Biggest Railway Station in India

Biggest Railway Station in India 

As we all know that Indian Railways is considered as the fourth largest railway network in the world, with a running track of 92,081 km and covers a distance of 66,687 km. Indian Railways has carried 8.107 Billion passengers in 2015-16 alone.

That is approximately 22 Million passengers a day. In order to make the rail travel comfortable, 7216 stations are built in different parts of the country.

There are different reasons under which the railway station is considered as biggest. Some of them are in terms of

• Total number of Platforms.
• Length of Platform.
• Size and height of architectural structure and design.
• Crowd.
• Junction or number of emerging railway routes.

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Total number of Platforms (Howrah Junction).

• The Howrah Junction railway station is the biggest railway station in terms of maximum platforms. The total number of Platforms at this station is 23.
• Howrah Junction, more popularly known as Howrah Station, is the oldest and largest railway complex in India, serving the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata.
• Approximately 617 passenger trains pass through the station each day requiring its 23 platforms (the largest number of platforms in Indian railways) and serving more than two million passengers per day with the highest train handling capacity of any Indian railway station.
• Howrah Junction is one of five intercity railway stations serving the city of Kolkata, the others being Sealdah, Satrangachi, Shalimar, and Kolkata railway station.
• Howrah Junction is also one of the busiest stations in India as per passenger footfall.
• The station is located in Howrah on the west bank of the Hooghly River.
• 1373 stations across India are directly connected to Howrah Railway Station.

Length of Platform (Gorakhpur Junction).

• The Gorakhpur Junction railway station is the biggest railway station in terms of length of Platform. The total length of Platform No. 1 is 1,366.33 metres (4,482.7 ft) with ramp and 1,355.40 metres (4,446.9 ft) without it.
• The Gorakhpur Railway Station is located in the city of Gorakhpur in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
• It serves as the headquarters of the North Eastern Railway.
• The station offers Class A-1 railway station facilities.
• The city of Gorakhpur serves 10 local railway stations known as Gorakhpur Junction, Gorakhpur cantt, Domingarh, Sahjanwa, Sihapar, Maniram, Nakaha jungle, Kushmi, Jagatbela, and Unaula.
• Gorakhpur Junction railway station is directly connected by all regions of India and have many long routes trains originating and ending at Gorakhpur Junction railway station and is directly connected to all major railway stations of India and near by districts of Nepal.
• Total number of Platforms :- 10.

Size and height of architectural structure and design (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus).

• The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is the biggest railway station in terms of size and height of architectural structure and design.
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Station Code :- CSTM (mainline) / ST (suburban) also known by its former name Victoria Terminus (Station Code :- BBVT/VT) is a historic railway station and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India which serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways.
• The station was designed by Frederick William Stevens according to the concept of Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and meant to be a similar revival of Indian Goth (classical era) architecture.
• The station was built in 1887 in the Bori Bunder area of Mumbai to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
• The new railway station was built to the south of the old Bori Bunder railway station.
• It is one of the busiest railway stations in India, serving as a terminal for both long-distance trains and suburban trains.
• The station's name was changed from Victoria Terminus (Station Code :- BBVT/VT) to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Station Code :- CST) in March 1996 in honour of Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji founder of the Maratha Empire.
• In 2017, the station was again renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Station Code :- CSTM). However, both the former name “VT” and the current name “CST” are popularly used.
• Total number of Platforms :- 18.

Crowd (Howrah Junction).

• The Howrah Junction railway station is the biggest railway station in terms of crowd. Approximately 617 passenger trains pass through the station each day.
• Howrah Junction, more popularly known as Howrah Station, is the oldest and largest railway complex in India, serving the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata.
• Approximately 617 passenger trains pass through the station each day requiring its 23 platforms (the largest number of platforms in Indian railways) and serving more than two million passengers per day with the highest train handling capacity of any Indian railway station.
• Howrah Junction is one of five intercity railway stations serving the city of Kolkata, the others being Sealdah, Satrangachi, Shalimar, and Kolkata railway station.
• Howrah Junction is also one of the busiest stations in India as per passenger footfall.
• The station is located in Howrah on the west bank of the Hooghly River.
• 1373 stations across India are directly connected to Howrah Railway Station.
• Total number of Platforms :- 23.

Junction or number of emerging railway routes (Mathura Junction).

• The Mathura Junction railway station is the biggest railway station in terms of number of emerging railway routes. There are 7 emerging railway routes from Mathura Junction.
• Mathura Junction Railway Station is the Important and Big Station on Agra-Delhi chord of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Chennai lines.
• It is located in Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
• As per the 2018 report released by Quality Council of India (QCI), station was declared the least clean station among the 75 major stations.
• Mathura Junction railway station has a tourist information centre, telephone booths, computerised reservation centre, waiting room, vegetarian and non-vegetarian refreshment rooms, and a book stall.
• Mathura Junction is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.
• The junction is important as from here the routes of train coming from Delhi are bifurcated towards Mumbai and South Indian cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
• Total number of Platforms :- 10.