The Gaya–Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction section, formerly Gaya–Mughalsarai section , is a railway line connecting

Gaya Junction Gaya Junction railway station is a junction station serving the city of Gaya, the headquarters of Gaya district and Magadh Division in the Indian state of Bihar. Gaya is in the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya railway division of the East Centra ...

and

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, formerly known as Mughalsarai Junction, (station code: DDU, old code MGS) is a railway station in the town of Mughalsarai in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The station contains the largest railway mar ...

. This track is part of the

Grand Chord Grand Chord is part of the Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line and Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line. It acts as a link between Sitarampur railway station, Sitarampur, (Asansol) (West Bengal) and Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction (Uttar Pradesh), previous ...

Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line The Howrah–Gaya–Delhi is a railway line connecting and Delhi cutting across Indo-Gangetic Plain and a comparatively small stretch of the line crossing over the Chota Nagpur Plateau. It covers a distance of across, West Bengal, Jharkhand, ...

and

Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line The Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line, (formerly known as Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line) is a railway line connecting Kolkata and Mumbai via Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad). The railway line was opened to traffic in 1870. This railway line w ...

. This section includes Arrah-Sasaram and Son Nagar branch lines. It is under the jurisdiction of

East Central Railway The East Central Railway (abbreviated ECR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at and comprises , , , and divisions. History First set up on 8 September 1996 with headquarters at Hajipur, Bihar, East Central R ...

Grand Chord

Ever since the railway connection of Delhi with Howrah in 1866, the

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

was making regular efforts to reduce the distance of the Howrah–Delhi main line. After a survey in 1888-89 and two more subsequently, a route was determined from Dhanbad to Mughal Sarai via Koderma and Gaya. The major works in this section were a bridge across the

Son River Sone River, also spelt Son River, is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Pendra (Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district), Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges river near Maner in Patna, Biha ...

Dehri Dehri also known as Dehri-on-Sone is a Nagar parishad and corresponding community development block in Rohtas district in the state of Bihar, India. Situated on the banks of Sone River, Dehri is a railway hub, and is adjoining Dalmianagar that u ...

, and tunnelling and ghat line construction between Gurpa and Gujhandi. The Grand Chord was opened in 1907. Even when the Grand Chord was under construction, the Son Nagar-Daltonganj branch line was opened in 1902.

Bridging the Soane/Son

The total length of the Upper Sone Bridge across the Soane, as the river was then called, over abutments is . It was opened for traffic on 27 February 1900. When it was built, it was the longest bridge in India and was believed to be the second longest bridge in the world, short of the

Tay Bridge The Tay Bridge carries rail traffic across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site. Plans for a bridge over the Tay to replace the train ferry servi ...

near Dundee. Subsequently, longer road bridges were built but it remained the longest rail bridge in India for many years. The opening of the 4.62 km

Vembanad Rail Bridge Vembanad Rail Bridge is a railway bridge over the Vembanad Lake in Kerala, India. With a total length of 4.62 km, it is the second longest railway bridge in India. It is part of the 8.86 km rail corridor between Edappally and Vallar ...

, connecting the Container Transshipment Terminal on Vallarpadam Island to Edappally, in February 2011, pushed it to the second position.

Electrification

The Gaya–Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction section was electrified in 1962. In 1965, Asansol–Bareilly Passenger was the first long-distance train on Eastern Railway hauled by an AC loco.

Arrah–Sasaram

The Arrah–Sasaram line was opened as a narrow gauge () section of

Martin's Light Railways Martin's Light Railways (MLR) consisted of seven narrow-gauge railway lines in the states of West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India. The railways were built and owned by Martin & Co., which was a British company. Later, it was being ope ...

in 1914 and was closed in 1978. A new

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

line was laid by Indian Railways from Sasaram to Arrah in 2006–07.

Speed limits

Most of the Gaya–

section is classified as 'A' class line where trains can run up to 160 km per hour but in certain sections speeds may be limited to 120–130 km per hour. The Howrah Rajdhani (between Howrah and New Delhi) travels at an average speed of 85.8 km per hour and the Sealdah Rajdhani (between Sealdah and New Delhi) travels at an average speed of 84.70 km per hour.

Freight corridor

Son Nagar is expected to be connected with Ludhiana as part of the Eastern Corridor. The primary feeder routes for this will be from Sonnagar to Durgapur via Gomoh, Sonnagar to Tatanagar via Garhwa Road, and Barkakana to Bokaro via Chandrapura.

Railway reorganisation

In 1952, Eastern Railway, Northern Railway and North Eastern Railway were formed. Eastern Railway was formed with a portion of

, east of Mughalsarai and

Bengal Nagpur Railway The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway. History The opening of the ...

. Northern Railway was formed with a portion of East Indian Railway Company west of Mughalsarai, Jodhpur Railway, Bikaner Railway and Eastern Punjab Railway. North Eastern Railway was formed with

Oudh and Tirhut Railway The Oudh and Tirhut Railway was a Railway company operated in India. History On 1 January 1943, the Bengal and North Western Railway and the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway (R&K worked) were acquired by the Government of India and they were am ...

, Assam Railway and a portion of

Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (reporting mark BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing railway lines between Bombay to the erstwhile Baroda State, that became the present-day Baroda (Vadod ...

. East Central Railway was created in 1996–97.

References

, {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaya - Mughalsarai section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Railway lines in Bihar Railway lines in Uttar Pradesh Railway lines opened in 1907 * * Transport in Gaya, India Transport in Mughalsarai