THIS is India’s smallest railway station, has a single platform, its length is just…; the station is located in…

The Banspani Railway Station, serving the quaint little town of Banspani and its adjacent areas in Keonjhar district of Odisha, is considered the smallest railway station in India.

Smallest Railway station in India: The Indian Railways, one of the largest railway networks in the world, operates a staggering 7,461 railway stations located across the country, including some of the largest and the busiest train stations worldwide. But did you know that the smallest railway station in India measures just 200 meters in length, and has a single platform that cannot accommodate long express trains?

Where is India’s smallest railway station?

The Banspani Railway Station, serving the quaint little town of Banspani and its adjacent areas in Keonjhar district of Odisha, is considered the smallest railway station in India, featuring a single platform which measures just 200 meters in length (140 meters, according to some reports).

The tiny train station offers limited train services and mainly caters to local travelers, however, its true importance lies in transporting freight, particularly minerals such as iron ore from the resource-rich region. According to various reports, the Banspani railway station is the second major iron ore loading station of the Indian Railways, after Jaroli railway station in Odisha.

On the passenger front, the station, which bears the station code BSPX, is more focused on serving the needs of local travelers, rather than long-distance travel.

Which trains run through this station?

As per Indian Railways, only four passenger trains– Barbil-Puri-Barbil Indian class Intercity Express, Brahmapur-Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express, puri-Anand Vihar Terminal Weekly Express and Visakhapattnam-Tatanagar-Visakhapattnam Weekly Late Express– run through the Banspani Railway Station, because its platform is unable to fully accommodate long express trains.

Notably, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of railway stations, 1,173, in India, followed Maharashtra (689), Bihar (768), Madhya Pradesh (550), and Gujarat (509). However, there is one Indian state which has just one railway station. Read about it here.