SGUJ Railway Station Information and Trains for SGUJ
"Siliguri" [] is a metropolitan city which spans areas of the Darjeeling district and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian states and territories of India of West Bengal. Known as the ''Gateway to Northeast India'', Siliguri is popular for three T's -tea, timber and tourism. It is located on the banks of the Mahananda River at the foothills of the Himalayas. Siliguri is the List of metropolitan area in West Bengal largest urban agglomeration in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Asansol. It lies 35 kilometres away from its twin cities, Jalpaiguri. The merging of the two cities make them the largest metropolis of the North Bengal.
Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal. It is located conveniently, connecting four international borders i.e. China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. It also connects the North-East with the Indian mainland and is connected with all other districts of West Bengal. Located at the foothills of Eastern Himalaya, Siliguri is a trading and transportation hub. Over time, Siliguri has grown from a village into a commercially progressive city. Siliguri has been ruled by a few eminent dynasties like Chogyals of the Chogyal and its countless strategic offerings were realised after independence.
According to Sailen Debnath, "Siliguri" means a stack of pebbles
stones. Till the 19th century this region was called as "Shilchaguri" when there was dense Dolka forest covering the area. Because of its appeal as an agricultural village, the Kingdom of Sikkim captured Siliguri making it the southernmost part of their kingdom until the Kingdom of Nepal interfered. Because of it Kirati people and Nepalis came to settle in this region.
At that time a river (Mahananda River) port, South of Siliguri in Phansidewa had an important role in having trade bond with Malda City, Bengal and Bihar. This riverine trade line was thus used by the Bhutanese and Sikkimese people to bring goods into their mainland.
Siliguri started as a small area i.e. now Saktigarh, southern part of city, on the bank of Mahananda River. Treaty of Sugauli in 1815 signed between Britain-Nepal, changed the prospect of Siliguri. As it became a point of transit with Darjeeling hills and Nepal mainland. 1815 onwards, Siliguri started growing rapidly as a small city due to its strategic convenience of trade. In 1865, the British captured Darjeeling & the entire Dooars region to build tea plantations and export the produce to England. For easy exportation they introduced the Siliguri Town railway station which stands to this day, and introduced the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from the station to Darjeeling in 1880. This helped Siliguri to gain Sub-Divisional town status in 1907.
The "Siliguri Corridor" was formed when Bengal was divided into West Bengal and East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) in 1947, with Sikkim later merging with India in 1975. At this point many immigrants came to settle here for better facilities which led to an increased population. Later in 1950 Siliguri achieved municipal status. Keeping in mind the importance of Siliguri, in 1951, the Assam rail link was established with newly made (1949) Meter gauge Siliguri Junction railway station. After few years in 1961 all these stations were connected with broad gauge New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station which later became the most important railway station in Northeast India.
Due to tremendous growth, Siliguri is now far away from its past outlook, becoming the largest and fastest growing city in eastern India after Guwahati. The growth rate of Siliguri was 57.8% during 1971- 1981, considering this growth, Siliguri came under Integrated Urban Development Project program in 1981. Siliguri touched 46.83% of population growth rate in 1981-1991. A treaty between India and China for trade through Nathu La, has expedited development and prospects of Siliguri as an international transportation and logistics hub. Later in 1994 Siliguri built a Municipal corporation which has been responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Siliguri. Siliguri has now achieved the status of becoming the List of metropolitan area in West Bengal largest metropolitan city in West Bengal, after Kolkata.
Siliguri located at the foothills of the eastern Himalayas at a location of . This city is spread over an area of 260 km2 within the Siliguri Corridor, also known as the ''Chicken's neck''. The city is surrounded by dense forests towards north and lifeline of Siliguri, Mahananda River flows through the city thereby bisecting it into two-halves. Also Teesta river is not so far from the city. Siliguri has an average elevation of 122 metres (400 feet). As Siliguri is located in the Terai region, the soil is sandy in nature i.e. the ratio of sand and silt is much higher than clay. This region is very prone to earthquake as it owns several fault lines nearby.
The Siliguri subdivision is surrounded by Himalayan ranges towards north and towards south by the country Bangladesh, Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal and the Indian state of Bihar. On the east lies Jalpaiguri district and Kalimpong subdivision and bounded on the west by the country of Nepal , thus strategically so important.
Siliguri falls under the humid subtropical climate (''Cwa''), when using the Köppen climate classification. Siliguri has mainly three distinct seasons:- Summer, Monsoon and Winter.;Summer: As Siliguri is located at the base of Himalayan mountain range, it experiences cooler temperature compared to other cities of West Bengal. In summer, temperatures go above 35 °C. However cool wind blowing from mighty Himalaya comes as a respite.;Monsoon: June marks the arrival of monsoon in Siliguri. It comes with heavy rains. This season lasts till the end of September. July and August receive the maximum rainfall, with an average up to 200 mm rainfall per day. The annual average rainfall ranges from 2600 mm to 4000 mm in Siliguri.;Winter: Winter starts from November and lasts till February. Mercury dropps down to almost 3 °C due to chilly wind from Himalaya. Dense fog and light rain is a characteristic feature of the winter in Siliguri.
These sub Himalayan forests are home of various types of wild animals like elephant, tiger, Indian bison, barking deer, wild pigs, monkey, civet, snakes, lizard, mountain goat, sambar deer, Chetal and fishing cat. These forests are also home of about 243 different bird species like Great hornbill, egrets, kingfisher, drongo, fly catcher, woodpeckers and others. Another common sight is migratory water birds.
Siliguri and surrounding Sub Himalayan forests are rich in fauna diversity, the plains of North Bengal (Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar etc.) are surrounded by deep forests. These forests are home of various rare and common species of plants. The forest here is moist Tropical and characterised by dense growth of tall Sal i.e. Shorea robusta. Sal occupies about 80% of all vegetation in these tropical forest.
These forests are categorised by their dominating plant species such as 1) East Himalayan Sal Forest present on the lower slopes of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary contains Sal (tree), Khair, Simul, Sissoo, Riverine grasslands and various rare species of plants like Orchids 2) East Himalayan Upper Bhabar Sal mainly present at Jalpaiguri district which is characterised by dense population of Microstegium chiliatum, Sal (tree) i.e. Shorea robusta. Others are Terminalia tomentosa , Schima wallichii And the 3) Eastern Tarai Sal Forest generally found in lower altitudes compared to other two types of forest. This type of forest characterised by various species of Bamboos , Ferns , Sal (tree) which is found in Baikunthapur Forest, nearby Siliguri city.
Rapid growth of city causing deforestation, making Siliguri warmer day by day and disbalancing the ecosystem.
National Highway 27 (India) crosses through the heart of the city which is now a part of AH2 project. Siliguri originates the century-old Hill Cart Road that is National Highway 110 (India) which connects Siliguri and Darjeeling (77 km) made in British period. Siliguri also originates National Highway 10 (India) which connects Gangtok, National Highway 12 (India) which connects Pankhabari-Mirik.Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus is the main bus terminus serves as bus depot for both Government & private bus service which operated by NBSTC. It connects to all other districts and cities in West Bengal like Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Malda City, Balurghat, Raiganj, Berhampore, Kolkata, Asansol, Suri, Birbhum etc. Lots of private buses connect short as well as long distance routes including some cities of Bihar too.Sikkim National Transport bus terminus & P.C. Mittal Memorial bus terminus another two bus terminus which connects Sikkim and many other cities of West Bengal. City buses, cabs auto's are available to cover the whole city. E-rickshaws also available for covering short distance inside city.
Being a transportation hub, Siliguri is well connected through railway with almost all parts of the country. In recent days four stations that serves the city.
;New Jalpaiguri Junction: New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station established in 1960 (station code NJP) is an A1 category broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station under Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is the biggest railway station of Northeast India which serves the city Siliguri. This station is well connected to almost all parts of the country except Goa. Also this station ranked 10th cleanest railway station in India in 2016 survey and came among the top 100 booking stations of Indian railway. NJP is halting point for 154 trains and it originates 16 trains daily with 4 rajdhanis and 1 shatabdi express.
;Siliguri Junction: Siliguri Junction railway station (station code SGUJ) established in 1949 is another major broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station of Siliguri. Till 2011 it was the only triple gauge ( broad gauge, meter gauge and narrow gauge) railway station in India. After 2011 meter gauge was shut down but the track is still present between Siliguri Junction railway station and Bagdogra railway station. This station is halting point for 26 local and express trains and originates 14 trains.
;Siliguri Town railway station: One of the oldest railway station (station code SGUT) of the region opened in 1880, 139 years ago for Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy train) which were connecting Siliguri and Darjeeling. It lost its importance due to newly made Siliguri Junction railway station and New Jalpaiguri junction. Siliguri Town railway station is also a broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station which is halting point for 8 trains only.
;Bagdogra railway station: This station (station code BORA) comes under greater Siliguri metropolitan area, 10 km from Siliguri junction serves Bagdogra and adjacent areas. Bagdogra railway station is on Katihar-Siliguri line via Thakurganj. This station is halting point for 14 trains.
Bagdogra Airport is an international airport located towards the west of Siliguri city, operated as a civil enclave at AFS Bagdogra of the Indian Air Force. This airport is a major transport hub in the region with flights connecting Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Dibrugarh and has international connectivity with Paro, Bhutan and Bangkok. The airport also has regular helicopter services to Gangtok. Due to its location near Darjeeling hills and Sikkim, Bagdogra airport sees thousands of tourists annually. Central government of India confirmed customs airport status to this airport in 2002 with limited international operations. Recently in 2014-15, air traffic at Bagdogra crossed 1 million for the first time with 43.6% growth rate. This is one of the few airports in India with zero sales tax on aviation turbine fuel.
Siliguri is not only commercial hub in present days. Due to its location as Siliguri present near four international borders i.e. Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China. Also it is situated near Bihar and other districts of West Bengal. So demand for educational institutions here is in its peak.Day by day Siliguri appearing as an educational hub as well. Many students from Bangladesh, Nepal, Assam, Bihar, Bhutan and surrounding districts of West Bengal come here for better educational facilities as Siliguri provides better climate compared to any other cities, better transportation, better safety, low living cost, quality multi cuisine restaurant with lesser price, plenty of shopping hubs, amusement parks and tourist attractions nearby.These factors attracts many students to come here for educational purpose. List of university, colleges and schools are mentioned below:
;General degree colleges,Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Government College,Siliguri College, Since 1950,Siliguri Mahila Mahavidyalaya,Surya Sen Mahavidyalaya,Kalipada Ghosh Tarai Mahavidyalaya,North Bengal St. Xavier's College,Gyan Jyoti College,Munshi Premchand Mahavidyalaya,Salesian College,Siliguri College of Commerce,Vidyasagar College of Education
; Medical colleges,North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Since 1968,North Bengal Dental College and Hospital
; Engineering colleges,Siliguri Institute of Technology,Surendra Institute of Engineering & Management,Siliguri Government Polytechnic College,Siliguri Global Engineering Institute
;B.Ed. Colleges,Siliguri B.Ed Collage
;Other Colleges,Inspiria Knowledge Campus,Darjeeling Tea Research & Management Association,IIAS School of Management
; Bengali Medium Schools,Siliguri Boys' High School (WBCHSE), Since 1918,Siliguri Baradakanta Vidyapith (WBCHSE),Baghajatin Vidyapith (WBCHSE),Siliguri Girls High School (WBCHSE),Netaji Girls High School (WBCHSE),Tarai Tarapada Adarsha Vidyalaya (Co-ed),Matigara Harasundar High School (Co-ed),Sri Narashingha Vidyapith (Co-ed),Saktigarh Bidyapith (Co-ed),Nilnalini Bidyamandir High School (Co-ed),Siliguri Vivekananda Vidyalaya,Kabi Sukanta High School (WBCHSE),Siliguri Jagadish Chandra Vidyapith (WBCHSE)
; English Medium Schools,Don Bosco School (ICSE),Delhi Public School (CBSE),St. Michael's School (ICSE),St. Joseph's High School (ICSE),St. Joseph School, Bhaktinagar,St. Xavier's School (ICSE),Margaret (S.N.) English High School,Nirmala Convent School (ICSE),Auxilium convent School,Modi Public School,Lincolns High School (ICSE),Royal Academy,Isabella School, Siliguri (ICSE),Techno India Group Public School,IICE Educational Academy,D.A.V.School, Fulbari, Siliguri,Sacred Heart High school (ICSE),Birla Divya Jyoti School,G.D. Goenka Public School,North Point Residential School, CBSE,Shri Ram Centennial School<,Narayana School,Baribhasa Central School (CBSE),Champion International School (IGCSE)
;Hindi Medium Schools,Siliguri Hindi High School,Bharati Hindi Vidyalaya,Hindi Balika Vidyapith,Dr. Rajendra Prasad Girl's High School
;Nepali Medium Schools,Dr. I.B. Thapa Nepali Vidyalaya,Ravi Ratna Dhungana School
; Muslim Schools,Shamsia High Madrasah (Co-ed)
;Army Schools,BSF Senior Secoundry School Kadamtala,Kendriya Vidyalayas,Army Public School, Sukna,Army Public School (Bengdubi & Khaprail)
; Railway Schools,Bani Mandir Railway H.S. School (Co-ed),New Jalpaiguri Railway Colony H.S. (Co-ed),Railway Girls High School
There are many more schools in the city.
; Newspaper :English newspapers including The Telegraph (Kolkata), Times of India , The Statesman (India), The Economic Time, The Asian Age are widely circulated throughout the city. Several Bengali newspaper including Uttarbanga Sambad, Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Uttarer Saradin, Aajkaal, Pratidin, Ganashakti are available. Leading Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar and Janpath Samachar are also published from Siliguri. 'Himalaya Darpan' is a notable Nepali language newspaper which is circulated in Siliguri. An online based news portal, Siliguri Times is there for providing live updates regarding Siliguri and adjacent areas.
:In addition to All India Radio, Siliguri has several private FM radio channels :
;Television : Siliguri receives almost all television channels those are received by rest of the country. Apart from the national terrestrial network DD Bangla, cable TV serves most of the houses. Siliguri also receives some Nepali and Bangladeshi channels too. Siliguri has three local channels CCN, Amar Cable and HTV. There is a TV tower in Kurseong, about 25 km from Siliguri.
Siliguri hosts numerous sporting events and matches to influence and build up young athletes from the city. Some of the important sports enthusiast local clubs in Siliguri organise several cricket, football, volleyball, swimming competition, TT matches etc. S.A.I
Sports Authority of India in Kanchenjunga Stadium conducts football and athletics. With the provision for an international outdoor and indoor stadium, Siliguri has enough opportunities to host national level matches. This has also led to Siliguri being a prominent city to produce national champions like Mantu Ghosh, the Gold Medalist winner in the bi-annual South Asian Games (SAF) for table tennis, Ankita Das, and Soumyajit Ghosh another internationally acclaimed table tennis player and Wriddhiman Saha - Indian international cricketer who plays Test cricket for India national cricket team. Siliguri has done a tremendous job for Indian table tennis. Also there is "Bikash Ghosh Memorial Swimming Pool" beside Kanchanjunga stadium in city which conducts swimming competitions there. White water rafting also done nearby the city in Teesta river.
This is the main stadium in Siliguri, a multipurpose stadium, mainly used for football matches although it hosted several cricket matches till date. It has a capacity of 30,000 people at a time. Recently this stadium is all set to get a facelift.
"Football:" ,This stadium hosted Federation Cup (India) matches of India . The first ever Federation Cup (India) played on this ground was between Mohun Bagan AC and Churchill Brothers S.C. in 2012.,Final match of the 2013-14 Santosh Trophy was played at the stadium in March 2014.,Seven rounds of 2015 I-League 2nd Division match was played on this ground.,It also hosted two Kolkata Derby matches in 2015-16 I-League 2nd Division.,All the matches of 2016 SAFF Women's Championship were played in the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri, West Bengal.,Kolkata Derby matches was held in this stadium ground in 2017.
"Cricket:",This stadium has hosted 11 Ranji Trophy matches.The first ever Ranji Trophy played on this ground was between Bengal cricket team and Punjab cricket team (India) in 2010.,Two Celebrity Cricket League matches were played here. The first ever Celebrity Cricket League played on this ground was between Veer Marathi vs Karnataka Bulldozers and Telugu Warriors vs Bengal Tigers (Celebrity Cricket League) in 2013.
Indoor sports including Table tennis, Badminton, Taekwon-do, Lawn tennis and Chess are being played here.In fact Siliguri is renowned for being the training grounds of table tennis players.This stadium can hold 5000 people at a time. Senior National Table Tennis Championship was recently organised here. Sports festival, 2017 also held in this indoor stadium.
; Coronation Bridge : An example of stunning architecture, also known as Sevoke bridge situates on lower Himalaya about 20 km from Siliguri made up of steel in year 1930. This bridge spans across Teesta River.
; Darjeeling Himalayan Railway : Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
toy train that runs between New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri and Darjeeling which was built between 1879 and 1881. This rail route is designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
;Bengal safari : Its about 8 km away from Siliguri. North Bengal Wild Animals Park offers visitors an impressive opportunity to experience the wild and the untamed life closely (such as Jungle fowl, Sambar deer, Royal bengal tiger, Wild boars, Spotted deer, Wild bear, Rhinoceros etc.).It is fundamentally a part of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over an area of 700 acre.Park conducts herbivore safari, carnivore safari, elephant safari etc.
; Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary : Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary is located 13 km away from Siliguri on the foothills of the Himalayas,between Teesta River and Mahananda River.The sanctuary spans over 159 km2 of reserve forest. In 1959, it got the status of a sanctuary mainly to protect the Indian bison and Royal bengal tiger. This sanctuary is home to rare Mountain goat, Chital, Muntjac, Fishing cat, Sambar deer, tiger, elephant and Indian bison and migratory birds. It offers mild to medium trekking challenges at some points.
;North Bengal science centre : One and only science Centre of North Bengal established in 1997. The main attractions are Digital Planetarium, Science Shows (Super Cold Show-Showing low temperature properties of matter, Amazing Chemistry, Unexpected Science etc.), 3D Theater, Taramandal Shows, different science topic galleries and its green Science Park with T-Rex dinosaur statue at entrance.
;Salugara monastery : located 6 km away from Siliguri. Main attraction is the 100 ft stupa, which is believed to be founded by the Tibetan Lama, Kalu Rinpoche. The ideal tranquil location for meditation was established by Tibetan monks and followers of Dalai Lama.
;ISCON temple : Also known as Sri Sri Radha Madhav Sundar Mandir, one of the biggest Krishna centres in the North-Eastern region of India. This temple was built by ISKCON, which stands for International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
;Ewam India Buddhist monastery : located about 11 km from Siliguri. Placed in the lap of nature nearby Bengal safari.
;Sed-Gyued monastery : located nearby Salugara monastery. It is a breathtaking monument which was destroyed by the Army of China, and then rebuilt. The monastery is home to more than 90 monks of the Gelukpa division, and is used as a research centre.
;Sevoke kali temple : An ancient temple on Teesta River banks,in the lap of Himalaya, close to the Coronation Bridge.This temple dedicated to Kali, the Goddess of Destruction and believed to be extremely powerful and divine.
;Hong Kong market : Hong Kong Market, apparently the Chandni Chowk of Northeast India, is a street market with variety of shops popping out on the alleyways.It is the only place where anyone can get all imported (mainly China and southeast Asia) and branded products in low price.To get a great deal make sure you bargain big.
; Dreamland amusement park : located near Fulbari, 12 km from Siliguri junction, is an agricultural land converted in a fun house. It has 5-6 usual rides with a mini Ropeway also.
;Savin kingdom : It is an amusement & water Park which is located near Dagapur in Siliguri. The park is a great place for fun and leisure in the nearby. The water park has pool, slides, artificial wave, rain dance etc. It also has various joy rides like adrenaline junkeis, sky train, break dance, go-carting, artificial bulls, etc. Multiplex, kids zone, restaurant are also out there.
;Gajoldoba view point : Located about 28 km from Siliguri, famous for the huge reservoir formed by Teesta barrage. This reservoir is home for variety of migratory birds (like River lapwing, Great Crested Grebe, Indian Cormorant, Purple Heron , Eurasian Wigeon, Common Shelduck , Cotton Teal, Tufted Duck, Little Ringed Plover, Great Cormorant etc.). Due to shuttling of migratory birds, Pakhibitan sanctuary established here. One can spend time amidst the nature. Boating facility also available here.