In 1849, a contract was signed between the
East Indian Railway Company and
East India Company and an initial amount allocated for the first section between Howrah and
Raneegunge (
Raniganj) via
Pandooah (
Pandua, Hooghly) and
Burdwan (
Bardhaman).
Frederick Walter Simms, the consulting engineer to Government of India, initially envisaged a station on the right side of
Hooghly in 1846. However, after the funds were sanctioned, Howrah was chosen as the terminus for the new line. A bridge spanning 1,700 feet (520 m) across the
Hooghly River was considered unfeasible at the time. In the following years, discussions frequently arose about connecting the rail line to Calcutta. On 17 June 1851,
George Turnbull, the Chief Engineer of the
East Indian Railway Company and his team of engineers submitted plans for a railway station at Howrah. Unaware of the future significance of railways in India, the government decided against purchasing the land and expensive waterfront required for the project in January 1852. Turnbull then developed alternative development plans that estimated the cost at 250,000
rupees. In October 1852, four tenders for the building of the station were received: they varied from 190,000 to 274,526 rupees. There was a gap between laying the line and opening it up since the ship carrying the carriages sank while the locomotive ended up in Australia. Eventually the carriages were built locally and the locomotive was directed to Calcutta. The first public departure from Howrah for the 23.5 miles to
Hooghly was on 15 August 1854. It consisted of one line and platform, a ticket window and a supporting building. In the first 4 months, over 109,000 passengers used the service. The increase of residents in the region around Howrah and Kolkata and the booming economy lead to an increasing demand for rail travel. Also, the rail network kept on growing continuously, e.g. was the bridge over the
Rupnarayan River at
Kolaghat completed on 19 April 1900 and connected Howrah with Kharagpur. The Bengal-Nagpur Railway was extended to Howrah in 1900, thus making Howrah an important railway centre. and completed by 1911. At the same time, a new
Yatri Niwas (transit passenger facility) was built south of the original station frontage. The new terminal complex was finished in 1992, creating a total of 19 platforms. The first service of the
Antyodaya Express, the
Howrah–Ernakulam Antyodaya Express, was inaugurated in February 2017. As per Indian Green Building Council, it was awarded CII-IGBC Silver Rating becoming the first green railway station among
metropolitan cities in India. The book
Vibrant Edifice: The Saga of Howrah Station by Eastern Railways was released in 2005. This was written to celebrate the centenary of the building.
Tram terminus, Howrah Until 1992, there was a tram terminus at Howrah Station. Trams departed for
Sealdah Station,
Rajabazar,
Shyambazar,
High Court,
Dalhousie Square,
Park Circus,
Ballygunge,
Tollygunge etc. Trams also departed for Bandhaghat and
Shibpur. The tram terminus was partially closed in 1971 while the Bandhaghat and Shibpur lines were closed. Many unauthorized vehicles and pedestrians began to traverse the tram tracks and so the routes were not continued. The terminus station was converted to underpasses and a bus terminus. The part of the tram terminus for other routes continued to function until 1992, when the Rabindra Setu (
Howrah Bridge) was declared unfit to carry trams because it was a cantilever bridge.
Heritage museum The nearby
Rail Museum, Howrah was opened in 2006, and contains a section dedicated to the heritage and history of Howrah railway station. The railway museum, located south of the station, displays artefacts of historical importance related to the development of Eastern Railway. From 1909 to 1943 the
Fairy Queen, the world's oldest operational steam locomotive, was displayed on a plinth inside the station. == Major trains ==