Danapur division completes 100 years of service, celebrations planned

The historic Danapur division of the Indian Railways network that manages some of the lines and stations originally set up nearly 160 years ago will complete an eventful journey of 100 years on January 1. The division has planned a grand celebration on January 31 at the old Jagjivan Stadium where it will also host an exhibition showcasing its rich history through archival documents, photographs and railway artefacts.

We are also working on a coffee table book on the centenary of the Danapur division. Besides going through our old documents and photographs kept in different departments at the DRM office, we are also trying to crowd-source relevant material for the book," said a senior Railway Ministry official of the Danapur division.

Danapur (earlier Dinapore) division was established on January 1, 1925. Its office is located in a majestic building erected in 1929 near the historic Danapur station at Khagaul town near Patna. The first divisional superintendent of Danapur was C Eyers, who took charge on January 1, 1925. The post was redesignated as divisional railway manager (DRM) from 1980s onwards, according to information displayed on the succession board.

While the division is 100 years old, the Danapur (earlier Dinapore) railway station was built in the 1860s, along with the old Patna station (now Patna Sahib station) located in Patna City, and the erstwhile Bankipore station (near the site of the current Patna Junction built much later) on the Howrah-Delhi line, as per railway experts and some archival records.

The old stations at Fatuha, Bakhtiarpur, Barh, Mokama, Gulzarbagh and Bihta, located on a section of this line which falls within the limits of Danapur division, were built in later years, they said. The current Danapur division spans the rail network from Jhajha to Kuchman.

The Mughalsarai rail network was also part of it before it was carved out as a separate division in later decades after Independence. Till the redevelopment of Patna Sahib station a few years ago, a plaque bearing 'PATNA 1861' embedded on a wall of its building was visible from the platform.

The then East Indian Railway (EIR) system laid the line from Howrah to Delhi, and operations on it begun phase-wise from early 1850s to late 1860s, which included construction of the iconic bridge over Sone river at Koelwar and a bridge each over Yamuna at Allahabad and Delhi, all major feats of civil and railway engineering.

A team at the Danapur DRM office is currently busy scouring through old files and records, searching for old photographs, correspondences and other archival material which can be used in the planned exhibition and the coffee table book.

The red-and-white building located near Danapur station is the centrepiece of a quaint railway colony at Khagaul, dotted with many handsome British-era structures such as the official residence of the DRM, 'Rail Sadan', old railway school and hospital, and a few beautiful churches, besides humble railway colonies.

Danapur division was put under the Kolkata-based Eastern Railway (ER) established in 1952. From 2002 onwards, it came under East Central Railway (ECR), carved out of ER, with headquarters at Hajipur in north Bihar.

According to old publications, after the government of India took over the management of EIR, with effect from 1925, it was split into six divisions -- Howrah, Asansol and Dinapore, known as lower divisions, and Allahabad, Lucknow and Moradabad, known as upper divisions.