Eastern Railway mulls extending 4 platforms at Howrah station

As a part of the Railways’ plans of expanding coaching terminals in key cities to meet rising passenger demand and reduce congestion, the Eastern Railway is considering extending four platforms at Howrah station.

With an aim of increasing the capacity of the terminal, the Howrah Division of the ER has planned extension of four existing platforms including platform numbers 10, 11, 12 and 13 at Howrah station. At present, the existing lengths of these four platforms are; 430 metres of platform 10, 435 metres of platform 11, 487.5 metres of platform 12 and 457.7 metres of platform 13. To facilitate accommodation of longer trains, the divisional railway authorities have proposed to extend platform 10 by 112 metres, platform 11 by 107 metres, platform 12 by 103.5 metres, and platform 13 by 89.3 metres. Once the extension project is completed, the final platform lengths would be increased to 542 metres for platform No. 10 and 11, 591 metres for platform No. 12, and 547 metres for platform No. 13. The extensions, according to official sources in the zonal railway, will enable improved accommodation of longer coach formations and increasing train capacity and operational flexibility.

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Notably, the Easter Railway, in the recent past, carried out major capacity augmentation initiatives at Howrah station to enhance train handling capability, improve traffic flow by massive extension of platforms 14 and 15. Post the extension, platform number 15, which earlier could accommodate only 12-coach EMU trains, is now capable of handling 22 to 24-coach long-distance mail/express trains, improving operational efficiency and reducing detention of incoming trains.

After the massive extensions, the Eastern Railway is now constructing two new platforms at Howrah station as part of the zonal railway’s capacity augmentation initiatives. Under the project, platform No. 24, with a length of 635 metres, will be capable of accommodating full-length 24-coach long-distance mail/express trains, while platform No.16, with a length of 300 metres, will be suitable for handling 12-coach trains.

The addition of these platforms will further enhance the terminal handling capacity by enabling reception and dispatch of more trains with reduced congestion and improved traffic fluidity, post completion of the project. As learnt from official sources in the ER, these measures will also ensure better segregation of suburban and long-distance services, improved punctuality, and smoother passenger movement through effective crowd management and optimal utilisation of station infrastructure.

According to Eastern Railway sources, the planned works, along with the already completed extensions of platforms numbers 14 and 15, will improve the terminal handling capability of Howrah station by facilitating smoother reception and dispatch of trains, reducing congestion, and enhancing overall traffic fluidity.