Chord link line (Kolkata Suburban Railway)

The Chord link line (Kolkata Suburban Railway) is also known as Calcutta Chord link (CC Link) which is the Branch line of the Kolkata Suburban Railway which comes under the jurisdiction of Eastern Railway's Sealdah Division & Howrah Division. Its termini are Sealdah (SDAH) and Dankuni Junction on the Sealdah-Dankuni route where it meets Howrah–Bardhaman chord line with the length of 22km with 9 stations. Which is an important link for both Divisions of Eastern Railway zone and has an direct connectivity with South Eastern Railway.

Calcutta Chord link line
Dankuni railway station, terminal station in Chord Link line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railway
Locale	West Bengal
Termini	Sealdah Dankuni Junction
Stations	Total stations:15 Interchange stations: 8
Website	Eastern Railway
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Kolkata Suburban Railway
Operator(s)	Eastern Railway
Depot(s)	Sealdah
Daily ridership	0.291 Million
History
Opened	1865
Technical
Line length	22 km (14 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Character	At grade, elevated
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Broad gauge
Electrification	25 kV overhead line
Operating speed	up to 100 km per hour
Route map km  to Howrah–Kharagpur line  0 Andul Mourigram  to Howrah–Kharagpur line  Kona Expressway 5 Bankranayabaz 7 Baltikuri  to Santragachi–Amta branch line  Benaras Road 10 Bhattanagar  to Howrah–Bardhaman chord  0 Dankuni Junction Dankuni Electric Loco Factory 13 / 4 Rajchandrapur Belanagar Bally 6 Bally Halt  to Howrah–Bardhaman main line  Belghoria Expressway PWD Road 7 Bally Ghat  Hooghly River  PWD Road 9 Dakshineswar BT Road 10 Baranagar Road Belgharia Expressway  to Sealdah–Ranaghat line  Noapara Keshtopur Canal  to Sealdah–Bangaon line  15 Dum Dum Junction Dum Dum Road  to Kavi Subhash  Jessore Road Patipukur  on Kolkata Circular Railway  Kolkata Keshtopur Canal Bidhannagar Road 18 Bidhannagar Road Kangurgachi Road Kangurgachi Road Cabin  to Kolkata Circular Railway  Narkeldanga Shed 22 Sealdah Main Sealdah Metro Sealdah South Belighata Gross Siding to Namkhana  Sealdah South lines

From Sealdah to Dum Dum Junction it shares a line with the Eastern line's Sealdah section mainline. After Dum Dum Junction, It Splits into two lines and starts elevation and runs parallel with the Beleghoria Expressway by Passing through Baranagar after which it crosses the Hooghly through the Vivekananda Setu and onto Bally Ghat and also Elevates over the Howrah–Bardhaman main line at Bally and Ends at Dankuni Junction. Additional Chord Connector has two wing which meets at Rajchandrapur before proceeding to Sealdah & other wing proceed to Dankuni. The Additional Chord link line which connects to the Santragachi–Amta branch line with the length of 13 Km to Andul which it lies at the South Eastern main line to Kharagpur is totally a single line. which stretches parallel to the NH-6 popularly Bombay Road. In the middle of ACCL there is Bhattanagar RPF post where 4 track exist for Goods Train. Towards Andul, it crosses Kona bridge and meets with Howrah-Amta Line at Baltikuri Halt where no train stops at present.

History

This line was opened in 1865 and converted to electrification in 1965,[1] On that time the Freight Services was passed on this line which was profitable for railways and the EMU trains also runs on this line for connecting to Chord line to Howrah Jn for plying long-distance trains. But due to Passenger Demand was Increased for Long Distance trains Start from Sealdah to pass through to this line and connects to the rest of India. for that purpose A Duronto Train to Puri from Sealdah was Started on 12 February 2012 for direct connectivity to Puri from Sealdah.[2]

Routes and Stations

Main line

Chord link line
#	Distance from Sealdah (km)	Station Name	Station Code	Connections
1	0	Sealdah	SDAH	Eastern line / South lines
2	4	Bidhannagar Road	BNXR	Eastern line / Circular line
3	7	Dum Dum Junction	DDJ	Eastern line / Circular line
4	12	Baranagar Road	BARN	None
5	13	Dakshineswar	DAKE	None
6	15	Bally Ghat	BLYG	None
7	16	Bally Halt	BLYH	None
8	17	Rajchandrapur	RCD	None
9	22	Dankuni Junction	DKAE	Eastern line

Main line Branch

Chord link line Branch
#	Station Name	Station Code	Connections
1	Dankuni Junction	DKAE	Eastern line
2	Rajchandrapur	RCD	Eastern line
3	Bhattanagar	BTNG	None
4	Baltikuri	BALT	South Eastern line
5	Bankranayabaz	BKNM	South Eastern line
6	Andul	ADL	South Eastern line

Future Development

Recently there is Doubling work of Dankuni - Andul (Additional Kolkata Chord link) line is going on to introduce more passenger train. If doubling work completes, a lot of trains would start from Sealdah or Chitpur Kolkata Terminal by which passengers of Kolkata would get convenience. It will alleviate pressure on Howrah. Besides Sealdah will get direct EMU train towards Kharagpur South Eastern mainline section.[3]

References

1. Electrifiaction of Railways, irfca.org, 10 December 2018
2. Introduction of Sealdah Puri Duronto Express, East Coast Railway,
3. New Projects of Eastern Railway, Eastern Railway, 10 December 2018