Knowing the fact that old is gold, from the old Calcutta to the modern day Kolkata, amongst all the busy stations, Sealdah Railway Station incredibly stands out from the rests. Sealdah, currently having 20 platforms with an estimated 1.8 million passenger footfall daily is a hub spot for Indian Railways.
In 1857, East Bengal Railway was set up in order to establish the inter-connecting routes between Calcutta and various parts of Northern and Southern Bengal. Sealdah if compared to then, it was an underdeveloped area with mud, marshes and potholes everywhere. 60 miles long rail tracks were laid down amidst the city of Calcutta and Southeastern Railway Company was formed. It successfully connected Sealdah to Dum Dum.
In 1862, the station was well established with 4 platforms, since then it emerged as one of the most important Railway Stations in Kolkata. Gradually it got more developed and further connected places like Diamond Harbour, Canning, Siliguri, Assam and beyond. The tram terminus was located at Sealdah Station before the year 1978 from where the concept of horse tram carriage started. Sealdah Station was the shelter for many homeless people after the Bengal partition.
Speaking of the current scenario there are three main station terminals at the Sealdah Station- Sealdah North having 5 platforms (1 to 4 and 4A), Sealdah Main having 8 platforms (5 to 9, 9A,9B and 9C) and Sealdah South having 7 platforms (10A to 14 and 14A).
Kolkata East West Metro Rail Line 2 is being constructed across the Sealdah Railway Station, which brings even more crowd to the station, thus indeed making it an engaged hub.
This evergrowing station has now spread its routes all over India connecting various places to Kolkata and it is still expanding with a bright hope of better travelling future perspectives of Indian Railways.
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