New Cooch Behar Junction railway station

New Cooch Behar junction railway station is the main railway station in the district of Cooch Behar.


न्यू कोचबिहार
NEW COOCHBEHAR

নিউ কোচবিহার
Express train, Passenger train & Freight train station
General information
LocationCooch Behar, West Bengal
India
Coordinates26°21′10″N 89°28′10″E / 26.35291°N 89.46955°E / 26.35291; 89.46955
Elevation46m
Operated byNortheast Frontier Railway
Line(s)
Platforms7
Tracks12
ConnectionsAuto-rickshaw, E-rickshaw
Construction
Structure typeStandard on Ground
ParkingParking Available
Bicycle facilitiesBicycle facilities Available
AccessibleDisabled access Yes
Other information
StatusFunctioning
Station codeNCB
Zone(s)Northeast Frontier Railway
Division(s)Alipurduar
History
Opened1966
Electrified Yes (2021)
Previous namesAssam Bengal Railway
Passengers
40K/Day (Increase high)
Services
Waiting RoomFood & DrinkFood PlazaLiftsCCTVEscalatorsRailwire Free WifiRetiring Rooms
Location
न्यू कोचबिहार NEW COOCHBEHAR is located in West Bengal
न्यू कोचबिहार NEW COOCHBEHAR

न्यू कोचबिहार
NEW COOCHBEHAR
Location in West Bengal
Map

It serves Cooch Behar city of the district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies under Alipurduar railway division.

It is a junction station on the New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon sectio of the Barauni–Guwahati line, New Mal–Changrabandha–New Cooch Behar line and Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line of Northeast Frontier Railway zone.

History

Cooch Behar had its first railway when Cooch Behar State Railway constructed the narrow gauge Geetaldaha-Jainti line in 1901. It was subsequently on the metre gauge Alipurduar-Bamanhat-Golokganj line. When Assam Link Project constructed the link through North Bengal, it used the longer New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line.[2]

New Cooch Behar station came up when the broad gauge New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of Barauni–Guwahati line was laid in 1966.[3]

Before partition there was a railway link from Cooch Behar to Dhubri via Gitaldaha and Golokganj. Some part of this route passed through Bangladesh, between Dinhata and Golokganj. There were two stations Pateswari and Sonahat which were in Bangladesh, these functioned even after partition. However, the collapse of the rail-cum-road bridge over the Gadadhar in the seventies ended that link. Now the bridge has been rebuilt and a new broad-gauge track has been laid, under New Maynaguri-Jogighopa Rail Project, via Tufangunj and Boxirhat, entirely through Indian territory.[4] Dhubri-New Jalpaiguri Inter-city Express via Cooch Behar was introduced in February 2012.[5] A new railway link from New Cooch Behar to New Jalpaiguri via Mathabhanga opened shortly.

Facilities

The entire compound of New Cooch Behar Railway Station is equipped with free high-speed Wi-Fi services provided by RailTel. New facilities include a Food Lounge, Air-Conditioned Dormitory and an Air-Conditioned Waiting Hall.[6] The station has a One Station One Product outlet offering handmade jewellery, jute products and handloom textiles to provide a market for local and indigenous products.[7]

To increase mobility among passengers especially physically challenged passengers, elevators have been installed in Platform 1, 2, 3 and 4. An escalator has also been installed in Platform 1 connecting to the foot overbridge.

Toilets are now equipped with modern sanitary fittings and have exclusive facilities for male, female and physically challenged. There are numerous Pay-and-Use Toilets in the station.[8] Special Waiting halls for ladies have also been built.

IRCTC offers online booking of Dormitory rooms and also allows online food ordering. There are over bridges connecting the different platforms. There are displays all over the railway station and numerous food and magazine vendors in every platform.

Electrification

The Union Minister of Railways announced a 126 km (78 mi) long electrified section between New Jalpaiguri to New Cooch Behar. Northern Frontier Railways has made a significant achievement in providing a pollution-free green mode of transport as electrification of total 334 km (208 mi) of track has been completed during the financial year 2020–21, despite the COVID-19 epidemic, railway electrification work in various sections of the North Frontier Railway was being done rapidly. The Electrification was inspected by the Commissioner of Railway Safety of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. Test runs have been conducted in early 2021. As of September 2021, the station is fully electrified and electric trains are operational.[9]

Preceding station Indian RailwaysFollowing station
New Baneswar
towards ?
Northeast Frontier Railway zonePundibari
towards ?
Baneswar
towards ?
Northeast Frontier Railway zone
Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line
Cooch Behar
towards ?
Chapaguri
towards ?
Northeast Frontier Railway zone
New Maynaguri–Jogighopa line
Maradanga
towards ?

Major trains

  1. New Jalpaiguri - Guwahati Vande Bharat Express
  2. Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express[10]
  3. Agartala - Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal Humsafar Express[11]
  4. Naharlagun - New Delhi AC Superfast Express
  5. Agartala - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus AC Superfast Express
  6. Kamakhya - Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal AC Superfast Express
  7. Guwahati - New Delhi Poorvattar Sampark Kranti Superfast Express
  8. Silchar–New Delhi Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Superfast Express
  9. Silchar - Thiruvananthapuram Aronai Superfast Express[12]
  10. Silchar - Coimbatore Superfast Express[13]
  11. Silchar–Secunderabad Express
  12. Silchar - Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express[14]
  13. Dibrugarh–Kanyakumari Vivek Express
  14. Dibrugarh–Amritsar Express
  15. Dibrugarh–Chandigarh Express
  16. Dibrugarh - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Superfast Express[15]
  17. Dibrugarh-Lalgarh Avadh Assam Express[16]
  18. Dibrugarh–Kolkata Superfast Express
  19. Kamrup Express[17]
  20. Silghat Town - Tambaram Nagaon Express[18]
  21. Silghat Town - Kolkata Kaziranga Express
  22. Agartala - Firozpur Tripura Sundari Express
  23. Agartala - Deoghar Weekly Express
  24. Agartala - Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express[19]
  25. New Tinsukia–SMVT Bengaluru Superfast Express
  26. New Tinsukia–Rajendra Nagar Weekly Express
  27. New Tinsukia–Tambaram Express[20]
  28. Guwahati - Jammu Tawi Lohit Express[21]
  29. Guwahati- Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal Kaziranga Superfast Express[22]
  30. Guwahati - Bikaner Express[23][24]
  31. Guwahati - Okha Dwarka Express
  32. Guwahati - Barmer Express
  33. Guwahati-Jammu Tawi Amarnath Express[25]
  34. Guwahati - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express[26]
  35. Guwahati-Howrah Saraighat Superfast Express
  36. Guwahati - Kolkata Garib Rath Express
  37. Kamakhya–Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express[27]
  38. Kamakhya–Gandhidham Superfast Express
  39. Kamakhya - Jodhpur, Bhagat Ki Kothi Express
  40. Kamakhya - Delhi Brahmaputra Mail[28]
  41. Kamakhya - Puri Express (via Adra)
  42. Kamakhya–Gaya Express
  43. Kamakhya - Delhi Northeast Express
  44. New Alipurduar - Sealdah Padatik Superfast Express
  45. Silchar-Trivandrum Superfast Express[29]
  46. Bamanhat - Sealdah Uttar Banga Express[30]
  47. New Jalpaiguri - Bongaigaon Express
  48. New Alipurdiar - Sealdah Teesta Torsha Express[31]
  49. Dibrugarh - Deogarh Express

References

Cooch Behar travel guide from Wikivoyage