The 107 kilometres (66 mi) railway line operates in Howrah, Hooghly and Purba Barddhaman districts in the Indian state of West Bengal.

The East Indian Railway Company which was formed on 1 June 1845, planned to construct a line from Howrah to Delhi.

Howrah station was a tin shed and to reach it from Kolkata one had to cross the Hooghly River in a ferry.

On 15 August 1854, the first passenger train in the eastern section was operated up to Hooghly railway station, 39 kilometres (24 mi) away.

A pontoon bridge was built across the Hooghly River in 1874 to provide easy access to Howrah Station, and in 1943 the cantilever Howrah Bridge, later renamed Rabindra Setu, was built.

Electrification of the Howrah–Barddhaman main line was initiated up to Bandel in 1957, with the 3000 v DC system, and the entire Howrah–Barddhaman route completed with AC system, along with conversion of earlier DC portions to 25 kV AC, in 1958.

This line uses automatic block signalling [4] Howrah has a diesel and an electric loco shed.

Barddhaman Coaching & Wagon Depot can maintain four passenger trains, including one DEMU rake.