East India Railway Howrah Terminus Calcutta, Old Postcard 1900

East India Railway Howrah Terminus Calcutta, Old Postcard 1900.

An old 1900 postcard of the East India Railway’s Howrah Terminus in Calcutta, now Kolkata. The history of Howrah Station is interesting. It was in its infancy only a mud hut with a single platform catering to two pairs of trains. The station conducted its first train run in 1854. By 1892 it was dealing with 32 passenger trains per day.

In 1900, the Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) laid a line to Howrah Station. And a need for a new building became imperative. Thus the present-day building in its signature red was constructed in 1906. It may not be as magnificent in architectural design. As the Victoria Terminus or the Madras Central Station.

But nevertheless, the red brick structure is certainly very imposing. Since dimensionally it is larger than any railway station in India. Something which gives Howrah Station special importance. Is the variety and amount of traffic it attracts. The much grander railway line of the East Indian Railway Company (EIR).

Stretching east from Howrah should have been the first to operate in India in 1853. But two serious mishaps prevented the running of the first train till a year later in August 1854. But it was too late as the Bombay to Thana by Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) beat them. The first train in India travelled from Bombay to Thana, in April 1854. Click on the photo for better view.

Did you know – there still exists a bronze plate in the station at Howrah which bears the number zero. This originally indicated the first milestone of the track of broad gauge to Hooghly.

From the collection – 1971 Raja Ravi Varma Commemorative First Day Cover., Geoffrey Clarke Of First Airmail Flight in India 1911, Old Photo ., Apollo Bunder Once The Harbour of Bombay, 3 PCs 1900., Cannon Accident Fort St George Madras, 1870 Print.