The Howrah–Gaya–Delhi is a railway line connecting 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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

cutting across

Indo-Gangetic Plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses North India, northern and East India, easte ...

and a comparatively small stretch of the line crossing over the

Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau () is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and th ...

. It covers a distance of across,

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

. 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 ...

is a part of this line and as such is referred to by many as Howrah–Delhi line (via Grand Chord).

Sections

The long trunk line, amongst the long and busy trunk lines connecting the metros, has been treated in more detail in smaller sections: # Howrah–Bardhaman chord # Bardhaman–Asansol section # Asansol–Gaya section # Gaya–Mughalsarai section # Mughalsarai–Kanpur section # Kanpur–Delhi section

History

Construction of a line from Howrah to Sahibganj, for the proposed Howrah–Delhi link, started in 1851. The first Howrah–Delhi line via what later became the Sahibganj loop was opened in 1866. With the completion of the Raniganj-Kiul section, the shorter Howrah–Delhi main line via Patna was in place in 1871. The Sitarampur–Gaya–Mughalsarai

, which shortened the Howrah–Delhi distance even further, was completed in 1901 but was formally inaugurated by Lord Minto, then

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

and

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

of India with a function on 6 December 1906.

Electrification

Howrah–Bardhaman chord was electrified in 1964–66. The Bardhaman–Mankar–Waria sector in 1964–66, the Waria–Asansol sector in 1960−61, the Asansol to Gaya sector in 1960–62, the Gaya–Mughalsarai sector in 1962, the Mughalsarai–Kanpur sector in 1964–69 and the Kanpur–New Delhi sector in 1966–1977. The Howrah–Gaya–Delhi route was the first trunk route in India to be completely electrified (AC traction). In 1965, Asansol–Bareilly Passenger was the first long-distance train on Eastern Railway to be hauled by an AC loco.

Speed limits

Most of the Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line 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 82.70 km per hour. The

Rajdhani Express The Rajdhani Express () is a series of passenger train services in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capitals or the largest cities of various states. ''Rajdhani'', derived from the Sanskrit m ...

ran for the first time in 1969 from New Delhi to Howrah. It took 17 hours 20 minutes to cover the distance of 1,445 km. The first Duronto non-stop express was launched on 18 September 2009, between Sealdah and New Delhi. It was followed by several such trains between other stations. The first double-decker superfast train commenced running between Howrah and Dhanbad on 1 October 1970.

Passenger movement

, , ,

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Mughalsarai Mughalsarai (; English language, English: ''Mughal tribe, Mughal Tavern''), officially known as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, is a city and a municipal board in the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. Located around from Chandauli town ...

, Gaya,

Dhanbad Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur and a major financial hub of Jharkhand. In terms of economy, Dhanbad has the largest economy in the state of Jharkhand and it is often referred to as th ...

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

Railway reorganisation

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

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 ...

, 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. North Central Railway was formed in 2003.

Golden quadrilateral

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

References

External links

Trains at New DelhiTrains at Kanpur CentralTrains at AllahabadTrains at Mughal SaraiTrains at GayaTrains at DhanbadTrains at Howrah
, {{DEFAULTSORT:Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Railway lines opened in 1906 Rail transport in Delhi Transport in Gaya, India Transport in Delhi Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh Rail transport in Bihar * * * * * * 1906 establishments in India