New Delhi Railway Station

The main railway station of Delhi is the New Delhi Railway Station (station code NDLS) which is located between Ajmere Gate and Paharganj. It has 16 platforms and handles passengers more than 500,000 and more than 300 trains every day. This station has a route interlocking system which is believed to be the largest in the world and holds a record for the same. This system is similar to Kanpur Central Railway station. From the North of Connaught Place in central Delhi, the railway station is at a distance of two kilometres approximately.

New Delhi Railway Station is the point of origination of most of the eastbound and southbound trains. However, some major trains to different parts or sectors of the country touch or originate here.

History

The new royal capital - New Delhi was established in 1911. Prior to this, Old Delhi Railway Station served the city. The Agra-Delhi railway line is what is now known as Lutyens' Delhi. On this site, India Gate, also known as the All India War Memorial, and the Kingsway, now Rajpath was constructed. The railway line was later shifted along the River Yamuna and came into operation in 1924 to form the new capital. The Shivaji Bridge, formerly known as Minto and Hardinge, is now called Tilak rail bridges were constructed for this line that was realigned. The railways in the region were looked over by the East Indian Railway Company. In 1926, this company authorized the construction of a platform and a single story building between Paharganj and Ajmeri Gate. This was later named as New Delhi Railway Station. The Railways rejected Government’s plan to construct a new station inside Connaught Place’s Central Park as it did not find it to be feasible. The New Delhi Capital Works Project involving the construction of new lines stretching 4.79 miles or 7.71 km was completed in 1927–28. In 1931, during the inauguration of New Delhi, the Viceroy and other Royal people entered the city through this station. Later, new structures and improvements were done to the original structure that was used as the parcel office for many years.

Facilities

• Wi-Fi

In May 2013, the Northern Railways undertook a tender which was won by a Mumbai-based company. It was to provide free Wi-Fi services at the station. The approximate cost for this project was INR 82.23 lakhs. It was expected that this service would be fully functional by November 2013.

• Delhi Metro

The Yellow Line connects New Delhi Railway Station. It is also connected to the Indira Gandhi International Airport through Delhi Airport Metro Express on Orange Line.

Trains on New Delhi Railway Station