Mixed Experience with Indian Railways
Having traveled over almost all the states of India, that too most of the journeys in India, I actually have a mixed experience like in Howrah where most of them are almost good, but there are some very rare situations which actually troubled me a lot. So the first thing that comes to our mind when we hear about being troubled by a train is they run late, in the sense extremely late which actually went up to more than 6-7 hours which actually is so irritating because further journeys are actually connected after the current journey.
But there is another reason which troubled me when I was in Howrah(Kolkata), which sounds so shocking to listen but that’s true. I had to travel almost a km just to get to the platform to catch my train to Puri, as this unique and spectacular railway station of India actually has 23 Platforms in total and I don’t know if it’s my luck or bad luck, our train was departing from Platform-23.
Numerous Railway Stations of Kolkata
Most of you might be familiar with Howrah Junction, as it is one of the major railway stations not just of Kolkata but the whole of India. So there are multiple stations in major cities to handle the traffic and there are many such stations in and around Kolkata like Howrah, Sealdah, Shalimar, Santragachi, Kolkata, etc. Of those, Howrah is the major one. So there are 23 platforms in total in a single railway station, where actually all the platforms are always occupied most of the time. I guess even 23 is less to handle this traffic as there is such huge congestion here.
The 23 Platforms of Howrah Jn
The first 16 platforms actually cater to the trains departing to North and North-East India, including the local trains which travel in and around Kolkata. The ones from 17-23 serve the trains heading south. So it actually can be split up to 2 parts. As I was heading towards Puri my train was about to depart from P-23, so had to come running to cover this extra distance, not sure if cabs come up till here but we came after exploring Kolkata in the good-old buses so had to take this adventure.
The Marvelous Howrah Bridge
One more beautiful part of this station is it’s a terminating station, but can you guess what would be there at the point where it terminates, even I was shocked to see the beautiful River Hoogly with the swift speed and who the first thing that comes up to everyone’s mind when we hear Kolkata is the Howrah Bridge, which is actually so stunning. This connects this station to the other side of the bridge. So I went up to the first floor and took a lovely capture of this bridge, which actually looks different in the day and night. At night it was lit up with tri-color lighting which is actually so mesmerizing to watch during the dark.
The Busiest Railway Station of India : Howrah Jn
Also this station is the busiest, largest and oldest railway station of India. Almost 600+ trains depart through this station everyday catering almost 3 million passengers and as it’s a terminating station all the trains originate from here. So there are direct trains from almost all major cities of India to Howrah. One of the most amazing features of Howrah Junction is that there is a road which divides the station into two. So, it is easy for people traveling with a lot of luggage to directly park their vehicle inside the station and directly board the train.
Various options to travel around Kolkata
There is no commotion as the road is very well maintained by the police. There are many people who travel from Howrah Ferry Ghat and in order to do so, there is a subway which connects the Junction directly to the Ganga Ghat at Howrah. This subway is the oldest subway in India which links a station to the main road or to a ghat. Perhaps, it is the only one existing in the country for 45 years. 
Conclusion
So there are many more amazing interesting facts and figures about this station, which actually is one among the tourist places in Kolkata. So try to visit this station in the specially evening to actually to actually feel the huge population of our country, to witness the iconic Howrah bridge and visit the city of Kolkata as there is good connection to almost all the parts of Kolkata
