Cooch Behar railway station

कोचबिहार COOCHBEHAR কোচবিহার
Passenger train station
General information
Location	Cooch Behar, West Bengal India
Coordinates	26°19′07″N89°27′23″E / 26.31871°N 89.45631°E / 26.31871; 89.45631
Elevation	42 metres (138 ft)
Operated by	Northeast Frontier Railway
Line(s)	Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line
Platforms	1
Tracks	1
Connections	E-rickshaw, Bus
Construction
Structure type	Standard on Ground
Parking	Available
Bicycle facilities	Available
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	COB
Zone(s)	Northeast Frontier Railway
Division(s)	Alipurduar
History
Opened	1901(123 years ago) (1901)
Electrified	No
Previous names	Cooch Behar State Railway
Services
Location कोचबिहार COOCHBEHAR Location in West Bengal

Cooch Behar railway station (also referred to as Old Cooch Behar railway station) serves Cooch Behar in Cooch Behar district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

History

Main article: Cooch Behar State Railway

Cooch Behar State Railway built a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm)-wide narrow-gauge railway from the southern bank of the Torsa opposite Cooch Behar town to Gitaldaha, a station on the tracks of Eastern Bengal Railway in 1894. Cooch Behar town was connected in 1901 after a bridge was built on the Torsa. It was converted to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)-wide metre gauge in 1910. ^[1] Northeast Frontier Railway converted the Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge in 2007. ^{[2] [3]}

Infrastructure and amenities

The railway station is equipped with basic passenger facilities such as a waiting room and toilet. The station offers free Wi-Fi provided by RailTel. ^[4] In 2023, a 'One Station One Product' store was opened to provide a market for local artisanship. ^[5]

Trains

Six trains stop at Cooch Behar railway station. Both up and down trains are mentioned below. ^[6]

• 07513/07514 Siliguri-Bamanhat DEMU Special
• 05465/05466 Alipurduar Junction-Bamanhat Passenger Special
• 15467/15468 Siliguri-Bamanhat Intercity Express

Preceding station	Indian Railways			Following station
New Cooch Behar towards Alipurduar		Northeast Frontier Railway zone Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line		Dewanhat towards Bamanhat

Railway heritage museum

Façade of the Cooch Behar Railway Museum

The more than a century old Cooch Behar railway station has been accorded a heritage status ^[7] and a new building was built to accommodate a Railway Heritage Museum. ^{[8] [9]} The railway museum is a minuscule version of the National Rail Museum located in New Delhi and is based on the architecture of the Madan Mohan temple in Cooch Behar. ^{[10] [11]}

There are four open galleries in the museum with different themes related to Indian Railways and Cooch Behar State Railway. The external garden area has numerous instruments and machinery related to railways. A coach restaurant was also inaugurated near the museum which was later closed due to operational reasons. The coach is now placed next to the railway station as a display. ^[12]

References

1. "The Cooch Behar State Railways (1903)". "The Cooch Behar state and its land revenue settlements" by H. N. Chaudhuri, Cooch Behar State Press, 1903 – Review by R Sivaramakrishnan. IRFCA. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
2. 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 21 February 2013.
3. Bepari, Sahel; Adhikari, Dr. Madhab Chandra. "Railway expansion in the Princely State of Cooch Behar: A Case Study of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan" (PDF). Journal of People's History and Culture. 7 (2): 2. ISSN   2395-7379. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2023– via Garia Society for Studies of Marginal People.
4. "Full scale Superlative RailWire Wi-Fi Experience". RailTel. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
5. "728 Railway stations are covered with 785 One Station One Product outlets in 21 States and 3 Union Territories across the country". pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
6. Kagyung, Biplob. "6 Departures from Cooch Behar NFR/Northeast Frontier Zone - Railway Enquiry". indiarailinfo.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
7. "List of Heritage buildings / templet / precincts / sites etc of Cooch Behar Town" (PDF). West Bengal Heritage Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
8. "Construction of Railway Heritage Museum starts". Cooch Behar Calling. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
9. Bora, Bijay Sankar. "Track Record". The Tribune, 21 November 2010. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
10. "Rail Museum at Cooch Behar". Northeast Frontier Railway zone. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
11. "Temple of heritage". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
12. "Rail Museum at Cooch Behar" (PDF). Northeast Frontier Railway zone. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.

External links

• Cooch Behar travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official images of Cooch Behar Railway Museum (Archived)