Barkakana–Muri–Chandil line

The Barkakana–Muri–Chandil line is an Indian railway line connecting Barkakana and Muri with Chandil on the Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line. This 126-kilometre (78 mi) track is under the jurisdiction of South Eastern Railway.

Barkakana–Muri–Chandil line
Muri Junction, an important railway station on Barkakana–Muri–Chandil line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Jharkhand
Termini	Chandil Barkakana
Service
Type	Rail line
Operator(s)	South Eastern Railway
History
Opened	1927 onwards
Technical
Track length	126 km
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Electrification	1996–97 with 25 kV AC overhead line
Route map Legend km to Son Nagar to Gomoh/ Koderma 126 Barkakana Barkakana–Ranchi line to Ranchi 121 Ramgarh Cantonment 109 Mael 106 Barkipona 99 Gola Road 90 Harubera 85 Sondimra 78 Barlanga Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh–Hatia line to Gomoh 68 Muri Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh–Hatia line to Hatia Subarnarekha River Jharkhand West Bengal 57 Illoo 55 Torang 44 Suisa West Bengal Jharkhand 37 30 Tiruldih old route till 1990 31 Bakarkudi 29 Latemda 24 Haslang 18 Jhimri 8 Gunda Bihar 23 Ichadih 16 Dulmi 11 Pakridih old route till 1990 Bamni River 0 Chandil Asansol–Tatanagar– Kharagpur line km

History

The Bengal Nagpur Railway was formed in 1887 for the purpose of upgrading the Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway and then extending it via Bilaspur to Asansol, in order to develop a shorter Howrah–Mumbai route than the one via Allahabad.^[1] The Bengal Nagpur Railway main line from Nagpur to Asansol, on the Howrah–Delhi main line, was opened for goods traffic on 1 February 1891.^[2]

The Chandil–Barkakana line was opened for traffic in 1927.^[2]

Route diversion

With the construction of the Chandil Dam as a part of the Subarnarekha Multpurpose project, the traffic between Chandil and Tiruldih was diverted to a newly constructed line via Haslang & Bakarkudi in 1990 as the older route via Pakridih & Ichhadih became submerged in the dam waters.^[3]

Electrification

The Chandil–Gondabihar, Gondabihar–Tiruldih and Barkakana–Ramgarh Halt sectors were electrified in 1996–97. The Tiruldih–Ramgarh sector was electrified in 1997–98.^[4]