AN OVERVIEW

 

 

1.0     HISTORY:

 

          The Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway has its historical roots in the former     Assam Railways & Trading Company, Assam Bengal Railways and Eastern Bengal Railways. The Assam Bengal Railways had the largest contribution to make in the formation of the present-day N.F. Railway.

   

During the reorganization of Railway zones in 1953, Assam Railway and Avadh - Tirhut Railway were merged to form the North Eastern Railway with headquarters at Gorakhpur. The N. F. Railway system was carved out of the North Eastern Railway on 15th January 1958 and based at Maligaon, Guwahati at the foothills of ‘Nilachal Parbat’, the abode of Goddess Kamakhya.

 

          N. F. Railway has the unique distinction of serving as many as ten states of the Indian Union viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal. Besides, it also serves as a railhead for the Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan and provides interchange facilities with Bangladesh Railway.

 

2.0             SALIENT FEATURES:

                                                   B.G.        M.G.            N.G.           TOTAL

2.1.1   Route Length (Kms.):       2012.99    1886.38      87.48       3986.85

 

2.1.2   No. of stations:               

 

BG

MG

NG

BG/MG

BG/NG

BG/MG/NG

Total

231

206

11

45

2

1

496

 

2.1.3   Interchange points :

 

          BG   -    Malda with Eastern Railway

                        Katihar with East Central Railway

                       Singhabad with Bangladesh Railway

 

          MG  -     Forbesganj & Purnea with East Central Railway

                       Radhikapur with Bangladesh Railway

 

2.1.4   The N. F. Railway has 27 Out Agencies spread over the North Eastern States, West Bengal and Sikkim. Out of these, 3 (three) deal with all types of traffic viz. goods, parcel and passenger/luggage, while the rest handle either passenger/luggage or goods.

 

 

 

 

 

2.1.5   No. of trains run daily:            

          (Up to 01.10.2005)

 

Trains

BG

MG

NG

Total

Mail

04

-

-

04

Express

82

12

-

94

Passenger

64

68

04

136

Mixed

02

04

-

06

Grand Total

152

84

04

240

         

2.1.6   Introduction of new Trains, Extension of Existing Trains and Increase in           Frequency:

 

 

 (a)  Trains Introduced during last 5 years:

 

Year

SN

Train No.

Introduced w.e.f.

2000-2001

1.

3149/3150  Sealdah - New Jalpaiguri Kanchankanya Express (Tri-weekly)

16.04.2000

2.

679/680 Siliguri - Changrabandha Passenger (MG)

(Cancelled w.e.f. 01.12.2002)

15.03.2001

2001- 2002

1.

659A/660A Barsoi - Raiganj Passenger (MG)                      

01.07.2001

2.

681/682      Katihar - Jogbani Fast Passenger (MG)

01.07.2001

3.

871/872      Karimganj - Dullabcherra  Passenger (MG)

01.01.2002

4.

2509/2510  Sealdah - New Jalpaiguri Superfast Express (Bi-weekly)

04.02.2002

5.

5711/5712  Asansol - New Jalpaiguri Express (Weekly)

06.02.2002

6.

621/622      Eklakhi - Gazole Passenger                  

11.02.2002

2002-2003

1.

2064/2063  Katihar - Patna Jan Shatabdi Express (Except Sunday)

19.06.2002

2.

707 /708     New Bongaigaon - Guwahati  Passenger (via Goalpara Town)

01.07.2002

3.

5632/5631  Guwahati -  Jodhpur/Bikaner Express (Weekly)

20/23.7.2002

4.

2067/2068 Guwahati – Dimapur Jan Shatabdi Express                  

11.10.2002

5.

911/912      Tinsukia - Dangari Passenger

30.10.2002

6.

903A/904A Mariani - Tuli Passenger

18.12.2002

 

2003-2004

1.

913/914      Mariani –Tinsukia Fast Passenger

01.08.2003

2.

689/690      Katihar - Jogbani Passenger (MG)

08.09.2003

3.

5713/5714   Katihar- Patna Intercity Express (Except Sunday) (Replacing   2064/2063 Jan Shatabdi Express)

01.10.2003

4.

625/626      New Jalpaiguri – Alipurduar Jn.  Passenger

20.11.2003

5.

5636/5635 Guwahati - Okha Dwarka Express (Weekly)

15.12.2003

6.

5933/5934 Dibrugarh Town - Amritsar Express (Weekly) 

16.12.2003

7.

5640/5639 Guwahati – Puri Express (Weekly)

25.12.2003

8.

5638/5637 Guwahati - Secunderabad Express (Weekly)

08.01.2004

9.

5227/5228  Yesvantpur - Muzaffarpur Express (Weekly) (via Malda Town-Katihar)

12.01.2004

10.

623/624      New Jalpaiguri – Siliguri Jn. Passenger

20.03.2004

11.

5741/5742  New Jalpaiguri  – Alipurduar Jn.1 Inter City Express

23.03.2004

 

2004-2005

1.

5642/5641  Guwahati - Jhajha Express (Weekly)

29.10.2004

2.

2501/2502  Guwahati - New Delhi Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express (Bi-weekly)

 

14.03.2005

2005-2006

1.

710/709      Guwahati – New Bongaigaon Passenger

23.05.2005

2.

915/916       Furkating – Mariani Kaziranga Passenger

01.07.2005

 

(b)  Trains Extended :

 

 

Year

SN

 

Train No.

Extended

With effect from

From

To

1997 -1998

1.

4056/4055  Brahmaputra Mail

Dimapur

Dibrugarh Town

19.05.1997

2.

2424A/2423A Link Rajdhani Exp.

Guwahati

Dibrugarh Town

14.01.1998

 

1998 -1999

1.

5959/5960 Kamrup Exp.

Guwahati

Dibrugarh Town

14.04.1998

2.

29/30 Passenger (MG)

New Bongaigaon

Kamakhya

01.12.1998

3.

75/76 Passenger

New Tinsukia

Tinsukia

01.03.1999

1999 -2000

1.

5742/5741     Intercity Exp. (MG)

Siliguri

New Jalpaiguri

01.03.2000

2.

5708/5707    Amritsar Exp.

Barauni

Katihar

03.03.2000

2000- 2001

1.

5665/5666    Guwahati - Lumding Exp.

Lumding

Dimapur

26.03.2001

 

 

 

2001 -2002

1.

705/706        Passenger

Goalpara Town

Guwahati

01.07.2001

2.

5629/5630    Chennai Egmore -       

Guwahati Exp.  (New No. 5929/5930)

Guwahati

Dibrugarh Town

01.07.2001

3.

2436A/2435A Link Rajdhani  Exp.                   

Guwahati

Dibrugarh Town

03.07.2001

 

4.

5763/5764 Hatey Bazare Exp. (3163/3164 (renumbered)

Katihar

Barauni Jn.

17.02.2002

5.

5087/5088   Amarnath Exp. (New No. 5654/5653)

Gorakhpur

Guwahati

08.03.2002

 

2002 -2003

1.

5603/5604 Inter-City Exp.

New Tinsukia

Ledo

01.07.2002

2.

659A/660A   Passenger (MG)      

Raiganj

Kaliaganj

01.07.2002

3.

3246/3245 Capital Express

Katihar

New Jalpaiguri

07.10.2002

4.

863/864 Passenger (MG)

Kumarghat

Manu

28.12.2002

5.

855/856  Passenger (MG)

Kumarghat

Manu

26.01.2003

2003 -2004

1.

2067/2068 Jan Shatabdi Exp.

Dimapur

Jorhat Town

01.12.2003

 

 

2.

3149/3150  Sealdah – New Jalpaiguri Kanchankanya Exp.

New Jalpaiguri

Alipurduar Jn.

24.03.2004

 

 

 

2004 -2005

1.

622/621   Gazole - Eklakhi Pass.

Eklakhi - Gazole

Malda Town - Balurghat

30.12.2004

2.

5711/5712  Asansol – New Jalpaiguri Exp. (Weekly)

(Now 5761/5762)

New Jalpaiguri  Asansol

Alipurduar Jn. Ranchi

20.03.2005

2005-2006

 

1.

4084/4083  Delhi – New Jalpaiguri Sikkim Mahananda Exp.

 

New Jalpaiguri

 

Alipurduar Jn.

 

11.07.2005

2.

913/914  Mariani – Tinsukia Pass.

Mariani

Jorhat Town

01.07.2005

3.

219/220  Howrah– Malda Town Pass.

Malda Town

Balurghat

Planned

 

(c)           Increase in Frequency of Trains :

 

 

Year

 

SN

 

Train No.

Frequency Increase

With effect from

From

To

1995-96

 

1.

 

2424/2423  Rajdhani Exp.

 

Weekly

 

Tri-weekly

 

22.01.1996

 

 

1996-97

1.

3045/3046  Saraighat Exp.

(Now renumbered as 2345/2346)

 

Weekly

 

Tri-weekly

 

07.10.1996

 

1997-98

1.

5625/5626  Bangalore-Guwahati Exp. 

 

Weekly

 

Bi-weekly

 

01.08.1997

1998-99

 

NIL

 

 

 

1999 -2000

 

1.

 

3147/3148  Uttar Banga Exp.

 

Bi-weekly

 

Tri-weekly

 

08.12.1999

2000-01

 

NIL

 

 

 

2001-02

 

NIL

 

 

 

2002-03

 

NIL

 

 

 

 

 

2003-04

1.

2424/2423  New Delhi - Guwahati 

Rajdhani Exp.  

 

Tri-weekly

5 days

a week

 

19.05.2003

2.

2424A/2423A New Delhi-Guwahati -   

Dibrugarh Town Rajdhani Exp.

 

Weekly

 

Bi-weekly

 

19.05.2003

3.

5632/5631 Guwahati - Jodhpur/ Bikaner Exp.

 

Weekly

 

Bi-weekly

 

03.07.2003          

 

2004-05

1.

3149/3150 Sealdah – Alipurduar Jn. Kanchankanya Exp.

 

Tri-weekly

4 days a week

 

01.10.2004

2.

 

5711/5712 Ranchi – Alipurduar Exp.

(Now renumbered as 5761/5762)

 

Weekly

 

Bi-weekly

 

20.03.2005

 

2005-06

1.

2436A/2435A New Delhi – Dibrugarh Town Rajdhani Exp.

 

Weekly

 

Bi-weekly

 

10.07.2005

2.

2424A/2423A  New Delhi – Dibrugarh Town Rajdhani Exp.

 

Bi-weekly

 

5 days

 

11.07.2005

 

2.1.7   New proposals for trains in 2005–2006:

 

219/220 Howrah-Malda Town Passenger will be extended upto Balurghat, augmenting one GSCN. Date of extension will be notified in due course of time in consultation with Railway Board.

 

 

2.1.8  No. of  passengers originating annually (in millions):

 

 

2000-2001

(Actual)

2001-2002

(Actual)

2002-2003 (Actual)

2003-2004

(Actual)

2004-2005

 

2005 – 2006

(Upto Sept’05)

2004-05

(Upto Sept’04)

 

17.38

 

24.97

 

28.26

 

29.36

 

34.13

 

20.88

 

15.73

 

2.1.9  Freight carried annually (in millions of tonnes):                 

 

 

2000-2001

(Actual)

2001-2002

(Actual)

2002-2003

(Actual)

2003-2004 (Actual)

 

2004-2005

 

2005 – 2006

(Upto Sept’05)

2004-05 (Upto Sept’04)

 

6.28

 

7.71

 

7.09

 

9.11

 

9.95

 

5.031

 

4.376

 

2.1.10  Punctuality Performance:

 

 

 

Month

 

Broad Gauge

Metre Gauge

Mail/Express

Passenger

Mail/Express

Passenger

2004-05

2005-06

2004-05

2005-06

2004-05

2005-06

2004-05

2005-06

April

90.1

94.0

91.0

94.6

98.5

98.9

85.4

94.4

May

90.5

96.0

91.7

94.6

98.4

97.8

91.7

94.2

June

92.0

94.8

91.3

94.5

99.0

95.6

92.0

95.8

July

90.0

96.0

91.2

96.1

99.4

95.8

96.5

96.0

August

88.2

95.0

92.0

96.0

99.3

98.0

92.0

97.0

September

90.4

96.2

93.4

96.0

99.3

99.2

93.1

96.2

October

 90.5

 

94.5 

 

100.0

 

94.0

 

November

 93.2

 

94.1 

 

99.3 

 

94.9 

 

December

 92.0

 

93.8 

 

 98.7

 

93.8 

 

January

93.2 

 

94.8 

 

99.5 

 

95.3 

 

February

94.2 

 

94.3 

 

98.2 

 

94.9 

 

March

95.1 

 

95.0 

 

 98.0

 

94.5 

 

Avg

91.6

95.3

93.1

95.3

99.0

97.5

93.2

95.6

 

 

 

2.1.11 Inward Freight Traffic:    Mainly Food grains, Salt, Sugar, Cement,

                                                Steel, Bitumen, POL Products & Fertilizers.

 

 

 

2.1.12 Outward Freight Traffic:         Coal, Petrol, Oil & Lubricants (POL),

B/Chips,Paper & Brooms.

 

2.1.13 Total Staff on Roll (as on 30.09.2005):

 

          Gazetted                      :                766       

          Non-gazetted                :             68519

          Total                           :             69285    

          Officer to staff ratio        :               1:89

 

2.1.14   Divisional Headquarters : Katihar, Alipurduar, Rangiya, Lumding & Tinsukia.

 

2.1.15  Jurisdiction:                      

 

Katihar -                                      Malda Town (exclusive) – Raninagar Jalpaiguri-Haldibari, Katihar Jn., Kumedpur and Singhabad – old Malda Singhabad – old Malda(Broad Gauge), Katihar Jn.– Siliguri Jn, Teznarayanpur – Katihar Jn, Katihar Jn. to Jogbani, Barsoi – Radhikapur, New Jalpaiguri – Siliguri Jn (MG section) and New Jalpaiguri  - Darjeeling (NG section).

 

                                                      Route Kms. BG – 357.07, MG – 406.52, 

 

                                           NG – 87.48, total route kms. 851.07

 

          Alipurduar -                               Raninagar Jalpaiguri (exclusive) – Agthori  (exclusive) New Bongaigaon – Jogighopa (BG),

                                                     Siliguri Jn.(exclusive) – Athori(exclusive), New Mal Jn. – Changrabandha, Lataguri – Ramshai, Alipurduar Jn. – Gitaldaha – Bamanhat, Rajabhatkhawa – Jainti, Dhubri – Golakganj – Fakiragram. New Mal- Changrabandha (MG section).

 

                                                     Route Kms. BG – 413.26, MG –1164.96, total route kms. 1578.22.

 

 

          Rangiya  -                           New Bongaigaon (including) – Agthori (excluding), New Bongaigaon (including) – Kamakhya (excluding) via Goalpara Town (BG), New Bongaigaon (including) – Agthori (excluding) Rangiya Jn. – Rangapara North – Tezpur, Rangapara North – North Lakhimpur – Murkongselek, Rangapara North – Bhalukpong (MG)

 

                                                    Route Kms. BG – 318.96, MG –652.12 total route Kms.971.08.

            Lumding -                                   Agthori to Furkating Jn. (exclusive), Chaparmukh Jn, Haibargaon, (BG) Senchoa Lumding to Maishashan including Silchar, Lalabazar – Katakhal – Bhairabi, Dulabchera, Pecharthal branches and Silchar to Jiribam, Pandu to Kamakhya, (MG).

 

                                                                 Route Kms. BG – 359.84, MG – 629.07 total route Kms. 988.91.

 

            Tinsukia -                                  Furkating Jn. (inclusive) to Tinsukia Jn., Furkating Jn. – Jorhat – Mariani Jn, Dibrugarh – Ledo –Lekhapani – Tinsukia Jn. – Dangari and Simaluguri – Moranhat – Naginimora branches.       

                                                   

                                                    Route Kms. BG – 444.81, MG – 66.00 total route Kms. 510.81.

 

2.1.16   Major Work Centres:

 

(i)    Rolling Stock           :           New Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh

                 Workshop                         and Tindharia.

 

          (ii)    Diesel Loco sheds   :           BG -  Malda , New Guwahati

                                                       MG – Siliguri, Lumding

 

          (iii)    Transhipment Points:           New Bongaigaon, Lumding.

 

          (iv)   Important yards     :           BG –New Jalpaiguri, New Bongaigaon,

                                                       New Guwahati.

                                                       MG -  Katihar, New Bongaigaon,

                                                       New Guwahati, Lumding,  Badarpur

 

 

          (v)   System Training     :           New Bongaigaon

                 Centre

 

          (vi)   Zonal Training        :           Alipurduar

                 Centre

 

          (vii)  Diesel Traction       :           Siliguri, Malda and New Guwahati

                 Training Centre

 

          (viii)  Railway Recruitment:           Guwahati, Malda,  Patna and  Ranchi

                 Boards