Delhi Junction railway station (station code: DLI) is the oldest railway station located in Chandni Chowk,

Old Delhi Shahjahanabad colloquially known as Old Delhi( Hindustani: ''Purāni Dillī'') is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shi ...

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 ...

, India. It is one of the busiest railway stations in the country, with around 250 trains commencing, terminating, or passing through it daily. Established in 1864, it originally served trains arriving from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. The current station building, designed in the architectural style of the nearby

Red Fort The Red Fort, also known as Lal Qila () is a historic Mughal Empire, Mughal fort in Delhi, India, that served as the primary residence of the Mughal emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, fo ...

, was constructed by the imperial

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

and opened in 1903. Preceding the

New Delhi railway station New Delhi railway station (station code: NDLS) is the primary railway hub for the Indian capital, New Delhi, and an integral part of Indian Railways. Situated in Central Delhi, approximately 2 kilometers north of Connaught Place, the station ...

by about 60 years, Delhi Junction has remained a significant hub in India’s railway network. The Chandni Chowk station of the

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system that serves Delhi and the adjoining satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida, Bahadurgarh, and Ballabhgarh in the National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region of India. The system cons ...

network is situated nearby, providing seamless connectivity to the city.

History

The station began operations in 1864 with a broad-gauge train from Calcutta. In 1873, the Rajputana State Railway laid a

metre-gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

track connecting Delhi to

Rewari Rewari is a city and a municipal council in Rewari district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is the district headquarters of Rewari district. It is located in south-west Haryana around 82 km from DelhiAjmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

, with metre-gauge train services from the station commencing in 1876. The current building of Delhi Junction railway station was constructed in 1900 and opened to the public in 1903. Initially operating with just two platforms and serving around 1,000 passengers, the station has grown significantly over the years. It now handles over 350,000 passengers daily, with approximately 250 trains starting, ending, or passing through it every day. In 1904, the Agra–Delhi railway line was inaugurated, establishing Delhi as a critical railway hub connected by six railway systems. The East Indian Railway, North-Western State Railway, and Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway made headways into Delhi from Ghaziabad, crossing the

Yamuna River The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

. The Delhi–Panipat–Ambala Cantonment–Kalka Railway extended northwards from Delhi, while the Rajputana–Malwa Railway passed through the Delhi district briefly on its way toward Gurgaon and Rewari Junction. Old Delhi railway station was constructed using red stone to harmonise with the historic Mughal-era

located nearby. The original station building featured six clock towers, of which Tower 4 remains in use today as a water tank. Old Delhi railway station served as the primary railway station of Delhi and a junction for four railway lines until the establishment of the

in 1926, ahead of the inauguration of New Delhi in 1931. The original Agra–Delhi railway line passed through the area later designated for the hexagonal War Memorial (now

India Gate The India Gate (formerly known as All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath (officially called Kartavya Path, Kartavya path) on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, India, New Delhi. It stands as a m ...

) and Kingsway (now Rajpath) as part of New Delhi's city planning. To accommodate this, 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 ...

realigned the tracks to run along the Yamuna River, completing the new route in 1924. The station underwent remodelling in 1934–35, during which its platforms were extended, and power signals were introduced. In the 1990s, a new entrance was added on the Kashmere Gate side, and additional platforms were constructed. The platforms were renumbered in September 2011, with the sequence starting from the main entrance as Platform 1 and ending at Platform 16 near the Kashmere Gate entrance. Some platforms were merged to form longer platforms capable of accommodating 24-coach trains. The station building underwent another bout of renovation in 2012–13. Delhi Junction previously handled both broad-gauge and metre-gauge trains. However, since 1994, it has been exclusively a broad-gauge station, with metre-gauge traffic shifted to Delhi Sarai Rohilla station. In 2016, plans were made to install a 2.2 MW rooftop solar project at the railway station.

Facilities

The station has eighteen platforms, two of which are designed to accommodate two 24-coach trains end-to-end. The station is equipped with four pit lines for washing and cleaning trains. The entrance and exit of the nearest

station, Chandni Chowk, are now within the Delhi Junction compound, thanks to the construction of an underground walkway. This eliminates the need to navigate 500 meters of crowded roads and lanes to reach the Metro station.

Junction

Railway lines from five routes converge at Delhi Junction: * towards and * towards * towards

Rohtak Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on NH 9 (old NH 10). Rohtak forms a part of the Nationa ...

* towards

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...

* towards

Gallery

File:Delhi-Junction-railway-station-view-from-flyover-bridge.jpg, Delhi Junction as viewed from a bridge File:Old Delhi Junction.jpg, Old Delhi signage File:Delhi railway station.jpg, Old Delhi railway station

References

External links