Howrah platforms to handle 24 coaches

Eastern Railway said on April 26 that Howrah station is being upgraded to handle 22- to 24-coach Mail and Express trains. (indianexpress.com) Platform 14 has been extended to 581 metres, allowing full-length 22- to 24-coach trains. Platform 15 has been lengthened from 312 metres to 591 metres. (indianexpress.com) Eastern Railway also said platform 24 has been extended to 635 metres at a cost of ₹3 crore. Platform 16 has been renovated under a separate ₹15 crore project for 12-coach trains and passenger facilities. (indianexpress.com) Chief Public Relations Officer Shibram Majhi said platforms 10, 11, 12 and 13 are also slated for extension. He said platforms 1, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 will soon be ready for 22-coach Linke Hofmann Busch, or LHB, trains. (indianexpress.com) Howrah is one of India’s oldest rail terminals, dating to 1854, and the station has expanded repeatedly as traffic grew. Indian Railways is now targeting a doubling of train-originating capacity at major stations over the next five years, with Howrah included in that push. (indianexpress.com) (financialexpress.com) The immediate aim is to reduce congestion and waiting time for long-distance trains approaching Howrah, especially services coming in from South Eastern Railway routes. Longer platforms let the station berth full-length trains without splitting operations across shorter tracks. (financialexpress.com) (indianexpress.com) The capacity move lands the same day Indian Railways ordered a network-wide audit of signalling systems. The Railway Board told zonal railways to send senior officers to inspect new and older installations for reliability, wiring, earthing, bonding and compliance with approved standards. (thehindu.com) The Hindu reported the order came after several fatal accidents and derailments in the past three years where signal failure, especially in automatic signalling territory, was suspected. The Railway Board also directed divisional managers to carry out regular root-cause analysis of asset failures. (thehindu.com) Demand on premium eastern routes has also been strong. Indian Railways said the Howrah-Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper, launched on January 17, 2026, carried 1.21 lakh passengers in 119 trips in its first three months and ran at more than 100% occupancy. (indianexpress.com) At Howrah, that leaves the station trying to solve two problems at once: fit longer trains into the terminal and keep the signalling behind them working reliably. (indianexpress.com) (thehindu.com)