Coal and railways
In 1774, Suetonius Heatly and John Sumner of the British East India Companyrealised that local people were using coal in the region of which Asansol is a part. Their early explorations and mining operations were carried out in a haphazard manner and demand was limited. Regular mining operations started in 1820, led by an agency house, Alexander and Co. In 1835, Prince Dwarkanath Tagore bought over the collieries and Carr and Tagore Co. led the field. For the entire 19th century and a major part of the 20th century, Ranigunj coalfields in the Asansol region was the major producer of coal in the country.
Eastern Railway Asansol Division
Established in 1925, Asansol Division is one of the oldest divisions of Indian Railways. On the Howrah-Delhi main line, its jurisdiction extends from the distant signal of Khana junction to the distant signal of Jhajha . On the Grand Chord line its jurisdiction extends up to the distant signal of Pradhakhunta. Branch lines under its jurisdiction are: Andal-Sainthia, Andal-Tapasi-Barabani-Sitarampur, Madhupur-Giridih, Jasidih-Baidyanathdham and Jasidih-Dumka. With a total of 565 route kilometers, the division has quadruple lines (two up and two down line) from Khana to Sitarampur. It handles 100 mail/express trains daily and 212 passenger train runs per day. The number of originating passengers per day is 144,070
