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Jalpaiguri
Indian Railways station
General information
Location	Station Feeder Road, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, PIN 735 101 India
Coordinates	26°31′08″N 88°43′25″E / 26.5189°N 88.7237°E / 26.5189; 88.7237
Elevation	84 metres (276 ft)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	Northeast Frontier Railway
Line(s)	Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line
Platforms	3
Tracks	4, 2 on Platform, 2 Loop lines, however line 4(goods) is not connected to others at the RQJ end
Construction
Structure type	Standard on ground
Parking	Available
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	JPG
Zone(s)	NFR
Division(s)	Katihar
History
Opened	1878
Electrified	Yes
Previous names	Bengal Assam Railway
Location Jalpaiguri railway stationLocation in West BengalShow map of IndiaJalpaiguri railway stationJalpaiguri railway station (West Bengal)Show map of West Bengal

Jalpaiguri railway station serves Jalpaiguri city in Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

History

During the British period, all connections from southern parts of Bengal to North Bengal were through the eastern part of Bengal. From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, was in two laps. The first lap was a 185 km journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River, then across the river in a ferry and the second lap of the journey. A 336 km metre-gauge line of the North Bengal Railway linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri via Jalpaiguri.

The 1.8 km-long Hardinge Bridge across the Padma came up in 1912. In 1926 the metre-gauge section north of the bridge was converted to broad gauge, so the entire Calcutta–Siliguri route became broad gauge. The route thus ran: Sealdah–Ranaghat–Bheramara–Hardinge Bridge–Iswardi–Santahar–Hili–Parabtipur–Nilphamari–Haldibari-Jalpaiguri-Siliguri.

With the partition of India, this track got trisected. The through route was formally closed after the India–Pakistan War in 1965.

The Siliguri–Haldibari, part of the original broad gauge Calcutta–Siliguri track via Hardinge Bridge, got delinked from the trunk route in 1947. As all the other tracks in the area were metre gauge, it was converted from broad gauge to metre gauge in the late forties. When New Jalpaiguri railway station came up, the line was extended to New Jalpaiguri. When broad-gauge lines were laid in the area, it was reconverted to broad gauge and now functions as the Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line.

Amenities

Jalpaiguri railway station has the following amenities: computerized reservation center, waiting rooms, retiring rooms, book stall and food stall.

References

1. ^ "India: the complex history of the junctions at Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri". IRFCA. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
2. "New rail transit route thru India gets govt nod". Priyo Internet Life. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.

External links

• Departures from Jalpaiguri railway station
• Jalpaiguri travel guide from Wikivoyage

Preceding station	Indian Railways			Following station
Kadobaritowards ?		Northeast Frontier Railway zoneHaldibari–New Jalpaiguri line		Mohitnagar Jalpaiguritowards ?

• Katihar railway division
• Railway stations in Jalpaiguri district
• Railway stations in India opened in 1878
• Transport in Jalpaiguri