South Eastern Railway Zone

The South Eastern Railway Zone in India is widely known as SER. It is one of the 17 railway zones in the country. A railway zone is a localised section of Indian Railways that is divided into various zones to manage and administer train service, infrastructure, and customer needs. Each railway zone has multiple divisions that are assigned under it. The South Eastern Railway Zone was further divided into multiple railway zones in 2003. As of 2024, it comprises four such divisions - Adra Railway Division, Ranchi Railway Division, Chakradharpur Railway Division, and Kharagpur Railway Division.

It has been 77 years since India gained its independence, but the railway tracks and stations in the South Eastern Railway zone are almost 150 years old. The history of the South Eastern Railway Zone can be traced back to the company named Bengal Nagpur Railway, built in the 1880s. It took almost a century of extensions and connections of railway tracks to build the railway network that formed the South Eastern Railway in 1955. 

The administration and management of the zone were taken over by the newly formed Government of India in 1944. However, the separation of the Bengal Nagpur division from the Eastern Railway zone took another eight years. Today, the South Eastern Railway Zone proudly stands with its heritage, history, and pride.

The headquarters of the South Eastern Railway Zone is located in the state of West Bengal. Its official address is Dumayne Avenue, SE Railway North Colony, Rail Colony, in Garden Reach, Kolkata. Kolkata is also a city with three different railway zonal headquarters situated within its perimeters. It includes the South Eastern Railway Zonal Headquarters in Garden Reach and the Eastern Railway Zonal Headquarters in Fairley Place. The list also includes the Kolkata Metro Headquarters as Kolkata Metro is the only intra-city metro service that is operated by the Government of India. 

The General Manager of the South Eastern Railway Zone acts as the administrative head of this zone. The GM resides on the same property where the headquarters is located. The property also includes a restored ball signal, a vintage steam engine, and a plaque of 978 Balloon Squadron, RAF. The headquarters itself is a historical and architectural piece of art paying homage to the Indo-Saracenic architectural model. The complex is also built with inspiration from the Temple of Winds in Athens, Greece.

There are 17 railway zones in Indian Railways as of 2024. 68 railway divisions under these zones are managed and operated through the zonal headquarters. The zones, including old and new are: 

• Southern Railway

• Central Railway

• Western Railway

• Eastern Railway

• Northern Railway

• North Eastern Railway

• South Eastern Railway

• Northeast Frontier Railway

• South Central Railway

• Kolkata Metro

• East Central Railway

• South East Central Railway

• North Western Railway

• East Coast Railway

• North Central RailwayNCR

• South Western Railway

• West Central Railway

There are over 300 stations under the South Eastern Railway Zone. 

• Important stations in the Adra Division include Bokaro Steel City, Adra, Bankura, Bishnupur, and Purulia. 

• Important stations in the Chakradharpur Division include Tatanagar, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, and Chakradharpur. 

• Some of the important stations in the Kharagpur Division are Kharagpur, Balasore, Shalimar, Digha, and Jhargram. 

• Some of the important stations in the Ranchi Division are Ranchi Junction, Hatia, Muri, and Tatilsilwai. 

Some of the most important long-journey trains that run in the South Eastern Railway Zone are:

• Amaravati Express

• Coromandel Express

• East Coast Express

• Howrah to Chennai Mail

• Howrah to Mumbai Mail

• Howrah to Pune Duronto Express

• Ispat Express

• SMVT Bengaluru to Howrah Superfast Express

The South Eastern Railway zone also operates the running of the various Electric Multiple Unit trains in and around Kolkata. The adjacent places include Amta, Balasore, Kharagpur, Medinipur, Rourkela, Satragachi, and Tatanagar.  

The South Eastern Railway Zone is the only railway zone that also operates a metro. Kolkata Metro is the oldest and first metro route in the country and is operated by Indian Railways through the South Eastern Railway Zonal Division. 

Most importantly, the freight traffic that reaches Kolkata and Haldia is also managed by SER. Freight from Howrah and Mecheda to Digha is handled by the same authorities as well.

South Eastern Railway Zone is among the first six railway zones that were created after the Government of India took charge of administering the railway network in the country. Since 1955, more than one zone has been separated from the South Eastern Railway zone, reducing its geographical reach, but its importance and reputation have been ever-growing. Today it has over 300 stations under its management and is moving steadily forward to become one of the fully electric railway zones.