Kharagpur Railway Station

Kharagpur was a creation of the Bengal Nagpur Railway, which built its network across eastern and central India at the turn of the 20th century:

• 1 January 1899: the Kharagpur–Cuttack line opens, beginning the coastal route south towards Odisha and Chennai.
• 19 April 1900: the bridge over the Rupnarayan river at Kolaghat opens, connecting Kharagpur directly with Howrah; the same year Kharagpur is linked with Sini, towards Tatanagar and Nagpur.
• 1901: the Kharagpur–Midnapore branch opens.

Those three directions, east to Howrah, south to the coast and west to the industrial belt, still define Kharagpur today.

Kharagpur's signalling is run by what is described as Asia's largest railway Solid State Interlocking (SSI) system, the computer-based setup that sets routes and signals for every train through the junction. It manages about 275 trains a day, including 176 passenger trains as well as heavy freight.

KGP has 12 platforms, numbered 1, 1A, 2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 7 and 8, on 24 tracks, about 29 metres above sea level. A diesel loco shed at Kharagpur holds a large fleet of WAG-7 locomotives, 226 as of July 2025. Kharagpur is the headquarters of its own division of the South Eastern Railway.

Kharagpur grew as a classic railway colony, and it is also home to IIT Kharagpur, India's first Indian Institute of Technology, close to Hijli station. Students and faculty make up a good share of the station's long-distance passengers.

• With lettered platforms, check whether your train is on 2 or 2A.
• Many trains between Howrah and Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and the south pass through; compare them on the train timings page.
• For IIT Kharagpur, Hijli station can be closer than the junction.