Which is the Longest Railway Platform in India?
Gorakhpur has the longest platform, not just within India, but is the longest in the whole world. It is almost 4,483 feet long. Gorakhpur is a region belonging to the state of Uttar Pradesh.
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It is located in the north eastern part of India near the border region of Nepal and is very close to the city of Lucknow. It is a very big city in Uttar Pradesh and people here speak in Hindi and Bhojpuri languages.
The famous Gorakhnath math and Gorakshanath temples are interesting places of visit when one plans a trip to this place. The river Rapti flows through the districts of Gorakhpur and they have been affected by floods for many years now.
Government has made special rehabilitation committees to look into disaster management systems in place in the region and special teams are formed every year to rescue people affected by floods.
After Gorakhpur, the station of Kollam Junction in Kerala has the second longest railway platform in India, followed by Kharagpur railway station in West Bengal occupying the third place.
Gorakhpur Rail network
The Gorakhpur railway station initially had 217 kilo meter stretch of railway line constructed between places of Gorakhpur and Gonda.
This railway line was initially a meter gauge line, now converted into broad gauge after 1980. Along with the above mentioned railway line, two other lines were added to the Gorakhpur rail cluster.
Around 1913 and 1925, railway lines between Kaptanganj and Siwan was thrown open to the public and another line at Nautanwa was kicked off in the year 1925.
All these were meter gauge lines and it was only later that they were converted to broad gauge lines. The meter gauge between Kaptanganj and Siwan was converted into broad gauge in the year 1981.
The Gorakhpur and Gonda railway lines in addition to the line at Nautanwa were converted into broad gauge around the year 1985.
We can remember the Gorakhpur railway station for being a very big station connecting Bihar to Delhi and also as a pass by to the Banaras route.
It is a major station on the map of India and the number of trains going and coming daily into the station is a whopping 189 trains. Gorakhpur also has to its credit, the highest number of railway platforms in the country.
Pleasure of travelling by trains in general
Love travelling by trains? Remember those happy, childhood days when grandpa would take us to the nearest railway station to show us the stopping trains in the station.
We would watch with bated breath to see an incoming train, enjoy the hustle bustle of hurrying passengers, get scared of the station master and wonder why he always blew a whistle and then enjoy the moving train.
The whole scene etches happy memories and creates a picture of the olden days that we lived and enjoyed.
Who doesn’t love travelling by trains, they are one of the modes of transport within the country that take people from one destination and leave them to another destination.
People get in from various stations, become friends with fellow passengers during the journey, exchange whereabouts and create happy moments for them.
Indian railways are proud if the fact that it is the second largest operating railway networks in the world. High level of expertise and top railway professionals run the establishment with great efficiency and manage a breathtaking system.
Typical Railway Platform
A railway platform is an area created to make way for passengers to get in or get down from trains. They are constructed in parallel to the railway tracks at a safe distance from the tracks to facilitate easy boarding and alighting of the passengers to and from trains.
Important railway stations have overcrowded platforms during peak hours, while those that are in the interior regions are very rarely crowded though.
Almost all railway platforms in India have access to drinking water facilities, sign boards to provide correct directions, train information, audio facilities of informing passengers about arriving and departing trains, late arrival or departure of trains if any, passenger seating arrangements, cloak rooms, information centers, ticket counters, waiting rooms for ladies in some big stations, washrooms and bathrooms, office of the station master in charge of the particular station, etc.
Railway platforms can be accessed and reached from one platform to the other by making use of the over bridges constructed for passenger convenience.
Railway platforms are usually littered with dirt, left over eatables, howling stray dogs, rag pickers etc. The railways in connection with the government departments work in co-ordination to improve facilities at individual platforms of each station to provide a clean and hygienic look to them and ease traveler’s experience of arriving and departing from trains.
Cleanliness is again a major issue on the platforms in India as most of them are poorly maintained. Though the railway authorities work on their side to clean up the platforms from time to time, it is also the passengers who should first think and act in a responsible manner.
The greatness in service offered by Indian Railways
Our railway networks are so dense and well operated that they beat the best of services provided in other countries. It has a very big feather in its cap of being one of the world’s largest rail networks and has provided access to every remote corner of the country.
Every year, the railway budget prepares special allocations of trains based on requests made from its citizens and vows to take quality services to the next level.
If we compare the ticket rates for train journey as compared to any other modes of transport, we would surely find that they are amongst the cheapest means of travel and that’s why it is so popular among the common man.
Special coaches for women, security personnel stationed in trains during night travel at sensitive regions, reduction in ticket rates for senior citizens as well as for women offer good attractions for citizens to opt for this mode of travel.
Also, the comfort of travelling with your entire family in a single compartment is a value addition found only in the railways.
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