Kolkata Suburban Railway Map

The railways form the life line of India. Railway journeys in India are a completely different experience - right from booking your tickets to reaching your destination. The IR has several divisions of which the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway are headquartered in Calcutta. There are two major railway stations in Calcutta - Howrah and Sealdah. Calcutta and its neighbouring districts have an extensive (but crowded) suburban railway system. Most of the trains are EMUs (Electric Multiple Units). The Suburban railway system can be categorized as follows:

Zones and corridors

The suburban railway services in Kolkata are operated by Eastern Railway (ER) and South Eastern Railway (SER). The Kolkata Metro Railway operates the underground Metro services in the city as well. There is a separate Circular Railway corridor in the city also operated by ER.

From Howrah Station

South Eastern Railways

Operated by the South Eastern Railway, this section of the line serves the south western suburbs of Greater Kolkata. The destination stations lie :

In the south western part of Howrah district like Santragachi, Andul, Amta
In the East Midnapore district like Panskura, Haldia.
In the eastern and southern part of West Midnapore district like Kharagpur, Midnapore and Digha.

Eastern Railways

Operated by the Howrah section of Eastern Railways, this line runs on the western banks of river Hooghly and serves the following areas:

The northern part of Howrah district like Belur, Bally.
The eastern part of Hooghly district like Rishra, Serampore, Chandannagar, Bandel.
The central part of Hooghly district like Tarakeshwar.
The central part of Barddhaman district connecting the town of Barddhaman. From Barddhaman, another suburban service connects the cities of Durgapur and Asansol further to the west.
The eastern part of Barddhaman district like Katwa.

Howrah to Barddhaman is reached by two corridors popularly known as the Main Line and the Chord Line. The main Line runs through the towns of Serampore, Chandernagore and Bandel. Whereas, the Chord Line runs through the towns of Dankuni, Baruipara, Kamarkundu and Masagram.

From Sealdah Station

Main Section

This line serves the northern suburbs on the eastern bank of Hooghly river and further east towards the very end of the international border between India and Bangladesh. The destinations facilitated by this line are:

In North 24 Parganas district along the banks of the Hooghly like Dum Dum, Barrackpore, Naihati.
In North 24 Parganas district towards the north east and towards the Bangladesh border like Bongaon, Basirhat, Hasnabad.
In Nadia district like Kalyani, Ranaghat, Shantipur and Krishnangar.

South Section

Serves the southern suburbs of Calcutta like Ballygunge, Jadavpur, Garia, Budge Budge and district towns like Port Canning, Diamond Harbour and Lakshmikantapur.

Circular Railway

This line encircles the entire city. It starts from Dum Dum Junction in the north and passes through Chitpur, Burrabazar, B.B.D.Bagh, Prinsep Ghat, Hastings, Kidderpore, Remount Road, Majherhat, Ballygunge, Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt and finally back to Dum Dum Junction.