Talk:Howrah railway station

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 18:09, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Organized article in sections. Needs further work to bring it in line with other articles on stations (jis (talk) 15:36, 2 February 2008 (UTC))

India class rating

I think a Start rating is quite harsh here, doesn't this article classify for at least a C, if not a B? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 183.83.51.3 (talk) 11:49, 17 October 2017 (UTC)

Interesting image

Howrah Junction: The Calcutta Terminus of the East Indian Railway, 1912

There's an interesting image on [1] and its *probably* public domain.Djm-leighpark (talk) 22:32, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Major Trains

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Others

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Junction or Terminus

I commuted frequently to Howrah in the 90s. All the platforms were styled like a terminus. If is if a Junctions, which lines cross here? If not, the article name should be changed. Hydman (talk) 19:36, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

@User:Hydman - curiously I agree with you. I always took other to face value that it was officially called Howrah Junction, although I can't see a single bit of evidence or photo to suggest this. All the photos have it as just Howrah. I note that page was originally created as Howrah station in 2005 - there's an edit from 20 August 2014 that moved it to Howrah Junction. It also strikes me as a terminus. Do you know anywhere to cross check the information? Eastern Railway website is currently down. - Master Of Ninja (talk) 21:46, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

So looking into this further there's not a mention of Howrah Junction at all in the ER website. It is just Howrah Station, and there are no pictures on their website suggesting it is a junction. All the timetables just state Howrah. Googling does not help as I suspect a lot of travel website have taken the naming from Wikipedia. The station perhaps used to be a junction in the past but again there is no evidence I can find for this. The user who changed the name, was also involved in a dispute over doing the same at Talk:Asansol Junction railway station, however in that case there are photos to suggest that it is actually names as a junction. I'm tempted if consensus just to rename as you suggest. - Master Of Ninja (talk) 22:01, 2 June 2020 (UTC)

I believe [2] is the official Indian Railways train enquiry system. Enter train 02303 for example (as at time of this post). It shows start point as HOWRAH JN (HWH). Conflicting evidence is available on a claimed India tourism channel, especially at 0.57s [3]. Not quite clear cut. Thankyou. Djm-leighpark (talk) 19:56, 15 June 2020 (UTC)

Point taken. It's interesting though that Eastern Railways maps and timetables speak of it as just Howrah rather than Howrah Junction. I have never seen a Howrah Junction sign, and the physical station is a terminus. - Master Of Ninja (talk) 20:49, 15 June 2020 (UTC)

In addition Eastern Railways official timetable [4] the station is just called Howrah, despite many other junction stations. - Master Of Ninja (talk) 20:54, 15 June 2020 (UTC)

Looking at maps the station is just beyond at junction of the line from Lilua and Bariupara (created 1900?) and perhaps that is where the concept of junction comes from; and perhaps the centre of the centre of the town of Howrah was more to the east of the station. But this WP:ORIGINAL conjecture has no basis in and DB:V source. I also notice [5] dated 1906 ish refers to the station as "Howrah Station" and not "Howrah Junction". But I would image it is a station that upon arrival it might be likely often necessary to get a further train/tram to get where one is going. This 1987 ticket also mentions Howrah Jn : [6]. I feel a Toponymy section is possible ... at some point.Djm-leighpark (talk) 23:30, 15 June 2020 (UTC)

Interesting. The national sources suggest it is Howrah Junction, but the local Eastern Railway say it's not. I plan to try and email Eastern Railway and ask, although that also falls into original research as well! A naming section would be good actually. I shall get round to it as some point if no one else does. - Master Of Ninja (talk) 10:59, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

The Eastern Railway run Rail Museum, Howrah has a exhibition dedicated to the section so their curator might be a good start point. Its also worth checking out what the Wikipedia Junction station says and also List of railway junction stations in India. There is also a little in this book, junction is not mentioned but the confluence of several lines are:[7]. Thankyou.Djm-leighpark (talk) 14:49, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

Several lines converge at Howrah station, but they end there. As per Rail Junction , The lines converge or diverge, i.e a train can enter and exit the station without reversing. Another definition of a Junction i found is here - https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/difference-between-terminal-junction-and-central-station-in-indian-railways-1535377327-1. It says that at least 3 routes pass through a junction. Will check on more references. Howrah needs to go from Junction station Hydman (talk) 04:32, 12 July 2020 (UTC)

Totally agree. Lines converge but I think a true junction has what you say trains moving on from the station. Why Eastern Railways doesn't call it a junction but Indian Railways lists it as so is interesting. Don't have time to go and research it now. However I do remember lines going south from the train station years ago. So it could have been a junction at one point. The other plausible thought is that in older times there was a howrah junction and a howrah terminus as seperate stations, and they have just merged over time. This could be like how some of the London Underground has changed names over time. Master Of Ninja (talk) 07:49, 12 July 2020 (UTC)

As per Indian Railways rule, a station is a Junction, if 2 or more lines converge/diverge... Howrah Station is the Terminus for both Eastern Railways and South Eastern Railways. Separately, it is not a Junction, as trains start/end here.... But as everyone can see, the 2 Divisions meet here and so deserves "Junction" status... as recognised by Indian Railways.... Since the buildings (New and old Complex) are maintained by the 2 divisions, they have not bothered to upgrade it to "Junction".... So I hope you can understand, why the question is academic and not so much functional.. Anupam Dutta (talk) 04:56, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

Further, as of date, 18 trains or 9 pairs pass through (pre Covid , it was 24 or 12 pairs) Howrah... The reason for it to be treated as Junction... For the rest (approx 425 pairs) starting/ originating, this is only Terminus... Whether Jn. is used is immaterial... Hope I have been able to clarify all doubts.... Anupam Dutta (talk) 05:50, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

• As above I came to the conclusion that it was a junction technically as it can go between 2 different divisions. However, this probably would count as original research, and to actually cite that in an article we just need Indian Railways to actually state that this is the case. At the moment I think we just acknowledge there is multiple names used to refer to it. - Master Of Ninja (talk) 00:29, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

Additions March 2022

• @User:Iamuttal - I note your edits that User:Djm-leighpark reverted. As you can see on this talk page, and the discussions above, the naming of the station is as described in the article and can be "Howrah Station", "Howrah", or "Howrah Junction". Irrespective of track layout, this is how different divisions of Indian Railways (IR) see it, so the decision was to keep naming as it is. From one perspective I can see why it is a terminus, but on another I can see why it could functionally also be a junction. If IR would clarify the naming it would potentially solve the issue, but it is what it is. - Master Of Ninja (talk) 07:08, 18 March 2022 (UTC)

Page move from Howrah railway station to Howrah Junction railway station

Given discussions on this page the undiscussed WP:BOLD move of Howrah railway station to Howrah Junction railway station is controversial and requires discussion and concensus. I have therefore requested it is reverted at WP:RMT pending discussion. I note various edits to the article trying to force the "junction" name without discussion. Thankyou. Djm-leighpark (talk) 22:41, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Page move from Howrah railway station to Howrah Junction railway station 2023

See the discussions above for why I put a revert in (WP:RMUM) - Master Of Ninja (talk) 21:27, 30 December 2023 (UTC)