New Gitaldaha
Indian Railways station
General information
LocationCooch Behar, West Bengal
India
Coordinates26°02′07″N 89°29′20″E / 26.03524°N 89.48884°E / 26.03524; 89.48884
Other information
StatusLine out of service
History
Opened1900
Closed1955–1960?
Previous namesCooch Behar State Railway
Location
New Gitaldaha is located in West Bengal
New Gitaldaha
New Gitaldaha
Location in West Bengal
New Gitaldaha is located in India
New Gitaldaha
New Gitaldaha
Location in India

New Gitaldaha railway station is on the broad-gauge Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line.[1]

Gitaldaha was a railway station and is a defunct rail transit point on the India–Bangladesh border in Cooch Behar district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The corresponding point on the Bangladesh side is Mogalhat in Lalmonirhat District.[2][3]

Railway links

Map
[fullscreen map]
Places in the south-eastern portion of Dinhata subdivision in Cooch Behar district, western part of Dhubri district, northern part of Kurigram district and northern part of Lalmonirhat district, all linked with development of railways in the area.
CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, RS: railway station.
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly.

The area was agog with railway activity in the 19th–20th century. The Assam Behar State Railway linked Parbatipur to Katihar, with a metre-gauge line in 1889. In the early 1900s, the Eastern Bengal Railway extended railways to Lalmonirhat, Gitaldaha (via Mogalhat), Bamanhat, Golokganj and other places, thereby connecting Assam to Katihar, in Bihar, via North Bengal. In 1901 Cooch Behar State Railway built the narrow-gauge line from Gitaldaha to Jayanti, near the Bhutan border. Shortly thereafter, the line was upgraded to meter gauge.[4][5]

The Lalmonirhat–Mogalhat–Gitaldaha route was functional when India and Pakistan agreed in 1955 for resumption of railway traffic between the two countries, and it included movement of cross traffic via Mogalhat through the Eastern Bengal Railway.[6] A portion of the bridge across the Dharla River at 26°00′11″N 89°28′10″E / 26.00304°N 89.46934°E / 26.00304; 89.46934 was washed away by floods in 1988.[7][8]

Prior to the partition of India, the prestigious Assam Mail used to travel from Santahar to Guwahati.[9]

The conversion of the 72 km-long Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge in 2007, and its subsequent recommissioning, had a station at New Gitaldaha.[10]

New Gitaldaha railway station serves Gitaldaha and the surrounding areas.

The map alongside presents the position as it stands today (2020). The international border was not there when the railways were first laid in the area in the 19th-20th century. It came up in 1947. Since then, it has been an effort to live up to the new realities. The map is 'interactive' (the larger version) - it means that all the places shown in the map are linked in the full screen map.

References

  1. ^ "55765 =>55465 Alipurduar – Bamunhat Passenger". Time Table. India Rail Info. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Introducing Burimari". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on 21 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Notification No. 63/94-Cus. (N.T.) dtd 21/11/1994 with amendments - Land Customs Stations and Routes for import and export of goods by land or inland water ways". Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  4. ^ R. P. Saxena. "Indian Railway History timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Royal History". page 5. Cooch Behar district authorities. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Agreement on Resumption of Rail Traffic, 15 April 1955". Media Center, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  7. ^ "A Snap in the Link". Jebun Nesa Alo. The Business Standard, 22 February 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  8. ^ Suvojit Bagchi (24 June 2017). "Villages without borders". The Hindu. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Trains of fame and locos with a name - Part 2". IRFCA. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  10. ^ Srivastava, V.P. "Role of Engineering Deptt in Meeting Corporate Objectives of Indian Railways" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
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