Howrah - Transport

Transport

Howrah station is a major railway station serving Howrah, Kolkata and the neighbouring districts. It was established in 1854 when railway line was constructed here, connecting it to the coalfields of the Bardhaman. This station is now part of two zones of Indian Railway: the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway and it is connected to most of the major cities of India. It is also part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway and suburban trains connecting various stations of the districts of Howrah, Hooghly, Bardhaman, East Midnapore and West Midnapore. Within Howrah city, there are six other stations: Tikiapara, Dasnagar, Ramrajatala, Santragachhi, Padmapukur and Shalimar Station, all serving the South Eastern Railway. The first station after Howrah terminus that serves the Eastern Railway is Liluah, which is located in the municipal area of Bally. Tikiapara, Dasnagar, Ramrajatala and Padmapukur are smaller stations of suburban railway. Santragachhi is a railway junction. Shalimar Station served as a terminus for goods trains and hosted a rail yard since its inception in 1883. In recent years, it has been brought into the network of passenger train stations to reduce pressure on Howrah station. Apart from suburban trains, few long-distance trains have been introduced or moved over here (from Howrah station).

Hooghli River flows between the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata. Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu), a cantilever bridge with one endpoint next to Howrah station, and Vidyasagar Setu, a cable-stayed bridge with one endpoint near Shalimar station, connect the two cities. Both the bridges are counted among the longest ones in the world within their types. Also, between various jetties in Howrah and Kolkata, there are ferry services available, which was introduced in 1970s. The jetties on Howrah side are at Howrah Station, Ramkrishnapur, Shibpur, Shalimar and Nazirganj.

Total road length in Howrah is approximately 300 km. One of the most important road is the Grand Trunk Road which starts from Indian Botanical Gardens in Howrah. This road was built by the Public Works Department of the British administration. Work started on it in 1804 to add this connector to the main branch of the road near Chandannagar. Operational from 1990s, the roads connecting to Vidyasagar Setu from various locations have added up to the roadspace of Howrah. The most important one is 8 km long Kona Expressway, which was built by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). This road serves as a connector of Kolkata (via Vidyasagar Setu) to National Highway 2 (India) (NH 2) and hence is part of Golden Quadrilateral project. At Nibra town of the Howrah district, Kona Expressway joins with National Highway 6 (India) (NH 6) as well. Along with Diamond Harbour Road, this erstwhile State Highway forms the 133 km long National Highway 117 (India) (NH 117), connecting NH 6 to the coastal town of Bakkhali. The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways accorded National Highway status to these two roads, which formed NH-117 together. However, due to land acquisition issues, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has declared their plan to return these two roads to state government, also pointing out to the heavy traffic on Diamond Harbour Road and to the existence of multitude of underground utilities there.