If Shalimar brings to your mind images of Rex Harrison mouthing Hindi dialogues, think again. Closer home, Shalimar, the station nestled near Shibpur in Howrah, has travelled a long way from being a goods yard to a full-fledged passenger facility and a Duronto halt besides being one of the locations for a Hollywood film recently.

Shalimar is all set to become one of the four nodal stations of South Eastern Railway that will serve passengers from Calcutta as well as Howrah.

The first express train to originate from Shalimar was in 2000. Earlier, there were a few diesel loco-hauled trains that were later converted into EMUs. But the most important train to originate from Shalimar now is the Patna Duronto that runs thrice a week.

The station has received a grant for upgrade but security at Shalimar, known for gang rivalry, will have to be tightened and passenger amenities scaled up before it can take some load off Howrah station.

"Law and order is a state issue, we always cooperate with the state police in maintaining security in railway areas," a South Eastern Railway spokesperson said. "To develop Shalimar station, the Railway Board has sanctioned development work with essential passenger amenities. South Eastern Railway has entrusted the station development work at Shalimar with Ircon, an engineering and construction company, at a cost of Rs 350 crore."

Indrani Banerjee, the area manager at Shalimar, said the station has received Rs 51 crore as part of this year's budgetary allocation. "Work is in progress. The third line is coming up and it is going to be an overhead electrified line and a third platform is also coming up," she said.

The upgrade will happen in two phases. In phase one, the project cost has been estimated at Rs 190 crore.

Station complex

The station has two platforms, one for long-distance trains such as the Patna-Shalimar Duronto Express and the other for suburban trains. The station building, parallel to the station, faces the Hooghly. The plan is to build it facing the tracks. The maintenance yard at Shalimar will also be upgraded. "Right now, our maintenance shed is underground at the Padmapukur Water Works. There are primary and secondary maintenance rakes at the shed. Once the station is upgraded, we will have maintenance lines overhead," Banerjee said.

"The station is not used by many people but the facilities are alright. The water is clean, so are the washrooms," said Subrata Singh from East Midnapore, who was travellingto Mecheda.

Link roads

While Santragachhi station is easily accessible, owing to its proximity to Kona Expressway, links to Kona Expressway will have to be developed from Shalimar too.

There are only a couple of WBSTC buses running from the station at present. Most of the other buses go up to College Road, a kilometre away. "There are plans to connect this station to Kona Expressway. Approach roads will be built as well as overbridges," Banerjee said.

South Eastern Railway will provide one-way double road connectivity to Andul Road for quick entry and dispersal of passengers. Shalimar station will also be connected to the jetty terminal for the convenience of passengers.

Signage

The station can be easily approached from the eastern bank of the Hooghly via the second Hooghly bridge. But the signage on the approach roads from the bridge is a little misleading. If one takes the extreme left exit from the bridge and heads towards Andul Road, an exit to the left with a signage of Shalimar station will be visible. This leads to a railway level crossing where a passenger might get delayed. The station lies just beyond the railway crossing. But instead of taking this route, if one took the exit that leads to College Road or the Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology, one can easily avoid the level crossing. However, plans are afoot to build road overbridges over the level crossing for smooth passenger movement.

Freight hub

Primarily a goods yard, Shalimar station is the only place where freight is handled in eastern India. "We handle cement and iron and steel. Besides, there is a parcel shed. But now, we are trying to shift the cement-carrying rakes to Sankrail," said Banerjee.

An auto hub had been created by demolishing godowns so that rakes carrying vehicles could be unloaded but the plan never materialised. "The area can now be used for extending lines," the area manager said.

Work is on at Shalimar. "The engineering, signal and telecom and electrical departments are all at work," she said. The third overhead electrical line and route relay interlocking system are expected to be completed by 2015-16.