In 1854 the British colonial government in India started building a rail link from Kolkata to the coalfields in Bardhaman district. (This was the second railway line constructed in India after the first one from Mumbai to Thaney in 1853). The line started from Howrah, then a small town at the west shore of the river Hooghly River.At first it was a single line track and a station at Howrah was built for goods only. It was a small shed with a few warehouses beside it and a ticket counter. However traffic gradually increased and the station building was extended. Due to heavy increase of traffic a new station building was proposed in 1901.
The new station head house was designed by British engineer Halsey Ricardo. The new station was brought into service on 1 December 1905. This building is the current Howrah station building. The classic station has 23 platform tracks.
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