Howrah Junction Station is one of the busiest railway stations in the world. Located in the city of Howrah, in West Bengal in India, it serves more than one million passengers day, who hop on and off the 600 trains which stop at this station. Howrah Junction Station serves the Kolkata metropolitan area and many of the trains are inter-city lines. This historic station was opened in 1853 and is now run by India’s Eastern Railway company, whose headquarters is housed here.
The station is divided into two terminals. At terminal 1 you will find platforms 1 to 15 which serve the local and long-distance trains of the Eastern Railway. At terminal 2 you’ll find platforms 16 to 23 which serve the long-distance trains of the South Eastern Railway. This is one of the most used and popular train stations in India as it offers passengers free Wi-Fi.
Hooghly, West Bengal, India 711101
Opening hours
Howrah Junction Station is open 24 hours a day; 365 days a year.
Number of platforms
Howrah Junction Station has 23 platforms.
Howrah Junction Station toilets and showers
There are toilet facilities on this station but no showers.
Left luggage
It’s very easy to leave bags at Howrah Junction Station’s cloakroom. You will pay per bag and the price for the first 24 hours is 15 rupees. For the next 24 hours it will cost you an extra 10 rupees.
Information desk
There are plenty of information desks at the station and the friendly staff all speak English.
Food and drink
There are plenty of cheap places to eat and drink in the station including the always popular Railway Restaurant bar which serves authentic Bengali food and Indian beer. You’ll also find many hawkers on the station concourse selling cheap Indian snacks. If you’re hankering for something with more of a Western flavour, there is also a branch of KFC close to the station.
Other facilities
- First-class lounges
- Wi-Fi (free for first 30 minutes)
- Cash machines
- Ticket office
- Station museum