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

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

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 southern part of the

Eastern Coastal Plains The Eastern Coastal Plains is a stretch of landmass lying between the eastern part of the Deccan plateau and the Bay of Bengal in India. The plains stretch from the Mahanadi delta to Kaniyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula with ...

of India, the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

, the

Deccan Plateau The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura Range, Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound ...

and the Yamuna valley. It covers a distance of across

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

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 ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...

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

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–Madras 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. 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, Madras was directly linked to Delhi.

Intermediate branch lines

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 # Bhopal–Nagpur section # Nagpur–Kazipet section # Kazipet–Vijayawada section # Vijayawada–Chennai section

Electrification

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

Ramagundam Ramagundam is a city under Ramagundam Municipal Corporation, municipal corporation in Peddapalli district of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the most populous city in the district and falls under t ...

–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 (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, Mathura Junction, Agra Cantt.,

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), 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 ...

, Habibganj,

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

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 811,844 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal serv ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

Gudur Gudur, natively known as Guduru, is a town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Gudur mandal, Nellore district, Gudur mandal and Gudur revenue division. Demographics As of ...

and Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central railway station, 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 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 Main railway lines of 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