Grand Chord

Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox rail line Grand Chord is part of the Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line and Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line. It acts as a link between Sitarampur, (West Bengal) and Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction, Uttar Pradesh, previously known as Mughalsarai Junction, and covers a stretch of Template:Convert. The Coal India Corridor line that branches off from Dhanbad Junction and rejoins the Grand Chord at Son Nagar Junction is another major coal loading hub. It is a fully electrified, triple line section from Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay to Son Nagar and double line section from Son Nagar to Sitarampur . There are plans to triple the lines from Son Nagar to Dhanbad to accommodate the increasing traffic. . The entire line lies under the jurisdiction of three divisions, Mughalsarai railway division , Dhanbad railway division and Asansol railway division. The Grand chord section is the lifeline of the country, 2nd busiest railway section of India after Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction, Uttar Pradesh (previously known as Mughalsarai Junction) Main Line section, on which coal, steel and other important goods are moved from Eastern section to Western and Northern sections of the country. In the down direction, the traffic consists of mostly food grains, fertilizers and empty wagons for coal loading in the Jharkhand and West Bengal coal fields. Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction is a transit division and the main objective is to maintain mobility of high density traffic. The present capacity of the Grand Chord is being optimally utilized. Traversing through Chota Nagpur Plateau of Jharkhand as well as parts of the fertile Gangetic plains of Bihar, the Grand Chord covers a stretch of Template:Convert. The Grand Chord is renowned for its remarkable controlling of passenger traffic, despite being burdened with freight traffic.

The railways first came to eastern India in 1854, and the Calcutta–Delhi railway link, with a distance of more than Template:Convert, became operational by 1866. With the increase in traffic it became necessary to construct an alternative route.

With this in view, the Grand Chord section was planned. The Grand Chord section was opened in December 1906 by Lord Minto, then Viceroy and Governor-General of India with a function at Gujahandi. With the opening of the Grand Chord route, the distance between Calcutta and Delhi was reduced by Template:Convert. The cost of construction was around Template:INRConvert.

The Grand Chord section is critically important even today, handling major passenger trains on the Howrah–Delhi route, particularly all the Rajdhani Expresses from Howrah, Bhubaneswar and Ranchi and the entire freight traffic, particularly coal, handled by the Dhanbad division of East Central Railway.

Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) encompasses a double-line electrified traction corridor from Haldia on the Eastern Railway to Khurja on the North Central Railway (Template:Convert) via Grand Chord, Khurja to Dadri on NCR double-line electrified corridor (Template:Convert) and Single electrified line from Khurja to Ludhiana (Template:Convert) on Northern Railway. The total length works out to Template:Convert. So in the Grand Chord section its total 4 parallel track will be run to ease traffic movement on this busy route.

The EDFC will traverse 6 states and is projected to cater to a number of traffic streams – coal for the power plants in the northern region of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and parts of Rajasthan from the Eastern coal fields, finished steel, food grains, cement, fertilizers, limestone from Rajasthan to steel plants in the east and general goods. The total traffic in UP direction is projected to go up from 38 million tonnes in FY2005-06 to 116 million tonnes in FY2021–22.

Trains on the route

In Template:Circa, it was said that a goods train passes by every 20 minutes on the Grand Chord line. Now, the frequency has become around 5 minutes making it one of the busiest routes in India. More than 50 mail and express trains use this shorter route apart from 2 dozens of passenger trains.

Some important trains on the route

1. Howrah Rajdhani Express (via Gaya)
2. Sealdah Rajdhani Express
3. Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (via Bokaro, Tatanagar)
4. Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (via Adra)
5. Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (via Sambalpur)
6. Ranchi Rajdhani Express (via Bokaro, Gaya)
7. Ranchi Rajdhani Express (via Daltonganj)
8. Howrah–Ranchi Shatabdi Express (via Bokaro, Dhanbad)
9. Howrah–New Delhi Duronto Express
10. Bhubaneswar–Duronto Express
11. Ranchi–New Delhi Garib Rath Express
12. Howrah–Anand Vihar Yuva Express
13. West Bengal Sampark Kranti Express
14. Odisha Sampark Kranti Express
15. Jharkhand Sampark Kranti Express
16. Gaya–Anand Vihar Garib Rath Express
17. Howrah–Jodhpur Express
18. Ajmer–Sealdah Express
19. Kalka Mail – The oldest running passenger train of India
20. Poorva Express (via Gaya)
21. Garbha Express
22. Howrah–Jaisalmer Superfast Express
23. Purushottam Express
24. Parasnath Express
25. Howrah–Gwalior Chambal Express
26. Howrah–Agra Cantt/Mathura Chambal Express
27. Howrah–Indore Junction Shipra Express
28. Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express (via Bokaro)
29. Mahabodhi Express
30. Deekshabhoomi Express
31. Sealdah–Bikaner Duronto Express
32. Gaya–Chennai Egmore Weekly Superfast Express
33. Howrah–Bhopal Weekly Express
34. Doon Express
35. Neelachal Express (Via. Bokaro)
36. Nandankanan Express (Via. Adra)
37. Patna–Hatia Express
38. Shalimar (Howrah) Express
39. Pratap Express
40. Black Diamond Express
41. Coalfield Express
42. Patna - Ranchi Janshatabdi Express
43. Purnia Court - Hatia Kosi Express
44. Sealdah–Amritsar Jallianwalla Bagh Express
45. Tatanagar–Amritsar Jallianwalla Bagh Express
46. Kolkata Mail via Allahabad
47. Ganga Damodar Express
48. Ganga Sutlej Express
49. Garib Nawaz Express
50. Howrah–Ranchi Intercity Express via Adra
51. Dhanbad–Patna Intercity Express
52. Dhanbad–Gaya Intercity Express
53. Patna–Bhabua Road Intercity Express
54. Howrah–Ranchi Intercity Express via Tatanagar
55. Ranchi–Varanasi Express
56. Ranchi–Kamakhya Express
57. Shaktipunj Express
58. Haldia–Anand Vihar Terminal Superfast Express
59. Bhubaneswar–Anand Vihar Weekly Superfast Express via Sambalpur, Rourkela, Bokaro
60. Shabd Bhedi Superfast Express
61. Howrah–Lalkuan Express
62. Durgiana Express
63. Kolkata–Agra Cantonment Express
64. Kolkata–Agra Cantonment Superfast Express
65. Santragachi–Anand Vihar Superfast Express