(A page from the  book " VIBRANT EDIFICE - The saga of Howrah Station"  published by Eastern Railway on the occasion of centenary celebration of Howrah Station Building)

     Modern Howrah Station will hardly offer any idea as to what it was , one and a half centuries ago.

     The station consisted of a temporary shed which served as a Platform - " five minutes' walk from the muddy bank of Ganga."

     There was no landing ghat on the Howrah side, although there was something of a kind on the other bank of the river. The Armenian ghat had a ticket counter from where the train tickets were issued. The ticket included the fare of crossing the river. For passengers from Howrah side, after arrival at the shed, which served as a platform, passengers had to jostle their way through the "exciting" crowd to the " Booking Window " . A single "Booking Window" supplied tickets to all classes of passengers. This was the scenario  immediately after inauguration.

    Currently Howrah station stands where there was an orphanage run by Dominican Sect of Portuguese Missionaries. Next to it was a small church run by the same sect. Unfortunately due to out break of plague the orphanage was shifted to Calcutta. The place was purchased by the East Indian Railway Co. The newly formed Railway Company which had already began its passenger services at Howrah built a few tin sheds here to facilitate maintenance work. and train formation yard before train running. The rest of the empty space on northern side was utilised in storage of materials. Subsequently this became the stores depot of East Indian Railway.(Still exists)

    Gradually by 1894-95 the new railway had acquired enough popularity and spread over a large portion of the country. The passenger services were increased manifold and it decided in 1896 to build a new station building at Howrah and it was also decided to use existing surplus materials lying at the depot in building the new building. But what was the shape of the station shed before it was demolished to give place to the new building ? We really do not have any official image of the first Howrah Station Building. But the first ever Historical work on E.I.R. by Kalidas Moitra of Serampore , published in 1855, titled "The Steam Engine And the East Indian Railway" contains a brief description of the then Howrah Station and a  Photograph of Howrah Station. This can be taken as authentic as the design matches to that of land acquisition for the present  Station building (EIR No 1 prepared in 1867).     

 Drg. E.I.R.No. 1 

     Contrary to the belief that the mud-hut tin roofed structure remained till the present building was designed, It has come to notice that the old Howrah Station building was a spacious columnar structure close to river Hooghly which was demolished later during the construction of the new station building. . It was a modest structure of red brick with corrugated Iron sheet roof and one platform. Another platform was added in 1865 for arrival departure of trains separately. The third platform was provided in 1895. These were not very long as sometimes as many as 5 coaches extended beyond platform.( The coaches were only four wheelers. 8 wheeler coaches were introduced only in 1903)

Howrah station in 1860s