Eastern Railway zone

{{Infobox rail

|name = 80pxEastern Railway

| logo_filename = File:Shortened form of Eastern Railway Zone of Indian Railways.jpg

| logo_size = 80px

| system_map = Indianrailwayzones-numbered.png

| map_caption = 4-Eastern Railway

| map_size =

| marks =

| image = Howrah Railway Station 02.jpg

| image_size =

| image_caption = Howrah Junction

| locale = West Bengal and Jharkhand, and some parts of Bihar

| start_year = {{start date and age|df=yes|1952|4|14}}

| end_year =

| predecessor_line = East Indian Railway

| successor_line =

| gauge = Broad gauge (BG) & narrow gauge (NG)

| old_gauge =

| electrification = {{convert|2222.620|km}}

| length = {{convert|2818.484|km}}

| hq_city = Fairley Place, Kolkata

| website = [https://er.indianrailways.gov.in Eastern Railway]

}}

The Eastern Railway (abbreviated ER) is among the 19 zones of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Fairley Place (Kolkata) and comprises four divisions: {{rwd|Howrah}}, {{rwd|Malda}}, {{rwd|Sealdah}}, and {{rwd|Asansol}}.{{cite web |title=Railway Zones and Divisions in The Country |url=https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=168812. |website=Press Information Bureau |publisher=Ministry of Railways (Government of India) |access-date=1 January 2025 |date=21 July 2017}} Each division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). The name of the division denotes the name of the city where the divisional headquarters is located. Eastern Railway oversees the largest and second largest rail complexes in the country, Howrah Junction and Sealdah railway station, and also contains the highest number of A1 and A Category Stations like {{stnlnk|Howrah}}, {{stnlnk|Malda Town}},

{{stnlnk|Sealdah}}, {{stnlnk|Asansol}}, Kolkata, {{stnlnk|Durgapur}}, Barddhaman, Rampurhat Junction, {{stnlnk|Bhagalpur}},{{stnlnk|Jamalpur}}, Jasidih, Bandel and Naihati. Eastern Railways operates India's oldest train, Kalka Mail.

History

The East Indian Railway (EIR) Company was incorporated in 1845 to connect eastern India with Delhi. The first train ran here between {{stnlnk|Howrah}} and {{stnlnk|Hooghly}} on 15 August 1854. The train left Howrah station at 8:30 a.m. and reached Hooghly in 91 minutes. The management of the East Indian Railway was taken over by the British Indian government on 1 January 1925.Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.13,34

The Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 by amalgamating three lower divisions of the East Indian Railway: Howrah, Asansol and Danapur, the entire Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) and the Sealdah division of the erstwhile Bengal Assam Railway{{cite web|url=http://www.easternrailwaysealdah.gov.in/WebForm/FrameContent/Engineering.html |title=Sealdah division-Engineering details |publisher=The Eastern Railway, Sealdah division |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215161611/http://www.easternrailwaysealdah.gov.in/WebForm/FrameContent/Engineering.html |archive-date=15 February 2012 |df=dmy }} (which was already added to the East Indian Railway on 15 August 1947). On 1 August 1955, the portions of BNR stretching from Howrah to {{stnlnk|Visakhapatnam}} in the South which is now the Headquarters of South Coast Railway zone, Howrah to Nagpur in the Central area and up to Katni in the North Central Region were separated from Eastern Railway and became the South Eastern Railway.Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.42–3{{cite web|url=https://www.easternrailway.gov.in/erweb_new/about_us/aboutus.asp|title=The Eastern Railway-About us|publisher=The Eastern Railway|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914220045/http://www.easternrailway.gov.in/erweb_new/about_us/aboutus.asp|archive-date=14 September 2008|df=dmy-all}} Three more divisions: Dhanbad, Mughalsarai and Malda were formed later.{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/focus/fojul99/fo2407991.html|title=Focus-Eastern Railway|publisher=Press Information Bureau, Government of India}} Till 30 September 2002 ER consisted seven divisions.

On 1 October 2002 a new zone, the East Central Railway, headquarters at Hajipur, was carved out by separating the Eastern Railway's Danapur, Dhanbad and Mughalsarai divisions from it. Presently, it comprises four divisions and they are Malda Town, Howrah, {{stnlnk|Sealdah}} and Asansol.

In 2021, Eastern Railway completed full electrification of its 2010 km rail network in West Bengal,{{Cite web |last=Press Release |first=CPRO's Office |date=25 February 2021 |title=100% ELECTRIFICATION OVER EASTERN RAILWAY ROUTE KILOMETERS IN WEST BENGAL ACHIEVED |url=https://er.indianrailways.gov.in/view_detail.jsp?lang=0&id=0,4,268&dcd=3360&did=1614239561220DF6CEF9632A581A66B45066D81B7DBA0 |access-date=5 June 2022 |website=Eastern Railway}} while in 2022, its entire network of 2848 km was electrified with the conversion of the Hansdiha-Godda section.{{Cite news |last=Statesman News Service |date=26 May 2022 |title=Eastern Railway achieves 100pc electrification |work=The Statesman |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/bengal/eastern-railway-achieves-100pc-electrification-1503075815.html |access-date=5 June 2022}}{{Cite news |last=PTI |date=27 May 2022 |title=Eastern Railway achieves 100 pc electrification of 2,848 km network |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/eastern-railway-achieves-100-pc-electrification-of-2848-km-network/articleshow/91827341.cms |access-date=5 June 2022}}