Northeast Frontier Railway zone

Northeast Frontier Railway
	3-Northeast Frontier Railway
	N.F. Railway Headquarter, Maligaon
Overview
Headquarters	Maligaon, Guwahati
Locale	Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Bihar
Dates of operation	January 15, 1958; 66 years ago–
Predecessor	North Eastern Railway
Technical
Track gauge	Broad gauge; Narrow gauge
Previous gauge	Metre gauge
Other
Website	North East Frontier Railway website

The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across Northeastern states and some districts of eastern Bihar and northern West Bengal.

Divisions

Northeast Frontier Railway is divided into 5 divisions:

Each of these divisions is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager, a Senior Administrative Grade officer of the rank of Joint Secretary to Government of India. The departmental setup at headquarters level and divisional setup in the field assists the General Manager in running the railways. Various departments namely engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal & telecom, operations, commercial, safety, accounts, security, personal and medical are headed by a Senior Administrative Grade / Higher Administrative Grade officer, provide technical and operational support to the divisions in train operations.

History

In 1881, the Assam Railway and Trading Company opened a metre gauge line 65 kilometres (40 mi) long from Dibrugarh to Makum. This company later started the first passenger train in Assam by the name of Dibru–Sadiya Railway. The North Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 by amalgamating two railway systems: the Assam Railway and Oudh and Tirhut Railway. Later, it was bifurcated into two railway zones on 15 January 1958, the North Eastern Railway and the Northeast Frontier Railway.^[1] to better serve the needs of the northeastern states.

Operational area

The area of Northeast Frontier Railway operations is characterized by exceptional beauty and at the same time by some of the most arduous terrain. This difficult terrain limits the rail network expansion, and the only state with a decent rail network is Assam. The network is not broad gauge in many parts and the rail lines are antiquated with speeds at some sections being limited to a maximum of 30 km/h (19 mph). Before the Saraighat Bridge was constructed, passengers had to get down on the Amingaon side of the Brahmaputra and take a ferry across to Pandu Junction from where they could resume their journey. The majority of the tracks have been converted to BG and electrification is in process starting from Katihar till Guwahati.

Major sections

A few of the major sections under the Northeast Frontier Railway zone are:

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

Darjeeling to Ghoom heritage narrow-gauge train

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is maintained and governed under the responsibility of Katihar division. It ascends 6,850 feet (2,090 m) from New Jalpaiguri; the climb begins at Sukna, continues uninterruptedly to Ghum (7,407 ft or 2,258 m) and descends the final 5 miles (8.0 km) to Darjeeling. After independence, India's partition resulted in the isolation of the Northeast region. Consequently, the DHR was merged into Assam Railways, it was closed for the construction of the Assam–Bengal link line and one of its extension lines to Kishanganj was converted to metre gauge. DHR's other extension line to Kalimpong was washed away due to floods. On reopening, the DHR was merged with North Eastern Railway in 1952 and later into Northeast Frontier Railway in 1958.

The DHR achieved worldwide fame for many reasons such as:

A gateway to the Himalayas
The tiny four-wheeled steam locomotives of the 19th century
The curves, loops, "Z"s and steep grades crisscrossing the road

An interest in DHR all along has ensured that it continues to operate notwithstanding very heavy losses. The steam locomotive is an icon of this Railway. Tindharia workshop has kept 13 locomotives surviving, some of which are over 100 years old and the youngest is about 70 years old.

Timeline of DHR:

20 January 1948: Purchased by the Government of India
26 January 1948: Transferred to Assam Rail Link
26 January 1950: Transferred to Assam Railway
14 January 1952: Transferred to North Eastern Railway
15 January 1958: Transferred to Northeast Frontier Railway

Major Trains

Number	Train Name	Starting Station	Terminating Station
20503/20504 20505/20506	Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express	Dibrugarh	New Delhi
22503/22504	Dibrugarh–Kanyakumari Vivek Express	Dibrugarh	Kanyakumari
15909/15910	Avadh Assam Express	Dibrugarh	Lalgarh
15657/15658	Brahmaputra Mail	Kamakhya	Old Delhi
20501/20502	Agartala Tejas Rajdhani Express	Agartala	Anand Vihar Terminal
12504/12503	Agartala–SMVT Bengaluru Humsafar Express	Agartala	SMVT Bengaluru Terminal
15959/15960 15961/15962	Kamrup Express	Dibrugarh	Howrah
12513/12514	Silchar–Secunderabad Express	Silchar	Secunderabad
12519/12520	Lokmanya Tilak Terminus–Agartala AC Express	Agartala	Lokmanya Tilak Terminus
12507/12508	Aronai Express	Thiruvananthapuram	Silchar
12509/12510	Guwahati-SMVT Bengaluru Superfast Express	Guwahati	SMVT Bengaluru
15903/15904	Dibrugarh-Chandigarh Express	Dibrugarh	Chandigarh
15933/15934	New Tinsukia–Amritsar Express	New Tinsukia	Amritsar
15645/15646	Lokmanya Tilak Terminus–Dibrugarh Express	Dibrugarh	Lokmanya Tilak Terminus
15635/15636	Dwarka Express	Guwahati	Okha
15653/15654	Amarnath Express	Guwahati	Jammu Tawi
15655/15656	Kamakhya–Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express	Guwahati	Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra
22511/22512	Kamakhya–Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Karmabhoomi Express	Kamakhya	Lokmanya Tilak Terminus
12505/12506	North East Express	Kamakhya	Anand Vihar Terminal
15667/15668	Kamakhya–Gandhidham Superfast Express	Kamakhya	Gandhidham
15655/15656	New Tinsukia–SMVT Bengaluru Superfast Express	New Tinsukia	SMVT Bengaluru
15929/15930	New Tinsukia–Tambaram Express	New Tinsukia	Tambaram

Loco sheds

Diesel Loco Shed, Siliguri
Diesel & Electric Loco Shed, Malda Town
Diesel Loco Shed, New Guwahati
Diesel Loco Shed, Mariani

Sicklines & Pitlines

Dibrugarh Coaching Depot, Dibrugarh
Pitline, Dibrugarh
N.F.Railway Mechanical Workshop, Dibrugarh
Coach Maintenance Depot/Sickline, Guwahati
Pitline, Guwahati
Pitline, New Guwahati
New Bongaigaon Carriage & Wagon Workshop, New Bongaigaon
Coach Maintenance Depot, Kamakhya
Automatic Coach Washing Pitline, Kamakhya
Silchar Coaching Depot, Silchar
Pitline, Silchar
DEMU cum Sick Shed, Agartala
Pitline, Agartala
Routine Overhaul(ROH) Depot, New Tinsukia
Tinsukia Carriage Depot, Tinsukia
New Coaching Depot/Sickline, Katihar
Pitline, Balurghat
Coach Maintenance Depot, New Jalpaiguri
Routine Overhaul(ROH) Depot, New Jalpaiguri
DEMU Car Shed, Siliguri

Major stations

These are the major railway station which have large numbers of passenger frequencies and stoppages of trains in the zone.

List of major railway stations in Northeast Frontier Railway Zone of Indian Railways
Sl. No.	Name of station	Station code	Division
1	Guwahati	GHY	Lumding
2	Dibrugarh	DBRG	Tinsukia
3	Rangiya Junction	RNY	Rangiya
4	Kamakhya Junction	KYQ	Lumding
5	Lumding Junction	LMG	Lumding
6	Mariani Junction	MXN	Tinsukia
7	Badarpur Junction	BPB	Lumding
8	Silchar	SCL	Lumding
9	Dimapur	DMV	Lumding
10	New Tinsukia Junction	NTSK	Tinsukia
11	Rangapara North Junction	RPAN	Rangiya
12	New Bongaigaon Junction	NBQ	Rangiya
13	New Alipurduar	NOQ	Alipurduar
14	New Cooch Behar Junction	NCB	Alipurduar
15	Alipurduar Junction	APDJ	Aipurduar
16	New Jalpaiguri Junction	NJP	Katihar
17	Katihar Junction	KIR	Katihar
18	Purnia Junction	PRNA	Katihar
19	Agartala	AGTL	Lumding
20	Siliguri Junction	SGUJ	Katihar
21	Jalpaiguri Road railway station	JPE	Alipurduar
22	Dhupguri railway station	DQG	Alipurduar

References

^ Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.42-4

External links

[1] Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.42-4

[1]