Bikaner Junction railway station

Bikaner Junction
Indian Railways junction station
Indian Railways logo
General information
Location	Bikaner, Bikaner district Rajasthan India
Coordinates	28°00′53″N 73°18′57″E
Elevation	234.696 metres (770.00 ft)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	North Western Railways
Line(s)	Jodhpur–Bathinda line Bikaner–Rewari line
Platforms	6
Tracks	8 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Construction
Structure type	Standard on ground
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	No
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	BKN
Zone(s)	North Western Railway zone
Division(s)	Bikaner
History
Opened	1891
Electrified	Yes
Location Bikaner Junction Location within Rajasthan Show map of Rajasthan Bikaner Junction Bikaner Junction (India) Show map of India

Bikaner railway station is located in Bikaner district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves Bikaner. Bikaner is headquarters of Bikaner railway division.

The railway station

Bikaner railway station is at an elevation of 226 metres (741 ft) and was assigned the code – BKN.[1]

Bikaner is served by more than 21 pairs of trains each day with multiple daily connections to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai and Chandigarh. Within Rajasthan, there are also multiple daily trains available for Jodhpur, Jaipur, Nagaur, Ratangarh, Churu, Barmer, and Jaisalamer. There are also daily trains to Kota.

Daily connections to Pathankot, Amritsar, Jammu, Kalka, Haridwar, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Durgapur, Kolkata, Guwahati and Dibrugarh are also available.

Most other major Indian cities such as Ujjain, Pune, Miraj,Nagpur, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Kochi, Trivandrum, Goa, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Raipur, Bilaspur and Bhopal are connected via weekly, biweekly or tri-weekly trains.[2]

History

See also: Indian railway history, NR history, NWR history, NCR history, and NER history

Bikaner railway station was constructed in 1891 with a Rs. 3,46,000 donation by Rai Bahadur Dewan Bahadur Sir Kasturchand Daga, a known trader from the city.

In 1889, the two states of Jodhpur and Bikaner formed the Jodhpur–Bikaner Railway to promote railway development jointly within the Rajputana Agency. In 1891 the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)-wide metre-gauge Jodhpur–Bikaner line was opened. In 1901–02, the metre-gauge line was extended to Bathinda.[3][4]

Gauge conversions

The Jodhpur–Bikaner track, along with the link to Phulera, had been taken in/before 1991 for conversion to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge.[5] According to a Press Information Bureau release issued in 2008, the Jodhpur–Merta City–Bikaner–Bathinda line was broad gauge.[6]

The Bikaner–Rewari line was converted to broad gauge during the period 2008–2011.[7]

Workshop

The Bikaner (Lalgarh) workshop was set up in 1926. It carries out periodic overhauling of metre gauge coaches and wagons.[8][9]

Museum

Bikaner Heritage Rail Museum at Bikaner displays items related to the Jodhpur and Bikaner Railway era. It was opened in 2012.[10] Turban Museum in platform one open on 2021. Displays longest turban and smallest turban in world made by a Bikaner artist Pawan vyas.[11][1][2]

References

1. "Arrivals at Bikaner". indiarailinfo. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
2. "Home". indiarailinfo.com.
3. "Jodhpur–Bikaner Railway". fibis. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
4. "IR History: Part II (1870–1899)". IRFCA. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
5. "Written answers to Question asked in Parliament". Railway expansion programme in Rajasthan. Government of India. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
6. "Railway line along Indian border". Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India, 21 April 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
7. "Overview of Bikaner Division" (PDF). North Western Railway. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
8. "Sheds and workshops". IRFCA. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
9. "Brief History of Bikaner Workshop" (PDF). North Western Railway. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
10. "Bikana Heritage Rail Museum opened for public viewing". The Times of India. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
11. "यात्रियों के आकर्षण का केन्द्र बनेगी राजस्थानी पगडिय़ा | Rajasthani turban will become the center of attraction for travelers". Patrika News (in Hindi). 1 March 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2022.

External links

• Trains at Bikaner
• Bikaner travel guide from Wikivoyage

Preceding station	Indian Railways			Following station
Uramsar towards ?		North Western Railway zone Jodhpur–Bathinda line		Lalgarh towards ?
Terminus		North Western Railway zone Bikaner–Rewari line		Bikaner East towards ?