Kharagpur Railway Station is located in the Midnapore West district of West Bengal. Kharagpur Railway Station possesses one of the biggest railway workshops in India with the longest railway platform in the world. Kharagpur Junction Railway Station is administered by the South Eastern Railways. The station is situated at a distance of 5 km from the enormous campus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Kharagpur Junction Railway Station has accomplished the honour of having the longest platform in the world.
Railway was first established in Kharagpur with the authorising of the rail link between Cuttack - Balasore - Kharagpur and from Sini to Kolaghat via Kharagpur. But due recognition of the Railway Station in the Railway map was given only in 1898. Afterwards some upgradation process was taken into consideration like-- construction of the bridge over Kosai river, the rail line from Howrah to Kolaghat up to the Eastern bank and from Kharagpur up to Western bank of the Rupnarayan River, the bridge over Rupnarayan river etc.
By 1898, light railway line about 2 ft gauge was contructed on the Howrah - Amta route. But after the introduction of the broad gauge line, in four phases, line was established in the same route. In the first phase railway line was established between Santragachi and Domjur, in the second phase it was expanded up to Bargachia. In the third phase it was extended to Mushirhat (Mahendralal Nagar station) and finally in 2004 the final extension to Amta was accomplished. A connecting link between Panskura and Tamluk felt needed in the initial stage of 20th Century. At the same time the rail link between Howrah and Kharagpur was opened up. In 1968, the connecting link between Panskura - Durgachak via Tamluk was completed.
Today the Kharagpur Railway Station has been modernised with computerised reservation facility. The Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) is also available at the station. The railway workshop at Kharagpur is illustrious in the entire eastern region. Gitanjali Express, Coromandel Express, Puri-New Delhi Express, Dhauli Express, Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and Azad Hind Express run through this station. Suburban railway services to Kolkata are available frequently from the Kharagpur Railway Station. From Kharagpur the city of Kolkata is approximately 120 km. Towards northeast, Howrah Railway Station is the nearest main railhead. Travelling east, Panskura Railway Station is the main station next to Kharagpur. The Kharagpur Railway Station is well connected to the town by rickshaws and tempos. Kharagpur Bus Station is the nearest bus terminus. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is the nearest international airport.
