The newly commissioned double between Prayagraj Rambag and the electronic interlocking at Prayagraj Jn. Is a major achievement in the history of railways in Prayagraj.
Prayagraj Jn ( then called Allahabad) came into the railway map of India in March 1859. It was served by East Indian Railway Company, Bengal & North Western Railway Company (B&NW) and the Oudh & Rohilkhand Railway Company ( O&RR). O&RR was later taken over by EIR while the Naini -Jubbulpore line was given to Great Indian Peninsula Railway in 1925.
The table below outlines the details of the dates on which railway lines were constructed in this region from different directions.
| Name of Railway Company | Name of railway line | Origin-Destination | Section | Distance in miles | Date of Opening |
| Oudh & Rohilkand Railway ( O&RR) | Cawnpore branch | Cawnpore-Lucknow | Lucknow to left bank of Ganges ,Cawnpore | 40.78 | April 23, 1867 |
| O&RR | Cawnpore branch | Cawnpore-Lucknow | Left Bank of Ganges Cawnpore to junction of old East Indian Railway at Cawnpore | 3.22 | July 15,1875 |
| O&RR | Allahabad-Cawnpore Branch | Phaphamau-Unao | Phaphamau to Rae Bareli | 67.6 | November 2,1911 |
| O&RR | Allahabad-Cawnpore Branch | Phaphamau-Unao | Daryapur to Dalmau | 15.98 | November 2,1911 |
| O&RR | Allahabad-Cawnpore Branch | Phaphamau-Unao | Unchahar to Unao | 69.44 | February 1,1912 |
| O&RR was merged with EIR on July 1, 1925 | |||||
| Name of Railway Company | Name of railway line | Origin-Destination | Section | Distance in miles | Date of Opening |
| Oudh & Rohilkand Railway ( O&RR) | Allahabad Fyzabad Branch | Allahabad- Fyzabad | Fyzabad-Sultanpur | 35.5 | February 1,1904 |
| O&RR | Allahabad Fyzabad Branch | Allahabad-Fyzabad | Sultanpur-Siwait* | 47.05* | July 1,1903 |
| O&RR | Allahabad Fyzabad Branch | Allahabad-Fyzabad | Siwait-Phaphamau | 3.27 | January 20,1904 |
| O&RR | Allahabad Fyzabad Branch | Allahabad-Fyzabad | Phaphamau-Allahabad | 7 | January 1,1905 |
| O&RR | Allahabad Jaunpur Branch | Allahabad–Jaunpur | Phaphamau-Mariahu via Janghai | 47.51 | June 18,1906 |
| O&RR | Allahabad Jaunpur Branch | Allahabad–Jaunpur | Mariahu-Zafarabad # | 10.67 | January 1,1907 |
| Oudh & Rohilkand Railway ( O&RR) | Benares Lucknow loop | Benares- Lucknow | Benares Cantt- Shahganj via Zafarabad, Jaunpur | 56.03 | January 5,1874 |
| *excluding 2.45 miles between Partabgarh and Chilbila which is a part of the main line Benares -Lucknow via Rae Bareli | Phaphamau and Allahabad were connected by the single line Curzon bridge | ||||
| # From Zafarabad trains to Jaunpur took the Benares Lucknow Loop | |||||
| Name of Railway Company | Name of railway line | Origin-Destination | Section | Distance in miles | Date of Opening |
| O&RR / B&NW (3ft 3 3/8 inch gauge) | Benares City Branch | Benares Cantt – Benares City | Benares Cantt – Benares City | 2.18 | April 1,1899 |
| Bengal & North Western Railway (B&NW) 3ft 3 3/8 inch | Chupra-Benares Allahabad branch | Chupra-Allahabad City | Benares-Madhosingh | 28.6 | March 1,1909 |
| B&NW | Chupra-Benares Allahabad branch | Chupra-Allahabad City | Madhosingh-Jhusi | 41.95 | April 21,1909 |
| B&NW | Chupra-Benares Allahabad branch | Chupra-Allahabad City | Jhusi- Izat Bridge | 2.38 | November 1,1912 |
| B&NW | Chupra-Benares Allahabad branch | Chupra-Allahabad City | Izat Bridge -Allahabad City | 2.25 | May 8,1913 |
| B&NW | Mirzapur Ghat extension | Branch line from Madhosingh | Madhosingh-Mirzapur Ghat | 6.89 | March 1,1909 |
| B&NW | Mirzapur Ghat extension | Branch line from Madhosingh | Mirzapur ghat -Chilh | 0.67 | October 25,1912 |
| Izat bridge was originally a metre gauge bridge | |||||
| Name of Railway Company | Name of railway line | Origin-Destination | Section | Distance in miles | Date of Opening |
| O&RR | Howrah -Delhi Main line | Howrah-Delhi | Moghalsarai-Mirzapur | 39.28 | January 1,1864 |
| O&RR | Howrah -Delhi Main line | Howrah-Delhi | MIrzapur-South Bank Jumna | 52.95 | April 4, 1864 |
| O&RR | Howrah -Delhi Main line | Howrah-Delhi | Jumna Bridge -Allahabad | 2.75 | August 15,1865 |
| O&RR | Howrah -Delhi Main line | Howrah-Delhi | Allahabad- Cawnpore | 119.47 | March 3,1859 |
| O&RR (5’6″) | Allahabad Fort Branch line* | Allahabad -Allahabad Fort | Allahabad -Allahabad Fort | 2.3 | March 3,1859 |
| * Extension to Daraganj a distance of 1.85 miles was sanctioned on 23/11/1914 | |||||
| Name of Railway Company | Name of railway line | Origin-Destination | Section | Distance in miles | Date of Opening |
| Oudh & Rohilkand Railway ( O&RR) | Moghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli Lucknow | Moghalsarai-Saharanpur | Moghalsaral-mile 3.98 | 3.98 | December 22, 1862 |
| O&RR | Moghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli Lucknow | Moghalsarai-Saharanpur | Mile 3.98 to Kashi (Benares Ganges) station | 4.25 | October 1,1887 |
| O&RR | Moghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli Lucknow | Moghalsarai-Saharanpur | Kashi (Benares Ganges) station to Benares Cantonment | 2.82 | June 18,1883 |
| O&RR | Moghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli Lucknow | Moghalsarai-Saharanpur | Benares Cant -Raebareli via Janghai, Partabgarh | 138.78 | April 4,1898 |
| From Janghai trains entered the Allahabad Fyzabad line via Phaphamau | |||||
| Name of Railway Company | Name of railway line | Origin-Destination | Section | Distance in miles | Date of Opening |
| O&RR | Jubbulpore branch line | Naini Jn and Cheeoki -Jubbulpore | Chheoki / Naini-Jn -Jubbulpore | 224.49 | August 1,1867 |
| This section was taken over by Great Indian Peninsula Railway on October 1, 1925 and distance was revised to 222.83 miles on remeasurement. |
Prayagraj region is extremely complex from a railways’ perspective when comes to reception and dispatch of trains Here’s why
Firstly Prayagraj Jn receives and dispatches trains from a. Manikpur b. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn (DDU) c. Kanpur Central d. Unchahar – Phaphamau e. Pratapgarh- Phaphamau-Prayag Jn f. Janghai -Phaphamau-Prayag Jn g. Jhusi- Daraganj- Prayagraj Rambag. Next, trains from Manikpur side from or towards DDU bypass Prayagraj Jn by taking the Prayag Chheoki chord line.
Then there are trains which terminate at
Subedarganj ( next station to Prayagraj Jn towards Kanpur), Prayagraj Chheoki ( next station to Naini Jn towards DDU), Prayagraj Sangam ( a terminus station just 250 metres north of Daraganj lines to which veer away from Prayag Jn) and
Prayagraj Rambag (next station to Prayagraj Jn towards Varanasi (erstwhile metre gauge line)
In addition the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor line from DDU towards Dadri skirts Prayagraj Jn veering away from Karchana on the DDU line and rejoining after Bamrauli on the Kanpur line.
Finally a rail-over rail bridge is also built just north of Phaphamau, This line is primarily used by goods trains from Janghai side to Unchahar side. They carry goods trains towards Unchahar and use the flyover to avoid reversal at Phaphamau Jn.
The Prayagraj Jn -Prayagraj Rambag doubling and route electrification will help reduce congestion at Prayagraj Jn. Besides several other projects are in different stages of evolution in this region for easing train operations.
End of Part 2
