Kolkata, Sept 14: After being closed for nearly 30 hours, the Howrah Station was thrown open to railway traffic from this morning with the successful replacement of the overaged route relay interlocking (RRI) system.
Eastern Railway sources said that the first train, up Katwa local, left Howrah at 5.50 am, ten minutes before the station was scheduled to open.

Subsequently the first Tarakeswar local, up Ganadevata Express and the up black diamond express left the station at their scheduled departure time.

Stating that several down trains have also been received at Howrah, the sources said that up Poorva Express, however, would leave from Sealdah on its scheduled departure time today as the corresponding down train was received at Sealdah.
According to south eastern railway sources, the trains on its zone have also started to arrive and leave Howrah Station as per schedule.

For the first time in the 150-year history of the Indian Railways, the Howrah railway terminal remained completely closed to traffic since Friday midnight with nearly 800 railway employees working at the station and its surrounding yard for installing a modern RRI system.

Installation of the new RRI involved replacement of stretches of overhead traction, besides track circuiting and upgradation of the signalling system.

The new RRI comprising 176 signals would now be able to handle traffic in 1134 routes.
The RRI was last upgraded in 1965, enabling traffic handling in 625 routes through 148 signals.

Bureau Report