The HowrahâÂÂGayaâÂÂDelhi is a railway line connecting and Delhi cutting across Indo-Gangetic Plain and a comparatively small stretch of the line crossing over the Chota Nagpur Plateau. It covers a distance of across, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The Grand Chord is a part of this line and as such is referred to by many as HowrahâÂÂDelhi line (via Grand Chord).
The long trunk line, amongst the long and busy trunk lines connecting the metros, has been treated in more detail in smaller sections:
Construction of a line from Howrah to Sahibganj, for the proposed HowrahâÂÂDelhi link, started in 1851. The first HowrahâÂÂDelhi line via what later became the Sahibganj loop was opened in 1866. With the completion of the Raniganj-Kiul section, the shorter HowrahâÂÂDelhi main line via Patna was in place in 1871. The SitarampurâÂÂGayaâÂÂMughalsarai Grand Chord, which shortened the HowrahâÂÂDelhi distance even further, was completed in 1901 but was formally inaugurated by Lord Minto, then Viceroy and Governor General of India with a function on 6 December 1906.
HowrahâÂÂBardhaman chord was electrified in 1964âÂÂ66. The BardhamanâÂÂMankarâÂÂWaria sector in 1964âÂÂ66, the WariaâÂÂAsansol sector in 1960âÂÂ61, the Asansol to Gaya sector in 1960âÂÂ62, the GayaâÂÂMughalsarai sector in 1962, the MughalsaraiâÂÂKanpur sector in 1964âÂÂ69 and the KanpurâÂÂNew Delhi sector in 1966âÂÂ1977.
The HowrahâÂÂGayaâÂÂDelhi route was the first trunk route in India to be completely electrified (AC traction).
In 1965, AsansolâÂÂBareilly Passenger was the first long-distance train on Eastern Railway to be hauled by an AC loco.
Most of the HowrahâÂÂGayaâÂÂDelhi line is classified as âÂÂAâ class line where trains can run up to 160 km per hour but in certain sections speeds may be limited to 120âÂÂ130 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 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.
, , , Allahabad, Mughalsarai, Gaya, Dhanbad, and , on this line, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.
In 1952, Eastern Railway, Northern Railway and North Eastern Railway were formed. Eastern Railway was formed with a portion of East Indian Railway Company, east of Mughalsarai and Bengal Nagpur Railway. 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, Assam Railway and a portion of Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway. East Central Railway was created in 1996âÂÂ97. North Central Railway was formed in 2003.
The HowrahâÂÂGayaâÂÂDelhi 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.
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