Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line  The Asansol–Adra-Tatanagar–Kharagpur line is part of Howrah and eastern India's links with Mumbai and Chennai. It is also a major freight line for transporting iron ore, coal and steel products. This page includes the Adra-Bokaro Steel City branch line and Tatanagar-Badampahar branch lines. The Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line, a joint effort of Great Indian Peninsula Railway and East Indian Railway Company came up in 1870. The Bengal Nagpur Railway was formed in 1887 for the purpose of upgrading the Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway and then extending it via Bilaspur to Asansol, in order to develop a shorter Howrah-Mumbai route than the one via Allahabad. The Bengal Nagpur Railway main line from Nagpur to Asansol, on the Howrah-Delhi main line, was opened for goods traffic on 1 February 1891. However, it was only after Kharagpur was linked from the west and the south that it was connected to Howrah in 1900. The closing years of the 19th century and the opening years of the 20th century were momentous for the area. 800 miles of East Coast Railway was built and opened for traffic between 1893 and 1896. The most vital sections of Bengal Nagpur Railway, Sini-Kharagpur-Kolaghat and Kharagpur-Cuttack, were opened to traffic in 1898-99. The Purulia-Ranchi branch was opened for traffic on 15 November 1907. BNR lines were extended to Gomoh, on EIR’s main line, in 1907. The Mohuda-Chandrapura branch line was opened in 1913. A 40-mile branch line from Tatanagar to Gorumahisani was opened to traffic in 1911 mainly for transportation of iron ore. The Purulia-Ranchi line was opened as a narrow gauge railway of BNR in 1907. The Bengal Nagpur Railway was nationalized in 1944.Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 with the portion of East Indian Railway Company east of Mughalsarai and the Bengal Nagpur Railway. In 1955, South Eastern Railway was carved out of Eastern Railway. It comprised lines mostly operated by BNR earlier. India’s first integrated steel plant, Tata Steel’s plant at Jamshedpur, became operational in 1908.IISCO Steel Plant was established at Burnpur in 1918.Steel Authority of India’s Durgapur Steel Plant was established in the late fifties, and Bokaro Steel Plant became operational in the seventies.