Sealdah–Bangaon line

The line was a part of the old Calcutta–Jessore–Khulna line with trains such as the Barisal Express running through it. Today however it is primarily a suburban section with a total of 138 daily and 112 Sunday EMU services serving the Sealdah–Bangaon section. A further 31 EMU services between Bangaon and Ranaghat junctions, and 2 EMU services, between Bangaon and Shantipur junctions, run via the Ranaghat–Bangaon branch line. Few services in the Ranaghat–Bangaon line are provided by 12-car EMU rakes from the Ranaghat EMU Carshed as well. The Benapole land port, the largest land port of Bangladesh, is directly served by this line along with the roadways at the Benapole Border Crossing and accounts for more than 90% of the imported Indian goods into Bangladesh. Major freight commodities handled by this section are foodgrains, fuel, medical oxygen, stone and gypsum amongst others. The train initially had stoppages only at Kolkata, Petrapole, Benapole and Khulna with Petrapole and Benapole serving as border checkpoints. However, due to popular demand a new three minute stoppage was added at Jessore Junction railway station on 7 March 2019. The line has an interchange station at Dum Dum Junction with the Blue Line of the Kolkata Metro and the Sealdah Main and North section. Completion of construction and opening of the Yellow Line of Kolkata Metro is expected provide four more interchange stations at Dum Dum Cantonment, Madhyamgram, Hridaypur and Barasat Junction. ==History==

Pre-partition (1882–1947) Bengal Central Railway The Bengal Central Railway company was formed in 1881 to build and operate a broad gauge railway line from Sealdah to Khulna via Jessore with a branch from Bangaon to Ranaghat. It constructed the two broad gauge lines: one connecting Ranaghat and Bangaon () in 1882 and the other connecting Dum Dum with Khulna (now in Bangladesh), via Bangaon () which opened in stages and was completed in 1884. These lines were merged with Eastern Bengal Railway in 1904. The Patipukur Loop line from Dum Dum Cantonment to Patipukur was opened on 1904 as well. Post-partition (1947–) Eastern Railway Following the partition of India in 1947, the Calcutta–Khulna line was divided into two parts and the Petrapole railway station became the terminus on the Indian side while the Benapole railway station became the terminus in the Bangladeshi side of the line. The Calcutta (now Sealdah)–Bangaon–Petrapole section came under the jurisdiction of the Sealdah division of the Eastern Railway zone of the Indian Railways while the Benapole–Jessore–Khulna section came under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Bengal Railway (renamed as Pakistan Eastern Railway on 1961) of the then East Pakistan. The Barisal Express, launched in 1884, from Calcutta to Khulna continued post-partition until rail services between the two countries were suspended due to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. India and Bangladesh signed an agreement in July 2000 to resume freight services and the first freight train ran across the link on 21 January 2001. The Barasat–Basirhat Light Railway closed down in 1955 due to continuous losses. The Barasat-Hasnabad section of the BBLR was converted into a broad gauge and was built in a new alignment between 1957 and 1962 becoming the Barasat–Hasnabad branch line. The Shyambazar branch of the BBLR was abandoned. The Dum Dum Cantonment–Biman Bandar branch line was built by the Eastern Railway and was inaugurated in July 2006. Due to losses and poor patronage owing to the location of the station and odd timings of the services, the services on the line were closed down in 2016. The line was further dismantled in 2020 to make way for the Yellow Line. Numbering series details There are some patterns in the numbering in local trains of Sealdah Bangaon section. • 332** series: Hasnabad – Dumdum – Barrackpore Local and Barrackpore – Dumdum – Gobardanga Local • 333** series: Trains originate from Barasat like all Barasat Hasnabad Local and Barasat Bangaon Local (UP and DN) • 334** series: Sealdah Madhyamgram Local and Sealdah Barasat Local (UP and DN) • 335** series: Sealdah – Hasnabad Local (UP and DN) • 336** series: Sealdah Duttapukur Local (3362* sub series), Sealdah Habra Local (3366* sub series) and Sealdah Gobardanga Local ( 3368* sub series) (UP and DN) • 337** series: Ranaghat – Bangaon – Ranaghat Local • 338** series: Sealdah – Bangaon – Sealdah Local ==Tracks and Electrification==

The Sealdah–Barasat–Bangaon section is a double line section whereas the Ranaghat–Bangaon–Petrapole–Benapole section is a single line section. All the lines in the section are fully electrified with 25 kV AC overhead system. The Sealdah–Bangaon line was electrified in 1963–64, while the Barasat–Hasnabad branch line was electrified in 2002–03 ==EMU Car shed==

The lines are primarily served by 9-car and 12-car EMU rakes from the Barasat EMU Carshed. Few services in the Ranaghat–Bangaon line are provided by 12-car EMU rakes from the Ranaghat EMU Carshed as well. While the section was initially served by the Narkeldanga EMU carshed which opened on 1963, due to the increasing traffic requirements in the Sealdah–Bangaon section and the electrified Barasat–Hasnabad and Ranaghat–Bangaon sections led to the commissioning of the Barasat EMU Carshed in 1990. In 2018, three phase IGBT based 12-car EMU rakes were introduced in this carshed. As of January 2022, the shed contains 8 9-car EMU rakes and 25 12-car EMU rakes, 6 of which are three phase IGBT based. Similar increase in traffic requirements in the Ranaghat–Gede, Ranaghat–Bangaon, Ranaghat–Shantipur–Krishnanagar City and Ranaghat–Lalgola sections led to the commissioning of the Ranaghat EMU carshed in 2007. As of January 2022, the car shed contains 15 12-car EMU rakes and 6 MEMU rakes of which one is an 8-car rake while the rest are 12-car rakes. Three of the 12-car MEMU rakes are three phase IGBT based rakes. Nowadays, 3 phase emu is running on tracks. Narkeldanga EMU Carshed has 2 nos 12Car 3phase Alstom rakes and RHA has 5 rakes and BT has 10 nos of 3 phase rakes which are in service in this line. In BNJ, 6 rakes are night stabled and other trains shed in their respective carshed. == Routes and stations ==

Stations : Names in bold indicate that the station is a major stop or an important interchange/terminal station. Sealdah–Barasat–Bangaon line } Barasat–Hasnabad branch line Ranaghat–Bangaon branch line == Planned extensions ==

The Machhalandapur–Swarupnagar, Bira–Chakla, Bangaon–Chandabazar–Bagdah, Bangaon–Poramaheshtala and Hasnabad–Hingalganj new lines were sanctioned in the railway budgets between 2009 and 2012 under the tenure of Mamata Banerjee as the railway minister. None of the projects, however, could be started because of non-availability of land, and hence the work has been kept under abeyance by the Railway Board. == In popular culture ==

The name and the setting of the Bengali social drama film 8:08 Er Bongaon Local is based on the daily suburban EMU local which leaves the Sealdah station for Bangaon Junction at 8:08 a.m. IST. ==Gallery==

File:Sealdah Railway Station - Kolkata 2011-10-03 030250.JPG|Main entrance of the Sealdah railway station File:Dumdum Junction.jpg|Dum Dum Junction railway station platform board File:BIRATI RAILWAY.jpg|Bird's eye view of Birati railway station File:Madhyamgram Station.jpg|Platform of Madhyamgram railway station File:Barasat Junction railway station (1).jpg|Bird's eye view of Barasat Junction railway station File:Barasat Junction railway station (3).jpg|Main entrance of Barasat Junction railway station File:Habra railway station (1).jpg|Habra railway station platform board File:Gobardanga railway station.jpg|Platform of Gobardanga railway station File:Thakurnagar railway station (3).jpg|Thakurnagar railway station platform board File:Bongaon Station platforms.jpg|Platform of Bangaon railway station File:Chandpara railway station - চাঁদপাড়া রেলওয়ে স্টেশন IMG 2020-02-09 075200.jpg|Chandpara railway station File:Petrapole Railway Station.JPG|Petrapole railway station ==References==