The first railway establishment at Kharagpur started with the commissioning of the rail link between Cuttack – Balasore – Kharagpur and from Sini to Kolaghat via Kharagpur. Kharagpur as a junction station was established in Railway map in December 1898. The public mood and the reaction of society on introduction of rail transport in this region has been nicely depicted by the famous Bengali Novelist Dr Ramapada Chowdhury (who was born and raised in Kharagpur) in his novel "Prothom Prohor." (1954) It is said that the people were initially afraid to travel by train for fear of the bridge collapsing, and for fear of getting "outcaste" or Dalit status, since there were no separate seating arrangement for different castes and religions. However, things changed due to famines in the early 20th century. The railway company came forward and offered jobs to the local unemployed men, gave them free rides on trains, and even offered blankets to those travelling by train. This promotional scheme broke the taboos and made rail transport acceptable to this society.