The New Delhi–Chennai main line is a railway line connecting

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

cutting across southern part of the

Eastern Coastal Plains The Eastern Coastal Plains is a wide stretch of landmass of India, lying between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. It is wider and leveled than the Western Coastal Plains and stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the n ...

of India, the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

, the

Deccan Plateau The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

and the Yamuna valley. It covers a distance of across

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. The route is used by the

Grand Trunk Express The 12615 / 12616 Grand Trunk Express (commonly called G.T. or G.T. Express) is a daily Superfast Express train on Indian Railways, running between and Chennai Central. It is a historic train and is one of the oldest trains starting services ...

and as such is referred to by many as the . Grand Trunk Express - AC 2 tier coach

Sections

The -long trunk line, amongst the long and busy trunk lines connecting the metros, has been treated in more detail in smaller sections: # Agra Chord #

Agra–Bhopal section The Agra–Bhopal section is a railway line connecting the 16–17th century capital of the Mughals, Agra and Bhopal, capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This track is part of the Delhi–Chennai line. The line is under the jurisd ...

Bhopal–Nagpur section The Bhopal–Nagpur section is a railway line connecting Bhopal and . This track is part of the Delhi–Chennai line. The section is under the jurisdiction of West Central Railway and Central Railway. History The Bhopal–Itarsi line was op ...

# Nagpur–Kazipet section #

Kazipet–Vijayawada section The Kazipet–Vijayawada section is a railway line connecting and . This track is part of the New Delhi–Chennai main line. The section is under the jurisdiction of South Central Railway. History With the completion of the Kazipet–Balhas ...

# Vijayawada–Chennai section

History

The Agra–Delhi chord was opened in 1904. Some parts of it were relaid during the construction of New Delhi (inaugurated in 1927–28). The Agra–Gwalior line was opened by the Maharaja of Gwalior in 1881 and it became the Scindia State Railway. The Indian Midland Railway built the Gwalior–Jhansi line and the Jhansi–Bhopal line in 1889. The Bhopal–Itarsi line was opened by the Begum of Bhopal in 1884. Itarsi was linked with Nagpur between 1923 and 1924. The period of construction of the Nagpur–Balharshah line is uncertain. The Vijayawad–Chennai line was constructed in 1899. The Wadi–Secunderabad line was built in 1874 with financing by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It later became part of

Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway (NGSR) was a railway company operating in India from 1879 to 1950. It was owned by the Nizams of Hyderabad State, and its full name was ''His Exalted Highness, The Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway''. The company ...

. In 1889, the main line of the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was extended to Vijayawada, then known as Bezwada. With the completion of the Kazipet–Balharshah link in 1929, Chennai was directly linked to Delhi.

Electrification

The Vijayawada–Chennai section electrified by 1980. The Vijayawada–Kazipet sector was electrified in 1985–88. The Kazipet–

Ramagundam Ramagundam is a city and municipal corporation in Peddapalli district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is the most populous city in the district and falls under the Peddapalli revenue division. It is located on the banks of the Godavar ...

–Balharshah–Nagpur sector was electrified in 1987–89. The Bhopal–Itarsi sector was electrified in 1988–89 and the Nagpur–Itarsi sector in 1990–91. The Agra–Bhopal sector was electrified in 1984–89. The Agra–Faridabad section was electrified in 1982–85.

Speed limits

The Delhi–Chennai line (Grand Trunk route) is classified as a "Group A" line which can take speeds up to 160 km/h.

Passenger movement

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Mathura Junction Mathura Junction railway station is an important station on Agra–Delhi chord of Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Chennai lines. It is located in Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the important North-Central Ra ...

, Agra Cantt.,

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative hea ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

, Bhopal Habibganj,

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

Gudur Gudur is a town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Gudur mandal and Gudur revenue division. Demographics census of India, the town had a population of . The total popula ...

and

Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central railway station Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railway ...

, on this line, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.

Diamond quadrilateral

The Delhi–Chennai line is a part of the

diamond quadrilateral The Diamond Quadrilateral is a project of the Indian Railways to establish a high-speed rail network in India. The Diamond Quadrilateral will connect the four mega cities of India, viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, similar to the Golde ...

. The routes connecting the four major metropolises (New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata), along with their diagonals, known as the diamond quadrilateral, carry about half the freight and nearly half the passenger traffic, although they form only 16 per cent of the length.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Delhi-Chennai main line 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Railway lines opened in 1929 Rail transport in Delhi Rail transport in Haryana Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh Rail transport in Rajasthan Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh Rail transport in Maharashtra Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh Rail transport in Tamil Nadu