New Cooch Behar Junction railway station

New Cooch Behar junction railway station is the main railway station in the district of Cooch Behar.

NEW COOCHBEHAR নিউ কোচবিহার
Express train, Passenger train & Freight train station
General information
Location	Cooch Behar, West Bengal India
Coordinates	26°21′10″N 89°28′10″E
Elevation	46m
Operated by	Northeast Frontier Railway
Line(s)	Barauni–Guwahati line New Mal–Changrabandha–New Cooch Behar line Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line New Cooch Behar-Golokganj line
Platforms	7
Tracks	12
Connections	Auto-rickshaw, E-rickshaw
Construction
Structure type	Standard on Ground
Parking	Available
Bicycle facilities	Available
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	NCB
Zone(s)	Northeast Frontier Railway
Division(s)	Alipurduar
History
Opened	1966
Electrified	Yes (2021)
Previous names	Assam Bengal Railway
Passengers
40K/Day ( high)
Services
Location NEW COOCHBEHAR Location in West Bengal

New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section
km New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section 136 Abhayapuri 124 Boitamari 111 Chapar 88 Bilasipara 76 Bagribari 66 Alamganj Bamnai River 64 Dhubri Ghat 63 Dhubri 56 Gauripur 49 Balajan ex MG connection to Bamanhat New Cooch Behar–Golokganj line to New Cooch Behar 47 Golokganj 43 Moterjhar Bamnai River 35 Basbari 26 Monglajhora 16 Tipkai Gangia River 9 Saptagram New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section 256 New Bongaigaon IOCL Bongaigaon railway siding 251 Dangtal Kujia River 244 Basugaon Champabati River 237 Salakati Tarang River 228 Kokrajhar Gourang River 223 Sesapani 218 0 Fakiragram Junction Heli River Loshka River 212 Pratap Khata Gangia River 207 Chautara Pagla River Mara Jaima River 194 Guabari 189 Gossaigaon Hat 182 Srirampur Assam Hawraphuta River Assam West Bengal border Sankosh River 172 Jorai Sankosh River Raidāk River 164 Kamakhyaguri Raidāk River 159 Chepani Halt 154 Samuktala Road New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar– Samuktala line Gadadhar River Bala River Nonai River 144 New Alipurduar Kaljani River 133 New Baneswar New Cooch Behar–Golokganj line to Golokganj Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line to Bamanhat 125 New Cooch Behar Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line to Alipurduar Junction New Mal–Changrabandha– New Cooch Behar line 115 Pundibari 111 Sajerpar Torsa River 103 Ghoksadanga 96 Gumanihat 87 Falakata Mujnai River 83 Khirerkote Duduya River 78 Salbari 72 Kolaigram 65 Dhupguri 58 Altagram Jaldhaka River 49 Betgara 45 New Maynaguri planned Y connection (under construction) 41 New Domohani New Mal–Changrabandha line Teesta River 33 Jalpaiguri Road New Jalpaiguri-Haldibari line 26 Raninagar Jalpaiguri 18 Belakoba 9 Ambari Falakata New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar– Samuktala Road line Darjeeling Himalayan Railway narrow gauge line 0 New Jalpaiguri Katihar–New Jalpaiguri line

New Mal–Changrabandha– New Cooch Behar line
km   New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line 0 New Mal Junction 3 Malbazar 11 Baradighi 17 Neora Naddi Neora River 33 Ramsai closed MG section 23 Lataguri 37 Domohani New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section to New Maynaguri (under construction) 43 Maynaguri Road closed MG section 46 Barnes Ghat 52 Bhotepati 59 New Changrabandha 62 Changrabandha closed MG section India Bangladesh border closed MG section 65 Burimari Burimari–Lalmonirhat–Parbatipur line (MG line) 75 Jamaldah Gopalpur 85 Nayarhat 95 Mathabhanga Jaldhaka River 111 Chapaguri Torsa River New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line 126 New Cooch Behar Junction Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section Fakiragram–Dhubri branch line km
Sources:

It serves Cooch Behar city of the district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies under Alipurduar railway division.

It is a junction station on the New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of the Barauni–Guwahati line, New Mal–Changrabandha–New Cooch Behar line and Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line of Northeast Frontier Railway zone.

History

Cooch Behar had its first railway when Cooch Behar State Railway constructed the narrow gauge Geetaldaha-Jainti line in 1901. It was subsequently on the metre gauge Alipurduar-Bamanhat-Golokganj line. When Assam Link Project constructed the link through North Bengal, it used the longer New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line.

New Cooch Behar station came up when the broad gauge New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of Barauni–Guwahati line was laid in 1966.

Before partition there was a railway link from Cooch Behar to Dhubri via Gitaldaha and Golokganj. Some part of this route passed through Bangladesh, between Dinhata and Golokganj. There were two stations Pateswari and Sonahat which were in Bangladesh, these functioned even after partition. However, the collapse of the rail-cum-road bridge over the Gadadhar in the seventies ended that link. Now the bridge has been rebuilt and a new broad-gauge track has been laid, under New Maynaguri-Jogighopa Rail Project, via Tufangunj and Boxirhat, entirely through Indian territory. Dhubri-New Jalpaiguri Inter-city Express via Cooch Behar was introduced in February 2012. A new railway link from New Cooch Behar to New Jalpaiguri via Mathabhanga opened shortly.

Facilities

The entire compound of New Cooch Behar Railway Station is equipped with free high-speed Wi-Fi services provided by RailTel. New facilities include a Food Lounge, Air-Conditioned Dormitory and an Air-Conditioned Waiting Hall. The station has a One Station One Product outlet offering handmade jewellery, jute products and handloom textiles to provide a market for local and indigenous products.

To increase mobility among passengers especially physically challenged passengers, elevators have been installed in Platform 1, 2, 3 and 4. An escalator has also been installed in Platform 1 connecting to the foot overbridge.

Toilets are now equipped with modern sanitary fittings and have exclusive facilities for male, female and physically challenged. There are numerous Pay-and-Use Toilets in the station. Special Waiting halls for ladies have also been built.

IRCTC offers online booking of Dormitory rooms and also allows online food ordering. There are over bridges connecting the different platforms. There are displays all over the railway station and numerous food and magazine vendors in every platform.

Electrification

The Union Minister of Railways announced a 126 km (78 mi) long electrified section between New Jalpaiguri to New Cooch Behar. Northern Frontier Railways has made a significant achievement in providing a pollution-free green mode of transport as electrification of total 334 km (208 mi) of track has been completed during the financial year 2020–21, despite the COVID-19 epidemic, railway electrification work in various sections of the North Frontier Railway was being done rapidly. The Electrification was inspected by the Commissioner of Railway Safety of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. Test runs have been conducted in early 2021. As of September 2021, the station is fully electrified and electric trains are operational.

Preceding station	Indian Railways			Following station
New Baneswar towards ?		Northeast Frontier Railway zone New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section		Pundibari towards ?
Baneswar towards ?		Northeast Frontier Railway zone Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line		Cooch Behar towards ?
Chapaguri towards ?		Northeast Frontier Railway zone New Maynaguri–Jogighopa line		Maradanga towards ?

Major trains

1. New Jalpaiguri - Guwahati Vande Bharat Express
2. Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express
3. Agartala - Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal Humsafar Express
4. Naharlagun - New Delhi AC Superfast Express
5. Agartala - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus AC Superfast Express
6. Kamakhya - Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal AC Superfast Express
7. Guwahati - New Delhi Poorvattar Sampark Kranti Superfast Express
8. Silchar–New Delhi Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Superfast Express
9. Silchar - Thiruvananthapuram Aronai Superfast Express
10. Silchar - Coimbatore Superfast Express
11. Silchar–Secunderabad Express
12. Silchar - Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express
13. Dibrugarh–Kanyakumari Vivek Express
14. Dibrugarh–Amritsar Express
15. Dibrugarh–Chandigarh Express
16. Dibrugarh - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Superfast Express
17. Dibrugarh-Lalgarh Avadh Assam Express
18. Dibrugarh–Kolkata Superfast Express
19. Kamrup Express
20. Silghat Town - Tambaram Nagaon Express
21. Silghat Town - Kolkata Kaziranga Express
22. Agartala - Firozpur Tripura Sundari Express
23. Agartala - Deoghar Weekly Express
24. Agartala - Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express
25. New Tinsukia–SMVT Bengaluru Superfast Express
26. New Tinsukia–Rajendra Nagar Weekly Express
27. New Tinsukia–Tambaram Express
28. Guwahati - Jammu Tawi Lohit Express
29. Guwahati- Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal Kaziranga Superfast Express
30. Guwahati - Bikaner Express
31. Guwahati - Okha Dwarka Express
32. Guwahati - Barmer Express
33. Guwahati-Jammu Tawi Amarnath Express
34. Guwahati - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express
35. Guwahati-Howrah Saraighat Superfast Express
36. Guwahati - Kolkata Garib Rath Express
37. Kamakhya–Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express
38. Kamakhya–Gandhidham Superfast Express
39. Kamakhya - Jodhpur, Bhagat Ki Kothi Express
40. Kamakhya - Delhi Brahmaputra Mail
41. Kamakhya - Puri Express (via Adra)
42. Kamakhya–Gaya Express
43. Kamakhya - Delhi Northeast Express
44. New Alipurduar - Sealdah Padatik Superfast Express
45. Silchar-Trivandrum Superfast Express
46. Bamanhat - Sealdah Uttar Banga Express
47. New Jalpaiguri - Bongaigaon Express
48. New Alipurdiar - Sealdah Teesta Torsha Express
49. Dibrugarh - Deogarh Express

References

Cooch Behar travel guide from Wikivoyage