Dhanbad Division-A Historical Perspective
Dhanbad is a premier coal loading division of Indian Railways. The first colliery line on this division was laid in 1894 and the Grand Chord section was opened in 1906. The division was initially created as a transportation sub-division of Asansol division in 1946. A full-fledged division became operational in 1963.
Dhanbad division was initially one of the five divisions of the Eastern Railway but after the formation of ‘East Central Railway’ on 1stOctober, 2002,Dhanbad division became part of East Central Railway along with four other divisions i.e. Mughalsarai, Danapur, Sonepur and Samastipur with headquarter at Hajipur.
Dhanbaddivision primarily loads coal.Most of the coal is carried to ‘Up’ country power houses located in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and U.P. Coal is also loaded for industries (non-core) located in Northern India. Coal also moves for ‘Down’ country destinations viz. power houses located in West Bengal, and washed coal to steel plants located at Durgapur, IISCO Burnpur & Tisco. Other commodities loaded on the division are bauxite from Tori, Richughuta and Meralgram for Hindalco plant at Renukoot, lime stone/dolomite from Bhavnathpur for Bokaro steel plant and cement from ACC-Sindri and Lemos-Khalari.
The territorial jurisdiction of the division covers Pradhankhunta(incl.)-Manpur(excl.), Gomoh-Barkakana-Garwa Road-Chopan, Chopan-Singrauli-Mahadiya, Karaila Road- Shaktinagar, Dhanbad-Sindri town, Dhanbad-Patherdih & Dhanbad-Chandrapura sections. It deals with traffic on two important routes namely G.C. (Grand Chord) section from Pradhankhunta to Manpur& the CIC (Central Industrial Coalfields) section from Gomoh-Barkakana-Garwa road.
The division has vast geographical area covering 4 states i.e., Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and 13 districts - Dhanbad, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Nawada, Gaya, Bokaro, Ranchi, Latehar, Palamau, Garwa, Sidhi & Sonebhadra.
The Division today covers 3 distinct coal mining areas viz., the Jharia Coalfields serving primarily Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Karanpura area serving primarily Central Coalfields Ltd., and the Singrauli Coalfields of the Northern Coalfields Ltd.
The Parasnath Jain temple which finds its mention in the world tourists Pilgrim destination, built in 1867 and dedicated to Sheetalnathji, the 10th of the 24 tirthankaras, is situated on this division. Parasnath, the 23rdthirthankara, achieved ‘NIRVANA’ here some 100 years after his birth.
SALIENT FEATURES OF THE DIVISION as on 31.01.2017 Track/Route Kilometers
Track KM ELECTRIFIED NON-ELECTRIFIED Total Total Kilometers (Track) 1887.036 678.893 2565.929
Route Kilometers a) Single line 178.999 431.177 610.176
b) Double line 428.18 -- 428.18
Total Route Km 607.179 431.177 1038.356
Route Kilometre and Track Kilometre group-wise
Route Kilometre Track Kilometre Sl. Group BG Total Group BG Total 1. Group ’A’ 202.51 202.51 Group ’A’ 405.02 405.02
2. Group ‘D’ Spl. 380.02 380.02 Group ‘D’ Spl. 596.94 596.94
3. Group ‘E 455.826 455.826 Group ‘E 499.329 499.329
Total Route Km. 1038.356 1038.356 1501.289 1501.289
Division Wise Route/Track Kilometre:
Route Km Track Km (Main line) Loops & Sdgs. Total Track Km 1038.356 1501.289 1064.64 2565.929
Number of Bridges
Major Bridges 150 Minor Bridges 2024 ROB 49 RUB 30 Total 2253
Manned Level Crossings
Sl. Class Traffic Engineering Total 1 Special class 13 5 18 2 A Class 9 04 13 3 B Class 17 7 24 4 C Class 48 63 111 TOTAL 87 79 166 Un-Manned Level Crossings
Sl. Class Traffic Engineering Total 1 C Class 1 21 22 TOTAL 1 21 22 Number of stations on Dhanbad Division
No of Block Stations 132 No of Block Huts/IBPs 03 No of Passenger Halts 42 TOTAL 177
Number of L C Gates on Dhanbad Division
No of Traffic Gates 87 No of Engineering Gates 79 TOTAL 166
Train Controls on the Division
Dhanbad, Barkakana, Chopan
Major Yards
Dhanbad, Gomoh ,Patherdih, Patratu, Barwadih & Obradam
Loading Areas
Jharia Area - Kusunda, Katras, Patherdih, Sindri, Phusro, Banadag Barkakana Area - Chainpur, Patratu (PD Branch), Ray, Khalari, Tori, Richuguta, Garwa Road, Rajhura Chopan Area - Krishnashilla, Singrauli, Meralgram, Billi, Shaktinagar & Salaibanwa
Coal Loading Areas
Jharia area serving primarily BCCL, CCL & IISCO(Chasnala) Karanpura area (Barkakana) serving primarily CCL & West Bokaro of TISCO Singrauli area (Chopan) serving primarily NCL
Other Commodities Loading Areas
Bauxite from Tori, Richughuta & Meralgram Dolomite / Lime Stone from Bhavnathpur (Salaibanwa) Cement from ACC-Sindri and Limos-Khalari, Dalla - Salaibanwa Caustic Soda from GarwaRoad&Renukoot (Aditya Birla Chemical India Limited) Stone Chips & Ballast from Billi Clinker from Salaibanwa Coal loading from Goods Shed – Dugda, Barkakana, Tori &Khalari
Interchange Points
Eastern Railway : ASANSOL DIVISION o Pradhankhunta – on GC
South Eastern Railway : ADRA DIVISION o Khanudih – on GC o Rajabera – on CIC o Bhojudih-on Branch line ex. Patherdih o Jamuniatand- on CIC o Barkakana- on CIC : RANCHI DIVISION
West Central Railway : JABALPUR DIVISION o Mahadiya
North Central Railway : ALLAHABAD DIVISION o Chopan
East Central Railway : MUGHALSARAI DIVISION o Garwa Road o Manpur
POSITION OF ART/ARMV/CRANE/BULDOZER
Base station ART ARMV 140T Crane Bulldozer Dhanbad Available Available Available Available Gomoh Available - - - Patherdih Available - - - Barkakana Available - - - Barwadih Available Available Available - Chopan Available Available - -
Traction Sub-stations
Pradhankhunta, Hazaribagh Road, Paharpur, Rajabera (in GC) & Gomia, Barkakana, Ray, Richuguta, Barwadih, Tolra(in CIC).
Traction Feeding Posts
Pradhankhunta, Nimiaghat, Koderma
Tower Wagon/OHE Depots
Dhanbad (8-Wheeler), Gomoh (4W), Hazaribagh Road(4W), Gujhandi (8- Wheeler), Chandrapura(4W), Gomia(4W), Barkakana(8-Wheeler), Khalari(4W), Latehar(4W), Daltonganj(4W).
Coaching Depots
Dhanbad, Gomoh, Barkakana, Singrauli
Passenger Traffic
91 pairs of Mail/Express 27 pairs of passenger trains 11 pairs MEMU
Originating / Terminating Trains
20 pairs of Mail/Express 38 pairs of Passenger trains Mail/Express Trains Originating/Terminating In Dhanbad Division
Sl. Train No. Train Name From To 1. 22387/22388 Black Diamond Express Dhanbad Howrah 2. 12339/12340 Coalfield Express Dhanbad Howrah 3. 13307/13308 Ganga Sutlej Express Dhanbad Firozpur 4. 13329/13330 Ganga Damodar Express Dhanbad Patna 5. 13347/13348 Palamau Express (ex.Barkakana) Barkakana Rajendranagar 6. 23347/23348 Palamau Link Express (ex.Singrauli) Singrauli Garhwa Road 7. 14369/14370 Triveni Express(Ex.Singrauli) Singrauli Bareilly 8 24369/24370 Triveni Express(Ex.Shaktinagar) Shaktinagar Bareilly 9. 84369/84370 Triveni Express(Ex.Barwadih ) Barwadih Bareilly 10. 13301/13302 Swarnarekha Express Dhanbad Tatanagar 11. 13305/13306 Dhanbad Gaya Intercity Dhanbad Gaya 12. 13303/13304 DhanbadHatia Intercity Dhanbad Hatia 13. 13351/13352 Dhanbad-Alleppey Express Dhanbad Alappuzha 14. 13331/13332 Dhanbad Patna Intercity Dhanbad Patna via M/Line 15. 18613/18614 Chopan Hatia Express Chopan Hatia 16. 11045/11046 DeekshabhumiExp Dhanbad CSMT 17. 12831/12832 GaribrathExp Dhanbad Bhubneshwar 18. 13345/13346 SGRL – BSB- Exp Singrauli Varanasi 19 23345/23346 SKTN-BSB Link Exp Shaktinagar Varanasi 20 11651/11652 Jabalpur- Intercity Exp. Jabalpur Singrauli
Rolling Stock Locomotives
There are two loco sheds located on the Division, one Electric Shed at Gomoh and another diesel shed at Patratu. The shed-wise, type-wise loco holding is given below:
Gomoh Electric Shed:
Type WAG-7 WAG 9 TOTAL Number 62 130 192
Patratu Diesel Shed:
Type WDG4 WDP4D WDM2 WDM3A WDM2 WDG3A WDS6R TOTAL derated Holding 44 04 03 26 07 45 05 134