Two Rail Zones, One Name: How 'Bareilly Junction' Identity Crisis Leaves Train Commuters Stranded and Confused
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In an unusual administrative paradox that continues to trigger severe passenger confusion, the city of Bareilly operates two distinct railway junctions under the exact same operational identity: "Bareilly Junction." Owned and operated across two entirely different railway zones—the Moradabad Division under Northern Railway (NR) and the Izzatnagar Division under North Eastern Railway (NER)—the shared setup is creating logistical nightmares for daily travelers and long-distance passengers navigating the station. Northern Railway oversees the primary hub spanning Platforms 1 through 4, handling over 150 daily passenger and express services connecting Delhi, Saharanpur, Lucknow, and Chandausi, while North Eastern Railway operates adjacent Platforms 5 and 6 catering to regional branch lines bound for Pilibhit, Lalkuan, and Badaun, forcing commuters to buy tickets from shared counters before climbing foot overbridges to locate their respective platforms.
Single Enquiry Counter Strains Operations as Staff Struggle with Inter-Zonal Train Information
The inter-zonal friction is felt most acutely at the station's passenger facilitation and enquiry booths, which remain exclusively under the administrative purview of Northern Railway. Because counter personnel are primarily equipped with NR divisional updates, commuters seeking precise timetables, track allocations, or status reports for North Eastern Railway services are routinely turned away or handed erroneous updates. The confusion came to the forefront on Tuesday when a passenger named Akash was falsely informed at the enquiry counter that a train to Mailani does not run at all, while another traveler, Pinky, seeking information about Purvanchal-bound connections, had to wait as on-duty enquiry staff scrambled to look up basic schedules on third-party mobile applications rather than official railway reservation networks, exposing severe administrative disconnects between the two operational divisions.
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