Railway Station-Junction-Central and Terminus – Explained

Indian Railways (IR)/ भारतीय रेल operate and manages one of the largest railway network in the world by route length and runs more than 20,000 passenger trains daily to 7,349 stations across India. Here is the basic difference between the railway station, junction, central and terminal.

Station

Railway station or Train station is an area where trains regularly start and stop for passengers and also load or unload freight. The facility has one track-side platform from where passengers board or leave trains. Train stations may be underground, elevated or be at ground level with all basic facilities such as platform, ticket counter, waiting rooms and different types of railway tracks for different purposes.

Junction

A railway station is called as junction when the stations has three or more separate route for different destinations and the stations have multiple platform. There are many railway stations in India with the word junction, some of the them listed below.

Mathura Junction (7 routes)
Howrah Junction (7 routes)
Salem Junction (6 routes)
New Cooch Behar (6 routes)
Vijayawada Junction (5 routes)
Katni Junction (5 routes)

Howrah Junction and Mathura Junction are the two biggest Railway Junctions in India, serving 7 different routes, followed by Bathinda Junction, Salem Junction,New Cooch Behar and Rewari Junction.

Central

Central railway station is the most busiest and important station serving the city, Also serve as the main transport hub for rail transport and other modes of public transport. There are 5 Central stations in India listed below.

Mumbai Central (BCT)
Chennai Central (MAS)
Trivandrum Central (TVC)
Mangalore Central (MAQ)
Kanpur Central (CNB)

Central railway station may be serve as a terminal for long-distance trains like Mumbai Central is a terminal for Mumbai Rajdhani Express.

Terminus/Terminal

A Terminus or Terminal is a railway station at the end of a railway line where trains have to end their journeys or goes back to the same direction. Terminus are designed in such as way that travellers can reach all the available platforms without crossing any railway tracks.

How Many Railway Terminus in India ?

As of now there are 32 railway terminus in India, listed by IR and some of the most popular name are listed below.
Mumbai has five important railway Terminus in Maharashtra.

Bandra Terminus (BDTS)
Bhavnagar Terminus (BVC)
Anand Vihar Terminal (ANVT)
Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT)
Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (KOP)

Railway Station Name with Road ?

The suffix Road for some fo the railway stations in India are used when serving railway station is not located in the main city or town and the railway line passes though the outskirts of the city.

Nasik Road
Gokarna Road
Abu Road (ABR)
Srikakulam Road (CHE)

There are many railway stations in India with the word Road in their title such as Gokarna Road, Nashik Road, Srikakulam road, Bilaspur Road, Dalhousie Road and Garwa Road Railway station.

What is Halt Railway Stations ?

A Halt railway station is a small but functional railway station where passenger trains are scheduled to halt for a given time period, Halt stations are called as PH or passenger halt.

What is A Cantonment Railway Station?

Agra Cantt
Delhi Cantt
Meerut Cantt
Ambala Cantt
Bareilly Cantt
Bangalore Cantonment

A Cantonment is a railway station located close to military station or cantonment area, These Cantonment stations are either serve as the main railway station of the city or small stations with limited stoppages. Image source – NDTV