Eastern Indian Railway

The Eastern Railway is one of the major zones of Indian Railways. Fairley Place in Kolkata being its headquarters, the Eastern zone is segregated into four divisions including Howrah, Malda, Sealdah, and Asansol for better administration. On 14 April 1952, the Eastern Railways was created by merging the East Indian Railway encompassing divisions of Sealdah, Howrah, Asansol and Danapur with Bengal - Nagpur Railway.

At present, Eastern Railway encompasses 2382.38 kilometers of route. For the economy of the country, the region attended by the Eastern Railway is really significant. Besides ministering the most populated expanse of the country, Eastern Railway deals with the area that is prosperous in industry, agriculture and minerals. The three major workshops of Eastern Railway are located in Jamalpur, Liluah and Kanchrapara.

Eastern Railway elongates to the Bangladesh border in the East, whereas Lalgola, Malda and Kiul in the North, Kakdwip near Ganga Sagar in the South and Asansol and Jhajha in the West. In order to accommodate long distance passenger rush, the Railway runs a large number of high-speed long distance trains. Rajdhani Express, being the premium one, ran for the first time (1969) on the tracks of ER and NR between Howrah and Delhi.

Eastern Railway is also known for making most of its suburban routes electrified, yet the routes that have not been electrified, are getting served by Diesel Multiple Units. The overall originating traffic of Eastern Railway comprises 86 percent of coal. In Eastern India, the major Power Houses and Industries rely upon the coal encumbered on the Eastern Railway. Not only this, Eastern Railway also transfers Iron, Steel, Stone, Cement, Jute, Tea, Textile, Automobiles etc.