First Railway Station in Bangladesh

Jagati Railway Station in Kushtia

The story of the first railway station in Bangladesh

The first railway station in Bangladesh has been running for about 160 years. On 15 November 1862, the first train ran in what is now Bangladesh and stopped at Jagati Railway Station in Kushtia. It is 3 km away from Kushtia city.

The British built this railway station in the world of Kushtia.


The two-story station building was built with red bricks. Now, of course, this heritage-adorned station building is a kind of abandonment. 

No one went upstairs for many years due to cracks in the building. 

The waiting room, which was set up for the convenience of passengers a long time ago, has also collapsed. 

Again the bricks of the platform are broken and the masonry is eroded. 

Two large overhead water tanks were built on either side of the platform to supply water to the steam engine, which had long since been abandoned. 

In these two tanks, water was pumped from the ground by pumps running on coal engines at that time.

Jagati Railway Station in Kushtia

On 16 April 1853, the first passenger steam locomotive, built by a company called Peninsular Railway, set sail for the Indian subcontinent. 

The journey from Boribunder in Mumbai to Thane covered a distance of 34 km with 400 passengers. 

The following year, in 1854, the first railway in Bengal was started with the introduction of the 38 km railway from Howrah to Hooghly in West Bengal. 

Then on 29 September 1862, the Eastern Bengal Railway launched a broad gauge (5 feet 6 inches) railway from Sealdah in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, to Ranaghat.




The railway line from Sealdah to Ranaghat was extended in the same year to 53.11 km in the present Kushtia district (formerly Nadia). 

Then on 15 November 1862, the train started running from Sealdah in Calcutta to Jagati in Kushtia. 

The train came directly from the Gede-West Darshan border of West Bengal to Jagati, 3 km away from the present Kushtia district town.




When I searched about a year ago, there were only five officers and employees at this station. 

Among them were a station master, three poets, and a gateman. According to them, 12-13 more posts have been vacant for a long time. 

Talking to a few elderly people in the area, it is known that they have seen 20-22 employees busy day and night in their childhood. 

Jagati Bazaar has been built along with the railway station, and there are a few shops there.




There are still occasional freight trains carrying coal and stones from India. 

Once there was a lot of land in the station but now there is not much land left. 

The first station on the territory of Bangladesh has passed one by one over 156 years. 

Although this station, which is gradually being canceled due to carelessness and neglect, is not profitable for the Ministry of Railways to provide railway services, historically Jagati station has been very important. So its maintenance is also important.