CKP Railway Station Information and Trains for CKP

CHAKRADHARPUR - CKP

"Chakradharpur" is a city with a municipality in West Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand, India. It is the railway divisional headquarters of Chakradharpur (CKP) division of the South Eastern Railway zone. The city stands at an elevation point of 227 metres (745 feet) and has urban area of 10 square kilometres bounded on the east by Jamshedpur (Tatanagar), on the west by Rourkela (Odisha), on the north by Ranchi (State Capital of Jharkhand) and on the south by Chaibasa (District Town of West Singhbhum district). However, Chakradharpur will become a district soon.

Chakradharpur is also one of the most profitable Zones and divisions of Indian Railways. The city serves the mineral-rich areas of Jharkhand and Odisha, as well as the cement, steel and limestone industries in the region.

The major languages spoken in this area are Hindi, Bengali language, Odia language, Santhali language , Ho language, Gujarati language, English language, Kurmali language, Urdu, Punjabi language and Maithili language.

Many inhabitants of the city are railway employees. It has a large share of area covered with railway establishments, primarily employees' quarters. It has scenic views and secluded landscapes in the periphery.

Chakradharpur is close to boundaries of two neighbouring states, Odisha and West Bengal.

Chakradharpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 227 metre (745 ft). It is covered by mountains on most sides, and the river Sanjay running in the south-eestern periphery. Chakradharpur is believed to have been a quasi-hill station in the mid-1900s.

In the 2011 India census, Chakradharpur had a population of 197,953. Males constituted 50.05% of the population and females 49.95%. Chakradharpur had an average literacy rate of 56.93%.

Odia people are the natives of this place. Many Bengalis settled here during railway establishment and as refugee from East Pakistan. There is also a sizeable Punjabi, Telugu, Gujarati and Marwari population in the city.

The Chakradharpur subdivision can be divided into three residential sections.

There are many villages under the Chakradharpur City, including Joro, Deogaon, Toklo, Dukri, Duriyam, Bharniya, Patadih, Janta, Nalita, Heselkuti, Kaida, Kudahatu, Kimirda, Gunja, Sarjamhatu, Roladih, Bagmara, Unchibita, Ramda, Tikarchampi, Jharjhara, hoyohatu, Bindasarjom, Jaipur, Banalata, Jodo, Boddar, Dalki, Ponasi, Godamdipa, Pulkani, Jamtuti, Simidiri, Hathiya, Setahaka, Etor, Kolchokra, Kera, Kansara, Dantibegna, Laudiya, Padampur, Jamid, Silphori, Chainpur, Chelabera, Chirubera, Jantalbera, Gopinathpur, Kendo, Chandri, Simidiri, Baipai, Itihasa, Asantalia, Chandri, Borda, and Ulidhi. There are many more villages under the Chakradharpur subdivision.

All these villages are well connected by asphalt road to the city, constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna. They are surrounded by the tributaries of the Sanjay and Binjay rivers. Most villages have a good electric facility. All have government primary schools. The Kera and Kansara villages are known for the temples of Kera and Kansara Mata respectively.

The SDO Office and Sub-Divisional Court (under construction) situated here, 60 Battalion CRPF Camp, Punjab National Bank, Madhusudhan Mahto Hindi Medium High School (JAC), and Madhusudhan Public School English Medium (CBSE) are some of the important institutions present in the Asantalia village beside NH-75E. Most of the State Government institutions are coming up in this area. St. Mary's School (under construction), Madhusudan Mahto Teacher's Training College and Koncept Public School English Medium (CBSE) are located in the Laudia village, on the Chakradharpur-Sonua-Goilkera Road. It is run by the KPS Foundation. The foundation also owns its own ambulance that can be used by the public 24x7. The Chakradharpur sub-divisional jail is coming up in Borda village near the Borda Bridge beside NH-75E. Also the Sub-Divisional Court complex is under construction in Asantalia area beside NH-75E (new: NH-20).

The Nagar Parishad area is divided into 23 wards. Starting with the Purani Basti, the oldest area of Chakradharpur city, the King's Castle is present here. The kings of the Singh Dynasty resided here during the British era. This area witnessed the wars with the Britishers. The city's oldest Durga Puja, said to be started by the king himself, is celebrated here, the Adi Durga Puja Samity, established in 1912.

Most of the business institutions are located in the market area, including Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, State Bank of India of India, Union Bank of India, co-operative bank, Punjab National Bank, Gramin bank Bank of Baroda, Bharat Capital, Narnolia Securities, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Rose Valley, HDFC Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank.

The religious institutions include a GEL Church near the HP Petrol Pump, mosques on the Rajbari Road and ward#10, Santoshi Temple in Tambaku Patti, Shitala Temple and Shirdi Sai Temple near Toklo Road, Town Kali Temple, Rani Sati Mandir in Chandmari area, Samshan Kali Temple near Hindu Samshan Ghat, and Jagganath Temple in Purani Basti.

Asia's largest preschool chain, Essel Group of ZEE Learn Limited, has a branch at Chakradharpur at Retired Colony, for children aged 1 to 6.

On the southern side, many new colonies are set up. The maximum number of personal houses and apartments are located here, and there is much construction. The Gayatri Apartment of Kusum Kunj area, the first residential apartment of Chakradharpur, is located beside the NH-75E. The area also holds a commercial complex consisting of various shops. Potka, Pump road, Nagendranagar, Chiranji Block, Lokenathnagar, Bengali Tola, Retired Colony, and Banglatand are some of the colonies south of the Howrah-Mumbai main railway track.

The business institution includes the Andhra Bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Central Bank of India, and Union Bank. The Non-governmental organization Ekjut is present in the Potka area, working in the field of health and nutrition in adjoining districts of Odisha and Jharkhand.

The religious institutions include the Roman Catholic and Protestant church in Potka, church in Lokenathnagar, mosques in Potka and Banglatand, Goddess Kali Temple in Retired Colony, Lord Shiva Temple in Balti Karkhana area, Potka, and Satsangh Kendra in Lokenathnagar.

The Railway Colony comprises three wards. It covers the major part of Chakradharpur, located on the north-eastern side of the NH-75E. The colony was established during the British era, and is a well planned city with proper sanitation, drainage, water and electric supply facilities. The Chakradharpur division is one of the highest earning divisions in the entire Indian Railways, and the colony is well decorated and maintained. All the railway establishments are present here. There are about 8,000 staff quarters.

The colony is further divided into different colonies such as the East Colony, R.E. Colony, Driver's Colony, Doubling Colony, Loco Colony, Accounts Colony, and Etwari Bazar.

The religious institutions include the mosque in Loco Colony, Kali Temples in R.E. Colony, Etwari Bazar and Account's Colony, Durga Mandir of Bengali Association, Lord Balaji and Satya Sai Mandir of Andhra Association, Gurudwara near the railway crossing, Hanuman Mandir of Station and Panch More, Radha-Krishna Temple of Station and Panch More, and Chakradharpur branches of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Shri Aurobindo Society and Shri Ramakrishna Mission.

The Railway Colony contains the railway station, all the railway divisional offices, running room, all the railway hospitals, main post office, BSNL Office, all the RPF barracks, railway power grid and other electric substations, ATM counters, railway children's parks near divisional railway offices and Loco Colony, railway heritage park near DRM Office, environment park in RE Colony, and railway court. It also includes all the railway schools, including the S.E. Rly Mixed Higher Secondary English Medium School (ICSE), S.E. Rly Mixed Higher Secondary Hindi Medium School (JAC/CBSE), Kendriya Vidyalaya (CBSE), and some railway pre-primary and primary schools. It also has the railway's traffic, technical, electrical (traction power) training institutions and hostels. The residence of the Divisional Railway Manager and all other railway senior officers, and the staff quarters of all the railway employees are in the Railway Colony. The residence of the SDM and Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Porahat-Chakradharpur) are also in the Railway Colony.

The Balaji Temple was built with assistance from Tirumala Tirupati Devasathanam (TTD) by a group of railway employees and social workers. It celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 2009.

The Bengalee Association was established in 1919. Until then mainly it observed the Durga, Lakshmi and Kali Pujas. It is the second oldest Durga Puja of this city. Idol-makers from Kumartoli-Kolkata used to come and prepare the idols. In 2009 the permanent idol of Goddess Durga (Mahisasur-Mardini) was placed, with the help of the local/neighbouring residents, and is made up of one single white marble stone of 6 ft height. After that Pujas are performed throughout the year and special celebrations are organised during the occasions like Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, and Basanti Puja. The marble idols of the remaining four gods/goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh were placed in 2013, with the help of citizens and local business establishments, which completed the set. It also serves as a social organisation; it observes the occasions like the Bengali New Year, and the birth and death anniversaries of famous personalities such as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, and Kazi Nazrul Islam. It organises special cultural programmes on these occasions. The Bengalee Association also organises blood donation camps in the memories of some local personalities, like Nimu Sarkar and Raju Bose. The association has its own ambulance, dead-body carriage van, and oxygen cylinder to be used in emergencies. To encourage the local kids, the association organises sports meets and drawing competitions. The association also has its own land leased from the S.E. Railways near Bengali Girls High School, NH-75E Kusum Kunj area. There are plans to utilise it for a noble cause. The process is on, to lease the land surrounding the Durga Mandir from the railways, co-operation solicited.

There are two institutes, the South-East Institute (Center for Sporting Excellence) and the South-West Institute, from the British time, which were used as theatres and recreation clubs by the Britishers. These are now used for weddings and other parties and cultural programs. There are facilities like auditorium, multi-purpose playground, indoor badminton court, tennis court, gym, volleyball court, basketball court, and library in the South-West Institute, and table tennis and billiards in the South-East Institute, all maintained by the railway.

Just beside the South-West Institute is the Chess Academy, run by SERSA/CKP (South Eastern Railway Sports Association, Chakradharpur). Chakradharpur is amongst a very few places in the country to have a chess academy, as it was a child (Deep Sengupta) from Chakradharpur who won the Under-16 International Chess Championship, held in Spain. Chess has become a very popular game in this area. Thereafter many kids from here participated and won in different levels. Iqbal Singh Sandhu Stadium is run by SERSA/CKP. The most prestigious occasion here is the annual Steel Express Football Tournament, in which teams like Mohammaden Sporting Club Kolkata and Goa, take part. For the first time the All Indian Railway Football Tournament was held here in 2018. The newly constructed Kalyan Mandap has a big auditorium and can easily accommodate more than 1,000 people for any kind of cultural meeting

marriage party.

There is a Railway Officer's Club where the VIP parties are organised and guests from outside mau rest. It has a garden, party hall and luxurious rooms, along with an auditorium-cum-badminton court and swimming pool.

The Burton Lake, which used to serve as a raw qater reservoir from the time of the British Rule for the entire Railway Colony, now is a site for boating and the city's new hangout zone. The railways have beautified its sides and converted it into a park, which can be booked for birthday parties and marriages. The reservoir is directly connected with the Sanjay River at the end of the Pump Road through pipelines, where the railway pump house is located. From the Burton Lake reservoir the water is sent to the railway filter house and sedimentation tank near SERSA Stadium for purification and then supplied to entire Railway Colony. The railways are looking to further beautify the lake and surrounding areas in future. This part of the Railway Colony has a very neat and clean environment with full of greenery, it is said that during the British Rule, Indians were not allowed in this area.

This city is well connected by both road and rail. Ranchi, Chaibasa, Tatanagar and Rourkela and all neighbouring towns and villages are connected with roads. Chakradharpur is one of the four divisional headquarters of the South Eastern Railway (India). The first rail line on Chakradharpur Division was opened on 22 January 1890 with the laying of the long Purulia-Chakradharpur rail line. The rail network on the main trunk route passing through Chakradharpur division was completed on 18 February 1891 when the Goilkera-Jharsuguda section was opened. With the opening of this section the main line route of Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) was completed. The official opening ceremony of the main line from Asansol to Nagpur, presided over by the Viceroy of India, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, was held at Chakradharpur station on 3 March 1891.

Located on the Tatanagar-Bilaspur section of the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line, Chakradharpur division plays a vital role on the South Eastern Railway. Strategically situated in the heart of Chota Nagpur plateau, Chakradharpur division serves the mineral and industrially rich areas of Jharkhand and Odisha. It is spread over East and West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, Simdega of Jharkhand and Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. In this division lies the main corridor of freight and passenger traffic between eastern and western parts of the country. This region is aptly called the Heart of the South Eastern Railway. The development of the rail network in the area presently forming Chakradharpur division dates back to the original of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway, the precursor of the South Eastern Railway. The first rail line in the area serving Chakradharpur division was laid in 1890. Presently Chakradharpur division extends over a length of 741.705 route-km, of which 335.798 route-km are located over the state of Jharkhand and 405.907 km. The main line portion of the division extends over the Salgajhari-Jharsuguda portion covering a distance of 270.38 km.

In addition to the main line the division has a large number of branch lines covering Tatanagar-Badampahar, Gamharia-Kandra-Chandil, Sini-Kandra, Rajkharswan-Banspani, Padapahar-Bolani-Barbil, Bondamunda-Bimlagarh, Barsuan-Kiriburu and Rourkela-Birmitrapur sections. The importance of the route covered by the division stems from the fact that it serves six major steel plants located in the region: Rourkela Steel Plant; Bhilai Steel Plant; Durgapur Steel Plant; Bokaro Steel Plant; Tata Steel, Jamshedpur and IISCO, Burnpur. It also serves the cement belt of Bilaspur division and the heavy traffic in general merchandise on the Howrah-Mumbai trunk route. The division covers some of the most difficult and picturesque terrains of the South Eastern Railway, passing through the verdant forest of Saranda including the two Saranda tunnels on the main line between Mahadevsal and Posoita stations. The division loads bulk requirement of iron and manganese ores, dolomite, limestone and other raw materials for all major steel plants of the country. Two steel plants, Rourkela steel plant and TISCO at Jamshedpur, are located within the division. It serves the Sponge Iron Plant at Manikui and other ancillary industries spread around the two plants, as well as the cement factories located at Jhinkpani, Rajgangpur, Tatanagar, Dhutra and mini cement plants and sponge-iron manufacturing industries around Rourkela. The main commodities loaded on the division comprise raw material for steel plants, cement and other general merchandise. The Chakradharpur division has 86 stations.

Chakradharpur railway station is one of the important stations since its foundation. Mahatma Gandhi visited here to inspect the facilities during the British Rule, which he mentioned in his book ''Third class in Indian Railways''.

The important trains which pass through Chakradharpur include:, The more-than-100-year-old Howrah-Chakradharpur Fast Passenger via Kharagpur, Midnapur, Bankura, Adra, Purulia, the first passenger train to get an AC coach (3A) in the history of Indian Railways, Howrah-Mumbai Super Fast Mail via Nagpur via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Super Fast Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah-Mumbai Jnaneshwari Super Deluxe Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah-Mumbai Samarsata Super Fast Express, via Adra, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Non-Stop AC Express (no stoppage), Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Super Fast Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah-Pune Duronto Non-Stop AC Express (no stoppage), Howrah-Ahmedabad Super Fast Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah-Porbander/Okha Aradhana Super Fast Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah Sai Nagar Shirdi Super Fast Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Howrah-Jagdalpur Sambaleshwari Express via Rourkela, Sambalpur, Koraput, Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Super Fast Express, via Rourkela, Sambalpur, Howrah-Mumbai Weekly Super Fast Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Shalimar-Mumbai KurlaT Express via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Shalimar-Udaipur City Express, via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Kota, Shalimar-Bhuj Super Fast Express, via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, Santragachi-Hazur Sahib Nanded Super Fast Express, via Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Santragachi-Porbander Kavi Guru Super Fast Express, via Adra, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Kamakhya (Guwahati)-Mumbai LTT Karmabhoomi Super Fast Express via Howrah, Nagpur, Tata-Alleppey Express, via Rourkela, Sambalpur, Visakhapatnam, Vizayawada, Chennai Central, Tata-Yashwantpur (Bangalore) Super Fast Express, via Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Tata-Byappanahalli (Bangalore) Express, via Visakhapatnam, Secunderabad, Tata-Mumbai LTT Antyodaya Super Fast Express via Bilaspur, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, via Sambalpur, Rourkela, Gomoh, Kanpur, Puri-Haridwar Kalinga Utkal Express, via Tata, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Gwalior, Agra, Bhubaneswar-Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi) Super Fast Express, via Sambalpur, Rourkela, Bokaro, Gomoh, Kanpur, Durg-Danapur (Patna) South Bihar Express, via Rourkela, Tata, Bilaspur-Patna Super Fast Express, via Rourkela, Tata, Asansol-Chennai Central Super Fast Express, via Sambalpur, Visakhapatnam, Tata-Itwari (Nagpur) Passenger, Tata-Bilaspur Passenger, Chakradharpur-Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Gomoh MEMU Local, via Purulia, Adra, Chakradharpur-Rourkela Saranda DEMU Local, Chakradharpur-Tata-Kharagpur MEMU Local, via Tata, Chakradharpur-Barbil-Puri Intercity Express, via Chaibasa, Dangoaposi, Santragachi-Jabalpur Humsafar AC Express, Santragachi-Pune Humsafar AC Express

Justice Harihar Mahapatra mentioned his visit to Chakradharpur around 1916, in his book ''My Life, My Work''.

The rich mineral deposits around the Sanjay-Binjay valley was mentioned in the book ''Prehistoric India'' by Panchanan Mitra. The book also tells about the cave paintings and natural belongings of the adjoining region, including facts from Mr. Anderson's collections and their visit during the early 20th century.

The rich presence of the Anglo Indian Community in Chakradharpur Railway Colony was mentioned in the book ''Pagan Love: Anglo Indian Story'' by Mervyn Rupert Welsh. The book also tells about the Burton Lake, which is now a hangout zone.

The Geological Survey of India says there is a rich deposit of a composite batholith of a banded trondhjemitic material intruded by tonalite, granodiorite, granite and alkali-feldspar granite which was metamorphosed and deformed by a F3 event, which they named "Chakradharpur Granite Gneiss".

Mahatma Gandhi mentioned his visit to Chakradharpur Railway Station in his book ''Third Class in Indian Railways''.