Barasat Junctionrailway station is the primary rail hub in the city of Barasat It is one of the major suburban city railway stations in the district of North 24 Parganas. Generally, the people commuting daily use this station for travelling to Kolkata's Central Business District or other towns, with the busiest times at the station being the morning and evening peak periods. This station provides the facility of separate rest rooms for both male & female passengers. Barasat Junction Railway station consists of 6 permanent platforms. Recently, the government-owned Indian Railways corporation approved a proposal for an underground metro railway station connecting Barasat Junction to Noapara metro station. The construction of the project has started on October 2011. An EMU carshed is situated in the vicinity of Barasat Junction Railway Station.
Structure
A reservations counter for booking long distance railway tickets is open in the early morning, operating from the main ticket counter at the junction. Two smart card booths are operational for ticket purchasing through the use computerised smart cards. A railway car shade forms a part of the station's overall structure, having been designed to cover two trains for rail engine and car maintenance.
Barasat Basirhat Railway was a 2 ft 6 in gauge railway line started by Martin & Co. in 1914 as part of their wide network of narrow gauge operations under the name of Martin's Light Railways. The line connected the two towns of Barasat and Basirhat near Calcutta, in West Bengal, India. The line was closed in 1955, after Indian independence, when all privately run lines were taken over by the government or were closed. BBR got a fresh lease of life when Indian Railways placed the line under its Eastern Railways zone, Sealdah division and converted the route partly to broad gauge in 1962. Later on, this route was fully restored to 5 ft 6 in and local trains started using the route.
Extension plan from Noapara to Barasat: The proposed Metro railway extension alignment pass through Dum Dum Cantonment and Jessore Road up to Biman Bandar station. From there, the line would run under Jessore Road until New Barrackpore before reaching the surface at Madhyamgram station. From Madhyamgram to Barasat, the alignment would be elevated. However, for crossing the existing Road Over Bridge at Madhyamgram and Barasat, the alignment would descend gradually to ground level and rise again on viaduct. This is supposed to be beneficial for the people of North 24 Parganas district and will bring them closer to Kolkata's Business district. This would reduce the heavy pressure on Sealdah–Barasat section of Eastern Railways. The Madhyamgram Metro railway station is to be constructed in the Madhyamgram-Barasat section. Work for the Noapara–Barasat metro extension has come to a halt as construction giant L&T has pulled out of the 20 km metro corridor project. L&T was unable to get on with the workthanks to encroachment on railway land. L&T has moved out all major equipment from the project site at Barasat and has closed down two of the three site offices. The lone site office is under locked.
