[1] From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps.

The first lap was a 185 km journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River, then across the river in a ferry and the second lap of the journey.

A 336 km (209 mi) metre gauge line of the North Bengal Railway linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.

[3] The Kolkata-Siliguri main line was converted to broad gauge in stages.

[3] In 1971, during the Bangladesh Liberation War, 15000 Biharis in the adjoining town of Santahar were massacred by members of the Mukti Bahini.