Howrah–New Delhi main line
Route map of Howrah–Delhi main line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	West Bengal,Jharkhand,Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Delhi
Termini	Howrah New Delhi
Service
System	Electrified
Operator(s)	Eastern Railway,East Central Railway,North Central Railway,Northern Railway
History
Opened	1866
Technical
Line length	1,531 km (951 mi)
Number of tracks	2/4
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)broad gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz ACOHLE fully operational in 2002
Operating speed	up to 130 km/h (80 mph)
Route map v t e Howrah–New Delhi main line Legend km 0 New Delhi Yamuna Delhi Uttar Pradesh border Kanpur–Delhi section 131 Aligarh 210 Tundla 301 Etawah 441 Kanpur Central Mughalsarai–Kanpur section 635 Allahabad Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line 786 Mughalsarai Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line Patna–Mughalsarai section Uttar Pradesh Bihar border 881 Buxar 950 Ara Son River 990 Danapur Patna–Gaya line 999 Patna Punpun River Asansol–Patna section 1,044 Bakhtiyarpur Bakhtiyarpur–Tilaiya line 1,063 Barh 1,088 Mokama Mokama–Barauni section Gaya–Kiul line 1,123 Kiul Sahibganj loop 1,150 Jamui 1,176 Jhajha Bihar Jharkhand border 1,220 Jasidih Jasidih–Dumka–Rampurhat line Ajay River Madhupur–Giridih–Koderma line 1,249 Madhupur 1,273 Vidyasagar 1,291 Jamtara 1305 Chittaranjan Jharkhand West Bengal border Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line 1,330 Asansol Bardhaman–Asansol section 1,373 Durgapur 1,437 Barddhaman Howrah–Bardhaman chord 1,532 Howrah km Sources:   Google maps India Rail Info[1]

TheHowrah–New Delhi main line is a railway line connectingDelhi andKolkata cutting across northern India. The 1,531 km (951 mi) railway line was opened to traffic in 1866 with the introduction of the "1 Down/2 Up Mail" train.

The 1,531 km (951 mi) longHowrah-Delhi main line (trunk route) has been divided in 6 sections:

1. Howrah–Bardhaman chord
2. Bardhaman–Asansol section
3. Asansol–Patna section
4. Patna–Mughalsarai section
5. Mughalsarai–Kanpur section
6. Kanpur–Delhi section

Railway transportation was introduced in India within 30 years of itsmaiden run in England. The Governor GeneralLord Dalhousie foresaw a tremendous potential for the speedy means of transport in securing British control over a vast country, not only in moving goods and people but also in the movement of the armed forces.

TheEast Indian Railway Company which was formed on 1 June 1845, completed its survey for a railway line from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Delhi viaMirzapur in 1846. The company initially became defunct on refusal of government guarantee, which was given in 1849. Thereafter, an agreement was signed between East Indian Railway Company and the East India Company, for the construction and operation of an "experimental" line between Kolkata and Rajmahal, which would later be extended to Delhi via Mirzapur. Construction began in 1851.

Howrah station was a tin shed and to reach it from Kolkata one had to cross theHooghly in a ferry. On 15 August 1854, the first passenger train in the eastern section was operated up toHooghly, 39 km (24 mi) away. On 1 February 1855 the first train ran from Hooghly toRaniganj, 195 km (121 mi) from Howrah.

The line was extended up toRajmahal in October 1859, crossingAjay River on the way. From Rajmahal, construction progressed rapidly, moving westward along the banks of theGanges, reachingBhagalpur in 1861,Munger in February 1862, and oppositeVaranasi (across the Ganges) in December 1862 and then on to Naini on the bank of theYamuna. The work included EIR's first tunnel atJamalpur and first majorbridge across theSon River atArrah.

During 1863–64, work progressed rapidly on thePrayagraj–Kanpur–Tundla andAligarh–Ghaziabad sections. The Yamuna bridge near Delhi was completed in 1864 and EIR established the Delhi terminus. On 1 August 1864, coaches were ferried across the Yamuna at Allahabad to allow the first through train to travel from Kolkata to Delhi. The Yamuna bridge at Allahabad opened on 15 August 1865 and in 1866 Kolkata and Delhi were directly linked. The1 Down/2 Up Mail train, predecessor of theKalka Mail, started running.

With the completion of the 406 km-long (252 mi) line connecting Raniganj with Kiul in 1871, a "shorter main line" was in position. Initially, it was called theChord Line. However, as it attracted more traffic it was designated the main line and the original line became theSahibganj loop.

On 6 December 1906, theGrand Chord line fromSitarampur toMughalsarai viaGaya, which shortened further the Kolkata–New Delhi distance, was inaugurated by theEarl of Minto, the Viceroy and Governor-General of India. It was thrown open to traffic in 1906. The total Howrah–New Delhi distance, viaGrand Chord is 1,448 km (900 mi), as against 1,532 km (952 mi) of the Main line,^[2] and 1,686 km (1,048 mi) viaSahibganj loop.^[3]

Apontoon bridge was built across theHooghly River in 1874 to provide easy access to Howrah Station.

EIR constructed the Delhi Junction building in 1903. It then had 12 broad-gauge and 3 metre-gauge platforms. Howrah terminus was rebuilt as the largest railway station in India in 1905.

On 1 January 1925 the British Indian Government took over the management of the East Indian Railway^[4] and divided it into six divisions:Howrah,Asansol,Danapur,Allahabad,Lucknow andMoradabad.

On 14 April 1952,Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, inaugurated two new zones of the first six zones of theIndian Railways. One of them, theNorthern Railways had the three "up-stream" divisions of East Indian Railway: Allahabad, Lucknow and Moradabad, while the other, theEastern Railways had the three "down-stream" divisions: Howrah, Asansol and Danapur and the completeBengal Nagpur Railway.^[5] Eastern Railway also had the Sealdah division, which it had acquired from the truncated Assam Bengal Railway at the time of partition.

South Eastern Railway was carved out of Eastern Railway on 1 August 1955.East Central Railway was created on 1 October 2002 with separation of three divisions – Dhanbad, Mughalsarai and Danapur – of Eastern Railway.

Except for the Sitarampur–Gaya–Mughalsarai sector calledGrand Chord and the Howrah–Bardhaman sector, theHowrah–Gaya–Delhi line shares the rest of the track with Howrah–Delhi main line. The Howrah–Gaya–Delhi route was the first trunk route in India to be completely electrified (AC traction).^[6] As a result, most of the Howrah–Delhi main line was electrified earlier than the Sitarampur–Patna–Mughalsarai sector.

Around 1957–58 theHowrah–Bardhaman main line was electrified with 3 kV DC traction for Suburban services, which was later converted to 25 kV AC traction, around 1968–69.^[7] The Bardhaman–Waria sector was electrified in 1964–1966, Waria–Sitarampur sector in 1960–61, the Asansol–Patna sector during the period 1994–95 to 2000–2001, the Patna–Mughalsarai sector in 1999–2002, Mughalsarai–Kanpur sector during the period 1964–65 to 1968–69, and Kanpur–Delhi sector between 1968–69 and 1976–77.^[8]

The Howrah–Delhi main line is planned to be upgraded as Group ‘A’ line where trains can operate up to 160 km/h (99 mph). The Howrah–Bandel–Bardhaman sector and the Sitarampur–Patna–Mughalsarai sector is classified as ‘B’ class line where trains can run up to 130 km/h (81 mph).^[9]

The New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express (via Patna) is the fastest train of this route (and is one of the fastest Rajdhani train of India) to cover a distance of 1531 Km in just 19 hours and 25 minutes, while New Delhi-Rajendranagar Terminal (Patna) Tejas Rajdhani Express is one of the fastest train on this route as it covers this journey in 11 hours 30 minutes. Some of the other fast trains such asPoorva Express take around twenty-three hours. Some of the slower trains such as Toofan Express and Lal Quila, with more frequent stoppages, take around thirty hours.^[10]

• Howrah–New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Patna)
• Poorva Express
• Rajendra Nagar-New Delhi Tejas Rajdhani Express [Patna Rajdhani]
• Sampoorna Kranti Express
• Howrah–New Delhi Duronto Express
• Howrah-Amritsar Express

• 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India
• Main railway lines of India
• Rail transport in Jharkhand
• Rail transport in Bihar
• Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh
• Rail transport in Delhi
• Rail transport in Howrah

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from September 2015
• Use Indian English from September 2015
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English