 | |
 2-North Eastern Railway | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Gorakhpur |
| Dates of operation | 1952–present |
| Predecessor | Oudh and Tirhut Railway Assam Railway Cawnpore–Barabanki Railway Cawnpore–Achnera Provincial State Railway |
| Successor | North Eastern Railway zone Northeast Frontier Railway (1958) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | Mixed |
| Other | |
| Website | North Eastern Railway |
The North Eastern Railway (abbreviated NER) is one of the 18 railway zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Gorakhpur.[citation needed]
Zonal Rail Training Institute (ZRTI) is established in district Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.[citation needed]
North Eastern Railway is one of the most important transit zones, that is, it is used to take in loaded wagons, especially food grains, from Northern Railway divisions like Firozpur, and move it towards Eastern belt and the Northern Frontier region (Seven Sister States). Thus, it acts as an essential cog in the food security of the country. Apart from being an important transit zone, it is also at the center-stage for much inward traffic from the neighboring zones. The inward traffic comprises food grains, fertiliser, stone chips, cement, petroleum, coal, etc.
As North Eastern Railway caters to a large area spread from the western part of Uttar Pradesh towards eastern Uttar Pradesh and area comprising western Bihar, it runs many passenger trains for the economically weaker sections. Thus, in its true sense, North Eastern Railway is delivering on the balance between social as well commercial objective of the Indian Railways.