New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station

Railway junction station in West Bengal, India

26°40′57″N 88°26′38″E / 26.68250°N 88.44389°E / 26.68250; 88.44389Elevation114.00 metres (374.02 ft)Owned byIndian RailwaysOperated byNortheast Frontier Railway (NFR)Line(s) Platforms8 (6 Broad Gauge/2 Narrow Gauge)Tracks45Connections Cabs, Taxi, Auto-rickshaw, E-rickshawConstructionStructure typeStandard (on-ground station)ParkingParking AvailableBicycle facilitiesBicycle facilities AvailableAccessibleDisabled access Yes[1]Other informationStatusFunctioningStation codeNJP Zone(s) Northeast Frontier Railway zone Division(s) KatiharHistoryOpened1960; 64 years ago (1960)[2]ElectrifiedYes[3](July 2020)Passengers22M/Year60K/Day (Increase high)
Location
New Jalpaiguri railway station is located in West Bengal
New Jalpaiguri railway station
New Jalpaiguri railway station
Location in West Bengal
Map
Interactive map
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Railways in the Siliguri area
Legend
 
Sivok–Rangpo line to Rangpo, Sikkim (
under
construction
)
21 km
13 mi
Sivok
10 km
6 mi
Gulma
8 km
5 mi
Siliguri Junction
12 km
7 mi
Matigara
6 km
4 mi
Siliguri Town
0
New Jalpaiguri
5 km
3 mi
Rangapani
New Jalpaiguri–Howrah line
via Barsoi
18 km
11 mi
Bagdogra
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Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Legend
Darjeeling Bazaar
0 km
0 mi
Darjeeling
Batasia Loop (Loop Nº 5)
7 km
4 mi
Ghum
Jor Bungalow
Rongbull
16 km
10 mi
Sonada
Dilaram
24 km
15 mi
Tung
31 km
19 mi
Kurseong
Kurseong steam shed
38 km
24 mi
Mahanadi
Zig zag Nº 6
44 km
27 mi
Gayabari
Agony Point (Loop Nº 4)
50 km
31 mi
Tindharia
Tindharia workshops
(P.M.O.)
Zig zag Nº 3
Zig zag Nº 2
Chunbhatti
Loop Nº 3
Zig zag Nº 1
(opened 1942)
Loop Nº 2
(removed 1942)
62 km
39 mi
Rangtong
Hill Cart Road
Loop Nº 1
(removed 1991;
repl. w/ longer route)
Hill Cart Road
 
 
Hill Cart Road
70 km
43 mi
NH 31
80 km
50 mi
80 km
50 mi
Burdwan Road
Vivekananda Road
Hill Cart Road/St. Feeder Road
83 km
52 mi
Bagrakote level crossing
broad gauge lines
88 km
55 mi
New Jalpaiguri
elev. 100 metres (330 ft)
(opened 1964)
broad gauge lines

New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station (station code NJP)[4] established in 1960,[5] is an A1 category[6] broad-gauge and narrow-gauge railway station under Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is the largest and the busiest railway junction of northeast India. This junction is largest among the railway stations which serve the city of Siliguri, the largest metropolis of the North Bengal. The other stations are- Siliguri Junction, Gulma, Bagdogra, Matigara, Rangapani and Siliguri Town. New Jalpaiguri junction ranked 10th cleanest railway station in India in 2016 survey[7] and came among the top 100 booking stations of Indian railway.[8] New Jalpaiguri, as a railway station serves as the entry point to North Bengal, Sikkim, other countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the seven northeastern states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya). New Jalpaiguri Junction acts as a connecting base for the northeastern states to the Indian mainland.

History

The partition of India in 1947 completely disrupted railway communication links in North Bengal and Assam with the southern parts of West Bengal. Earlier, the links were through the eastern part of Bengal, which became a part of Pakistan in 1947. Siliguri gained in importance as the gateway to North Bengal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam.[9]

Around 1949, Siliguri Junction station, a new station north of the old Siliguri Town railway station, came up with several metre-gauge lines converging on it. In addition there was the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway running from Siliguri Town station to Darjeeling via Siliguri Junction. The Assam Rail Link Project, completed in 1950, linked the railways in Assam, with a metre-gauge line to Kishanganj. The line running across North Bengal, spanned the Teesta, Torsha, and Sankosh rivers.[9][10]

In the early 1960s, Indian Railways started changing over from metre gauge to broad gauge and built a new 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad-gauge station south of Siliguri Town station. Since the new station was located in Jalpaiguri district, it was named New Jalpaiguri. By 1964, New Jalpaiguri became the most important railway station in the area. It had both broad gauge (to Kishanganj and Barsoi, and to Siliguri town and Siliguri junction) and metre gauge (to Siliguri town and Siliguri junction) tracks. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway narrow-gauge track was extended from Siliguri town station to the New Jaipaiguri station.[9] The metre-gauge track from New Jaipaiguri to Siliguri town and Siliguri junction was later converted to broad gauge.

Amenities

New Jalpaiguri railway station has two double-bedded air-conditioned (AC) retiring rooms, six double-bedded non-AC retiring rooms, one three-bedded dormitory and one twelve-bedded dormitory. Free High speed Google RailWire WiFi is available at this station.[11] It has IRCTC and other private restaurants.

Services

View of tracks from foot over bridge

New Jalpaiguri Jn, which is commonly called as NJP is the largest as well as busiest railway junction of North East Frontier Zone, which serves as the lifeline of the Northeastern states. NJP acts as a connecting base for the Northeastern states to the Indian mainland. NJP is the railway station of the largest city of North Bengal (Siliguri), which is popularly referred as the gateway of northeast India. New Jalpaiguri railway station is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.[12]

New Jalpaiguri is connected to almost all parts of the country (except Pune, Haridwar, Rameswaram,Goa and Surat) and has been ranked 10th in the Cleanest Railway Stations of India recently. It has a good connection to Kolkata, Delhi and Guwahati and there are many other trains to different parts of India. New Jalpaiguri is the Busiest station in North Bengal and the Northeast Frontier Railway Zone.

Darjeeling-Himalayan railway

The narrow gauge line and platform at the station

There is one narrow-gauge platform at this station which operates trains towards Darjeeling hills as a part of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. This is the last terminal of the DHR Railways.

India-Bangladesh rail link

This station have international express train service between India and Bangladesh. Mitali Express train operate from New Jalpaiguri railway station to Dhaka Cantonment railway station.[13] The Mitali Express train is an international express rail service which runs between the Indian city of Siliguri (New Jalpaiguri railway station) and the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka (Dhaka Cantonment railway station) every week.[14]

Vande Bharat Express

Vistadome Trains

Rajdhani Express

Connections

Buses

The North Bengal State Transport Corporation operates bus services from NJP New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station to Siliguri city and sub urban areas, Also private buses runs between all over the city from NJP New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station

Cars

Many road is directly connected from Siliguri to New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station.

Ride aggregator services Uber, Rapido, Ola provide rides from the train station to various parts of the city. One can also book private cabs to go Darjeeling, Gangtok and all over hill areas. Apart from these numerous private taxi operators provide pre-paid and post-paid taxi services to the city. E-rickshaw, City auto facilities are available in the station.

See also

References

  1. ^ "More facilities for NJP". Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  2. ^ "The complex history of the junctions at Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri". Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Electric loco set to start from NJP". Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. ^ "New Jalpaiguri junction station code". IRFCA. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  5. ^ "History of New Jalpaiguri Junction". IRFCA. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Railway station category" (PDF). Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  7. ^ "NFR's NJP ranked 10th cleanest railway station". Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  8. ^ "New Jalpaiguri junction railway station-information". www.erail.in. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "India: the complex history of the junctions at Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri". IRFCA. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  10. ^ "Indian Railway History Timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  11. ^ "Retiring rooms in Northeast Frontier Railway". Indian Railways. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Indian Railways Passenger Reservation Enquiry". Availability in trains for Top 100 Booking Stations of Indian Railways. IRFCA. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  13. ^ "'Mitali Express' to be announced on Saturday". The Daily Star. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Hasina and Modi to inaugurate 'Mitali Express' train today". The Business Standard. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station.
External videos
video icon Sealdah-New Cooch Behar Uttarbanga Express arriving at New Jalpaiguri
  • New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station at the India Rail Info
  • Jalpaiguri travel guide from Wikivoyage
  • Siliguri travel guide from Wikivoyage
Preceding station Indian Railways Following station
Rangapani
towards ?
Northeast Frontier Railway zone Terminus
Siliguri Town
towards ?
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Northeast Frontier Railway zone
Ambari Falakata
towards ?
Northeast Frontier Railway zone
Rangapani
towards ?
Northeast Frontier Railway zone
Katihar–Guwahati line
Ambari Falakata
towards ?
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Top 100 booking stations of Indian Railways
Source: "100 Booking Stations of Indian Railways".
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