Calcutta Chord link line

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

broad gauge
Electrification25 kV overhead line
Operating speedup to 100 km per hour
Route map

km
km
Up arrow
14
0
Andul
2
Maurigram
NH12-IN.svg
Expressway
Down arrow
11
Bankranayabaz
9
Baltikuri
Right arrow
Up arrow
A.C.C. Link
branch line
Right arrow
Dankuni
0
Bhattanagar
6
Rajchandrapur
4
4
Belanagar
Bally Halt
6
7
Bally
Left arrow
Howrah–Bardhaman main line
Right arrow
PWD Road
7
Bally Ghat
PWD Road
9
0
Dakshineswar
Baranagar jute
mill siding
Right arrow
Sealdah–Ranaghat line
Right arrow
10
1
Baranagar Road
Right arrow
Sealdah–Ranaghat line
Noapara
2
Noapara Metro Depot
Kestopur Canal
Right arrow
Right arrow
15
4
Dum Dum Junction
Right arrow
Belgachia
6
17
Patipukur
Ultadanga Road
18
Lansdown mill siding
Kolkata
19
Brown Blanket mill siding
Down arrow
Kestopur Canal
Down arrow
Bidhan Nagar Road
5
Bidhannagar Road
Press House siding
Kankurgachi Road
2
Kankurgachi Road Junction
Narkeldanga
EMU Carshed
3
Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt
Circular Canal
Kankurgachi
Chord line
Sealdah North
00
0
Sealdah Main
Sealdah
Left arrow  KM Line 2  Right arrow
Sealdah South
00
Beliaghata Diesel Loco Shed
6
Kamardanga Halt
Beruck & Comens Siding
3│7
Park Circus
Down arrow
Sealdah South lines
km
km
Key
Indian Railways broad gauge (1676 mm)
Kolkata Metro (KM) broad gauge (1676 mm)
Kolkata Metro (KM) standard gauge (1435 mm)
in use │
out of use, planned, or
under construction (u/c)
│ tunnel

The Calcutta Chord link line, also known as the C.C. link line, is a 22 km (14 mi) long branch line of the Kolkata Suburban Railway which comes under the jurisdiction of Eastern Railway's Sealdah Division & Howrah Division.[1][2]

The line directly connects the Sealdah railway station (erstwhile Calcutta railway station) on the east bank of the Hooghly River with the Howrah–Bardhaman chord line at the Dankuni Junction on the west bank of the Hooghly River via the Vivekananda Setu. The Andul Calcutta Chord link branch line (known as the A.C.C.L. branch line) is a 9 km (5.6 mi) long branch line from Dankuni Junction which connects C.C. link line with the Santragachi–Amta branch line and Andul on the Howrah–Kharagpur line.[1][2][3]

Services

The C.C link line serves as a vital link for the city of

Sealdah Rajdhani Express, Darjeeling Mail, Padatik Express, and Ananya Express amongst many others, originating from the Sealdah and Kolkata railway stations, to the rest of India. The line is also a part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway and is served by 46 Daily and 40 Sunday EMU services running between Sealdah and Dankuni and 2 EMU services between Sealdah and Baruipara.[4][5] These suburban services are provided by 9-car EMU rakes from the Narkeldanga EMU Carshed.[6]

The line also acts as an important link for freight commodities coming in and out of the

Aronai Express and others from the Howrah–Kharagpur line to completely bypass the congested sections near Howrah while using Dankuni or Bhattanagar stations as commercial stoppages instead.[9][10][11]

History

The

Howrah-Bardhaman Chord, thus earning the line its name.[12][13]

By 1950–51,

Chitpur and Kolkata docks taking the circuitous route via Tikiapara, Liluah, Belanagar and then finally taking the Calcutta Chord link line to Calcutta.[7]

To resolve the congestion problem, Indian Railways sanctioned the remodeling of the Santragachi railway yard in November 1962 and sanctioned the building of a direct link from Andul on the Howrah–Kharagpur line to the Calcutta Chord link line in the railway budget of 1959–60. This was to reduce the distance between Andul and the Calcutta Chord from 27.5 km (17.1 mi) to 13 km (8.1 mi).[7]

The work of building the line however progressed slowly due to land acquisition problems and was finally completed in December 1968.[7] The electrification of the line was started subsequently and was completed by 1971–72.[14][15]

The ACCL branch line was primarily used by freight trains to bypass the congested sections near Howrah and directly connected the Eastern railway and South Eastern railway zones. However, with increasing public demand, some long-distance passenger trains were started in this section directly from Sealdah like the Sealdah–Puri Duronto Express in 2012.[8]

Tracks and electrification

The Dum Dum-Dankuni section was electrified in 1964–65. The Andul-Dankuni section was electrified in 1971–72.[15]

The doubling of the Dankuni-Bhattanagar section of the ACCL line was sanctioned on 2013.[16] The track doubling of the Andul–Baltikuri section was completed & commissioned on 25 January 2020.[17] With the completion of the track doubling of Baltikuri–Bhattanagar section in October 2021, the entire ACCL branch line was doubled. This removed a critical bottleneck affecting interchange of trains between Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway.[18]

Routes and stations

Calcutta Chord link line

Calcutta Chord link line
# Distance from Sealdah Main and North (km) Station name Station code Connections Station Category[19]
1 0 Sealdah SDAH Sealdah South section NSG-1
2 2 Kankurgachi Road Junction KGK Circular line HG-3
2 5 Bidhannagar Road BNXR SG-2
3 7 Dum Dum Junction DDJ Sealdah–Bangaon line / Sealdah–Ranaghat line / Kolkata Metro Line 1 (Dum Dum metro station) SG-2
4 12 Baranagar Road BARN Kolkata Metro Line 1 (Baranagar metro station) SG-3
5 13 Dakshineswar DAKE Kolkata Metro Line 1 (Dakshineswar metro station) SG-3
6 15 Bally Ghat BLYG SG-3
7 16 Bally Halt BLYH HG-3
8 17 Rajchandrapur RCD HG-3
9 22 Dankuni Junction DKAE Howrah–Barddhaman chord line SG-3

Andul Calcutta Chord Link branch line (ACCL branch line)

Andul Calcutta Chord Link branch line (ACCL branch line)
# Distance from Dankuni (km) Station name Station code Connections Station Category[19]
1 0 Dankuni Junction DKAE Howrah–Barddhaman chord line SG-3
2 6
Bhattanagar
BTNG HG-3
3 9 Baltikuri BALT Santragachi–Amta branch line HG-3
4 11
Bankranayabaz
BKNM Santragachi–Amta branch line / Howrah–Kharagpur line SG-3
5 14 Andul ADL Howrah–Kharagpur line SG-3

References

  1. ^ a b c "Howrah Division System Map" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Sealdah Division System Map" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Kharagpur Division System Map". Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Details of Operating Department: Sealdah Division, Eastern Railway". Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Operating Department - Howrah Railway division, Eastern Railway". Eastern Railway. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Highlights of TRS Organisation, Sealdah division, Eastern Railway". Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Estimates Committee - Ninety First Report (Third Lok Sabha) - Ministry of Railways - South Eastern Railway" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b "SEALDAH-PURI DURONTO TO BE INTRDUCED". Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  9. ^ "SCR to run two summer special trains between Secunderabad-Guwahati". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. ^ "NF Railway announces seven more special trains; Silchar - Kanpur on Nov 14 one of them". Barak Bulletin. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  11. ^ "ECoR to run Holi special trains between Kolkata, Puri". Odisha News, Odisha Latest news, Odisha Daily - OrissaPOST. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  12. ^ "HOWRAH DIVISION : HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE - THE FIRST JOURNEY". Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  13. ^ "US Archive .org pdf download of 'History Of Indian Railways, constructed and in progress', 31 March 1937 by 'The Government of India - Railway Department' page 70 pdf 95" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Speech of Dr. Ram Subhag Singh Introducing Railway Budget for 1969-70, on 19th February, 1969" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  15. ^ a b "History of Electrification". Archived from the original on 6 May 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  16. ^ New Projects of Eastern Railway, Eastern Railway, 10 December 2018
  17. ^ "South Eastern Railway PROGRESS OF WORKS UNDER DEMAND 16 (As of May'21)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  18. ^ "ER commissions doubling of Bhattanagar -Baltikuri section". Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Category of stations - Eastern Railway" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.