Zonal Railways! North Eastern Railway of Indian Railways

In 1875, a 45 mile rail line from Dalsingsarai to Darbhanga reached out to famine affected areas and became the cornerstone in the history of the North Eastern Railway. North Eastern Railway came into existence on 14^thApril 1952, when two complete railway systems viz. Oudh Tirhoot Railway & Assam Railway and Fatehgarh district of BB & CI Railway were merged into one system and was inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru.It stretched from Achnera near Agra in the West to Ledo near the border of West Bengal in the East. On 15^thJanuary 1958, it was divided into two Zones (i) the North East Frontier Railway and (ii) the North Eastern Railway with headquarter at Gorakhpur, comprising of five divisions viz. Izatnagar, Lucknow, Varanasi, Samastipur and Sonepur.

North Eastern Railway

On 1^stOctober, 2002, Sonepur and Samastipur divisions of North Eastern Railway were merged with the newly created zone East Central Railway having its headquarter at Hajipur. Presently, North Eastern Railway has three divisions having headquarters at Varanasi, Lucknow and Izatnagar. This Railway, being a passenger oriented system, provides reliable transportation facility to the people of Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Western Bihar and also gives and impetus to the socio-economic and cultural development of the region. This Railway also caters to the transportation needs of neighbouring country Nepal.

The System:

The North Eastern Railway system passes through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand and runs from West to East. Most of the system is situated north of river Ganga and traverses through basin of river Ganga and touches Nepal border at number of places such as Nepalganj Road, Barhni, Nautanwa. A number of rivers originating in Nepal such as Sharda, Ghaghra, Rapti, Gandak and its various tributaries pass through areas served by this Railway.

Major rivers like Ganga, Gomti, Saryu, etc. cut across the railway system at a number of places. As these rivers are prone to flash floods, many sections of the N.E Railway are vulnerable and are prone to breaches in the rainy season. This Railway is famous for the bridges across the various rivers, each of which is an Engineering masterpiece. North Eastern Railway is primarily a passenger oriented system which serves western Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It passes through major tourist and cultural centres like Varanasi, Sarnath, Lucknow, Allahabad, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Lumbini, Ayodhya, Maghar, Mathura etc.

The state-wise* route Km are as follows:

State	B.G.	M.G.	Total
Uttarakhand	150	42	192
Uttar Pradesh	1976	985	2961
Bihar	188	109	297
Total	2314	1136	3450

The division-wise* route Km are as follows:

Division	B.G.	M.G.	Total
Izatnagar	640	390	1030
Lucknow	567	601	1168
Varanasi	1108	144	1252
Total	2315	1135	3450

* As on 31.03.2013.

There are 493 stations, two Mechanical workshops (one each at Gorakhpur and Izatnagar), two diesel sheds (one each at Gonda and Izatnagar), one Engineering workshop at Gorakhpur and one Signal workshop at Gorakhpur, on this Railway.