dharla River. The 72 kilometres (45 mi) Alipurduar–Bamanhat section and the 47.7 kilometres (29.6 mi) Fakiragram-Golakganj section were cut off as well and became isolated metre gauge sections. As a part of the Assam Link project a 301.8 kilometres (187.5 mi) line was constructed between Kishanganj and Fakiragram in 1948. Thus these 2 sections became branch lines. Fakiragram was connected with a new 57.6 kilometres (35.8 mi) line via Boxirhat to New Coochbehar in 2010-12.

## Gauge conversion

[edit]

The Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line was converted from metre gauge to broad gauge and was reopened to public in 2007.[3] A new station called the New Gitaldaha station was built to be used instead of the old Gitaldaha junction. The Fakiragram–Golakganj–Dhubri section was converted from metre gauge to broad gauge during 2010. Golakgunj was linked with New Cooch Behar with a new line in 2012 as a part of the New Maynaguri-Jogighopa project.[4][5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Cooch Behar State Railway".
2. ^ "Eastern Bengal Railway main line".
3. ^ Srivastava, V.P. "Role of Engineering Deptt in Meeting Corporate Objectives of Indian Railways" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
4. ^ "NFR project as of October 31 2017" (PDF). North East Frontier Railway. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
5. ^ "Mamata flags off two trains- Dhubri-Kamakhya link after 22-year wait". The Telegraph. 14 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2011.

* v
* t
* e

Railways in Eastern India

National network/
trunk lines|

* Barauni–Guwahati line
* Grand Chord
* Howrah–Chennai main line
* Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line
* Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line
* Howrah–New Delhi main line
* Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line
* Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line
* Sahibganj loop

Other lines/sections|

| Interstate|

* Asansol–Gaya section
* Asansol–Patna section
* Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line
* Barauni–Gorakhpur, Raxaul and Jainagar lines
* Barkakana–Son Nagar line
* Barsoi–New Farakka section
* Barsoi–Radhikapur branch line
* Dumka–Bhagalpur line
* Gaya–Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction section
* Hatia–Rourkela line
* Jasidih–Dumka–Rampurhat line
* Jharsuguda–Vizianagaram line
* Katihar–Siliguri line
* Kharagpur–Puri line
* Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section
* Kothavalasa–Kirandul line
* New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line
* New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section
* Tatanagar–Bilaspur section

|

Bihar|

* Bakhtiyarpur–Tilaiya line
* Barauni–Katihar section
* Barauni–Samastipur section
* Fatuha–Tilaiya line
* Gaya–Kiul line
* Mokama–Barauni section
* Muzaffarpur–Gorakhpur line (via Hajipur, Raxaul and Sitamarhi)
* Muzaffarpur–Gorakhpur main line
* Muzaffarpur–Sitamarhi section
* Muzaffarpur–Hajipur section
* Narkatiaganj–Bhikhna Thori branch line
* Neora–Daniyawan–Bihar Sharif–Sheikhpura line
* Patna–Gaya line
* Patna–Mughalsarai section
* Patna–Sonepur–Hajipur section
* Raxaul–Sagauli line
* Samastipur–Muzaffarpur section

Jharkhand|

* Barkakana–Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh line
* Barkakana–Muri–Chandil line
* Dhanbad–Chandrapura line
* Railways in Jharia Coalfield
* Koderma–Hazaribagh–Barkakana–Ranchi line
* Madhupur–Giridih–Koderma line
* Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh–Hatia line

Odisha|

* Khurda Road–Bolangir line
* Cuttack–Sambalpur line

West Bengal|

* Ahmadpur–Katwa line
* Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line
* Andal–Sainthia branch line
* Andal–Sitarampur loop line
* Bandel–Katwa line
* Bankura–Masagram line
* Bardhaman–Asansol section
* Bardhaman–Katwa line
* Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop
* Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
* Eklakhi–Balurghat branch line
* Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line
* Howrah–Barddhaman main line
* Howrah–Bardhaman chord
* Howrah–Kharagpur line
* Kharagpur–Bankura–Adra line
* New Mal–Changrabandha–New Cooch Behar line
* Santragachi–Amta branch line
* Sealdah Main and North section
* Calcutta Chord link line
* Kolkata Circular Railway
* Sealdah–Bangaon line
* Sealdah–Ranaghat–Gede line
* Ranaghat–Krishnanagar City–Lalgola line
* Sealdah South section
* Sheoraphuli–Bishnupur branch line

Suburban
rail transport|

* Kolkata Metro
* Kolkata Suburban Railway
* Kolkata Circular Railway

Monorail|

* Kolkata Monorail
* Patna Monorail

Defunct lines|

| Revived/
Under revival|

* Ahmedpur–Katwa Railway
* Bankura–Damodar Railway
* Barasat–Basirhat Light Railway
* Burdwan–Katwa Railway
* Bakhtiarpur–Bihar Light Railway
* Futwah–Islampur Light Railway

|

Inactive|

* Bengal Provincial Railway
* East Coast State Railway
* Kalighat Falta Railway
* Mayurbhanj State Railway
* Dehri Rohtas Light Railway
* Patna–Digha Ghat line
* Parlakimedi Light Railway

Zones & Divisions|

| Eastern|

* Asansol
* Howrah
* Malda
* Sealdah

|

East Central|

* Danapur
* Dhanbad
* Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
* Samastipur
* Sonpur

East Coast|

* Sambalpur
* Khurda Road
* Waltair

North Eastern|

* Varanasi

Northeast Frontier|

* Katihar
* Alipurduar

South Eastern|

* Adra
* Chakradharpur
* Kharagpur
* Ranchi

Production units/
workshops|

* Chittaranjan Locomotive Works
* Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam
* Braithwaite & Co.
* Burn Standard Company Limited
* Bharat Wagon and Engineering
* Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company
* Carriage Repair Workshop, Harnaut

Transit points
with Bangladesh|

| Active|

* Haldibari–Chilahati
* Singhabad–Rohanpur
* Radhikapur–Biral
* Gede–Darshana
* Petrapole–Benapole

|

Defunct|

* Mahisasan–Shahbajpur
* Changrabandha–Burimari
* New Gitaldaha–Mogalhat

Indian railheads
near India–Nepal border|

* Raxaul Junction
* Bairgania
* Jaynagar
* Jogbani
* Laukaha Bazar
* Thakurganj

Railway companies|

* East Indian Railway Company
* Bengal Nagpur Railway
* Indian Branch Railway Company
* Indian Railways
* Martin's Light Railways

See also|

* Bholu (mascot)
* Suburban rail in India

* v
* t
* e

Railways in North-East India

National network/
trunk lines|

* Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line
* Barauni–Guwahati line

Branch lines/ sections|

* Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line
* Bairabi–Sairang line
* Barauni–Katihar section
* Guwahati–Lumding section
* Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line
* Katihar–Siliguri line
* Lumding–Sabroom section
* Lumding–Dibrugarh section
* New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section
* New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section
* New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line
* New Mal–Changrabandha–New Cooch Behar line
* Rangiya–Murkongselek section

Monorail|

* Aizawl Monorail

Defunct lines|

* Cherra Companyganj State Railways

Transit points
with Bangladesh|

| Active|

* Haldibari–Chilahati

|

Defunct|

* Mahisasan–Shahbajpur
* Changrabandha–Burimari
* Gitaldaha–Mogalhat

Railway companies|

* Eastern Bengal Railway
* Assam Bengal Railway
* Bengal Dooars Railway
* Cooch Behar State Railway
* Dibru–Sadiya Railway
* Jorehaut Provincial Railway
* Northeast Frontier Railway

See also|

* Indian Railways
* Bholu (mascot)
* North-east Indian railways during World War II

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