New Delhi railway station, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj is the main railway station in Delhi. It is the busiest railway station in the country in terms of train frequency and passenger movement. Around 400 trains start, end, or pass through the station daily, which handled 500,000 passengers daily in 2013 with 16 platforms. The New Delhi railway station holds the record for the largest route interlocking system in the world along with the Kanpur Central Railway Station i.e. 48. The station is about two kilometres north of Connaught Place, in central Delhi. Most eastbound and southbound trains originate at New Delhi Railway Station; however, some important trains to other parts of the country also touch/originate at this station. Most pairs of Shatabdi Express originate and terminate at this station. It is also the main hub for the Rajdhani Express. New Delhi railway station is the highest earning railway station in Indian Railways based on passenger revenue followed by Howrah Junction.
History
Before the new imperial capital New Delhi was established after 1911, the Old Delhi Railway Station served the entire city and the Agra-Delhi railway line cut through what is today called Lutyens' Delhi and the site earmarked for the hexagonal All-India War Memorial and Kingsway. The railway line was shifted along Yamuna river and opened in 1924 to make way for the new capital. Minto and Hardinge rail bridges came up for this realigned line. The East Indian Railway Company, that overlooked railways in the region, sanctioned the construction of a single story building and a single platform between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj in 1926. This was later known as New Delhi Railway station. The government's plans to have the new station built inside the Central Park of Connaught Place was rejected by the Railways as it found the idea impractical. In 1927–28, New Delhi Capital Works project involving construction of of new lines was completed. The Viceroy and royal retinue entered the city through the new railway station during the inauguration of New Delhi in 1931. New structures were added to the railway station later and the original building served as the parcel office for many years.
Modernization
In 2007, Farrells were commissioned to modernise and expand the station in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Farrells are the lead consultant for the Masterplan for Indian Railways for the redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station to be in line with the pace of modernisation and growth in the city centre. To provide station and property development over and around the station. The first phase was planned to be operational by the time of the games. The redevelopment was expected to cost and 13 consortiums have placed bids to win the contract to upgrade and modernise the terminal on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis for 30 years. The station occupies 86 ha and 10–20% of it could be used for retail and commercial use. In September 2009, the new building of the station on the Ajmeri Gate side was opened by Northern Railway; built at Rs250,000,000 by Gangotri Enterprises Limited and the building has a total floor area of 9,000 m2 spread over three floors. Vivaan Solar, a Gwalior based company has won the contract to install 1.1 MW of rooftop solar project at the railway station in 2016. The solar power project is to be set up under Public Private Partnership and will be executed on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis. The company will also be responsible for maintaining the plant for a period of 25 years. Vivaan solar has successfully installed and commissioned 1.1 MW on New Delhi railway station in the month of November 2017.
WiFi
Northern Railways concluded a tender in May 2013, won by a Mumbai-based company, to enable free Wi-Fi connectivity at the station, at an approximate cost of. Service became available later in the year.
