Itarsi Junction railway station (station code: ET) is a junction railway station in Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh from which more than 385 trains pass every day. It is the 8th busiest railway junction in India. It falls under the West Central Railway zone of Indian Railways network. It is located 18 kilometres (11 mi) away from Hoshangabad by train, and by road it is 20 kilometers. Trains from Central Railway undergo engine changes here i.e. electric engines of WAP/WAM/WAG class are changed to diesel engines of WDP/WDM/WDG class and vice versa. These changes happen for trains which pass through Jabalpur–Katni–Satna railway line and sometimes for trains which pass through Bhopal. In 2015 the signal control system was gutted in a fire incident resulting in hundreds of trains being cancelled for over 30 days till normality was restored.
The railway station of Itarsi consists of eight platforms. The platforms are well furnished to meet up with all the passenger needs and demands.
Connectivity
Itarsi Junction railway station is very well connected with rail routes from all four sides. Thus there are trains for almost all the Indian destinations.
Status of arrival and departure of trains at Itarsi junction can be viewed via live station through National Train Enquiry System.
Lines
The tracks on the junction are such that they provide a vast connection to all four directions. To the north lies the important capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal. To the east lies another important railway junction Jabalpur. To the southwest lies Khandwa and Bhusawal, and to the southeast lies Amla Junction, Betul and Nagpur. The station always holds heavy over-traffic as the trains on the Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line and Jhansi–Bhopal Junction–Nagpur routes cross at Itarsi.
Loco sheds
Electric Loco Shed, Itarsi holding WAP-4, WAP-7 & WAG-9 class locomotives. Its sanctioned capacity of holds 175 locomotives. Its former rolling stock were like WAM-4 (all withdrawn or scrapped) & WAG-5 (all transferred to NKJ shed).
It is currently holding 75 WAP-4, 25 WAP-7 & 55 WAG-9.
Diesel Loco Shed, Itarsi also holding Alco & EMD model diesel locomotives, too.
2015 Fire incident
On 17 June 2015, there was a fire incident on Itarsi Junction involving signal control system resulting in extensive damage to route relay interlocking system (RRI). This resulted in trains being stranded at the station other trains heading towards station being cancelled or diverted. Initially the extent of damage was considered small, but subsequent inspection post fire control found RRI in ashes, beyond repair. A deadline was set to commission new RRI in 35 days. 78 trains were cancelled and 23 diverted by second day alone. Thirty four days disruption resulted in cancellation of 2,044 trains, diversion of 249 trains and short termination of 17 trains. The new RRI installation was completed on 21 July at a cost of Rs. 19.64 cr. Complete normalcy was restored by 26 July 2015.
