Kalimati New Station 4rth April 1910, now known as Tatanagar

One looks with awe at the number of trains that chug in and out of the Tatanagar Railway Station. Anyone who has seen the changes over the years has reasons to be so awed.

“Only limited long-distance trains ran during the night. About 100 years ago, there was only one room from which all functions were conducted. Passengers would reach the station during the evening itself to catch a night train. There was no place to rest or take shelter,” said Laxman Chandra Maji, a former superintendent of the Tatanagar station, now retired.

There are many like him, who have many interesting tales to narrate about the station, which about 100 years ago was known as Kalimati station.

Why it was so called, one is not really sure. Some throw a guess that maybe the soil in the area was black. Whatever be it, it consisted of a single room, from which all the functions were conducted.

In 1919 the station was renamed Tatanagar by Lord Chelmsford, who was the then viceroy. As one goes digging into its history, not just facts and figures, interesting lores tumble out as well.

“There was a time when passengers were not allowed to stay at the station during the night. Now many prefer to stay over,” says the joint secretary of Chhotanagpur Passenger Association, Jharkhand, A.K. Tiwary.

That sent one snooping further, curious to know what exactly were the security threats. Some of the discoveries sure made for interesting adventure stories.

Like the one Nisar Waris had to narrate. Nisar, who used to run a steam engine on the Tatanagar- Badampahar line, talked of how once the train was derailed between Halidipokhar and Bahalda, about 35 kms from Tatanagar station.

“Tuskers and other wild animals surrounded the engine. We threw spade after spade of burning coal on them. The animals refused to leave that easily,” he says.

It sounds like a horrifying one-off incident. But apparently, it was not. Maji, who had joined the railway service as an assistant superintendent of the Tatanagar station, too, talks about how the station was under the constant threat of animals.

“Unlike now, the lighting at the station was poor,” he adds.

Much has changed since then. Today, it connects the city with all the major destinations in the country.

When on January 27 this year, the railways flagged off a special heritage train from the station, it was a part of the centenary celebrations of Tata Steel.

For, when one thinks of Tatanagar station, the name that comes foremost to mind is Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata. What they initiated, has shaped beyond recognition today. Keeping in view the growing rush of passengers and demands of rakes by Tata Steel and its subsidiary plants for transporting steel, cement and other products, SER had upgraded the old station in last couple of decades.

From canteen to proper parking space, computerisation to round-the clock enquiry system, it has provisions for all, with plans for further progress.

“The railway tracks and layout is being redesigned to accommodate more goods trains,” said A.K. Agarwal, superintendent of the station.

It’s been a long journey for this one-time small station, with promises of more to come.