| Delhi Junction | |
| Native Name: | Dilli Junction |
| Type: | Indian Railways Station |
| Other Name: | Old Delhi, Purani Dilli |
| Style: | Indian Railways |
| Address: | Near Chandni Chowk metro station, Mori Gate, Old Delhi, Delhi, 110006 |
| Country: |  India |
| Elevation: | 218.76m (717.72feet) |
| Other: | Auto stand, Taxi stand |
| Platform: | 16 |
| Tracks: | 18 |
| Parking: | Yes |
| Accessible: | Available |
| Owned: | Indian Railways |
| Operator: | Northern Railways |
| Status: | Functioning |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Caption: | Interactive map |
Delhi Junction railway station is the oldest railway station in Old Delhi, Delhi, India. It is one of the busiest railway stations in India in terms of frequency. Around 250 trains start, end, or pass through the station daily. It was established near Chandni Chowk in 1864 when trains from, Calcutta started operating up to Delhi. Its present building was constructed by the British Indian government in the style of the nearby Red Fort and opened in 1903. It has been an important railway station of the country and preceded the by about 60 years. Chandni Chowk station of the Delhi Metro is located near it.
The station started with a broad gauge train from Calcutta in 1864. Metre-gauge track from Delhi to Rewari and further to Ajmer was laid in 1873 by Rajputana State Railway and metre-gauge trains from this station started in 1876.
The present building of the station was built in 1900 and opened for the public in 1903. Started with just 2 platforms and 1000 passengers, Delhi railway station now handles more than 350,000 passengers and around 250 trains starts, ends, or passes through the station daily.
In 1904 the Agra–Delhi line was opened. Delhi then was a part of six railway systems. East Indian Railway, North-Western Railway, and Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway entered from crossing the Yamuna river. Delhi–Panipat–Ambala Cantonment– Railway ran northwards from Delhi, and the Rajputana–Malwa Railway traversed the Delhi district for a short distance in the direction of Gurgaon and .[1]
Old Delhi railway station was built in red stone to give the effect of nearby historic Red Fort. The station building had six clock towers and tower 4 is still in use as a water tank.
This station served as the main station of Delhi, hosting junction of four railways until the opening of in 1926 ahead of the inauguration of the New Delhi city in 1931. Agra–Delhi railway track had been laid through the site that got earmarked for the hexagonal War Memorial (now called India Gate) and Kingsway (now called Rajpath) when New Delhi city was planned. Therefore East Indian Railway Company shifted the tracks to run along the Yamuna river and opened the new track in 1924.
The station was remodelled in 1934–35, when its platforms were extended and power signals were introduced.[2] [3] A new entrance from Kashmere Gate side was created in 1990s and new platforms were added. The platforms were renumbered in September 2011. The numbers that started from Kashmere Gate entrance as 1A and ended at 18 near the main entrance were renumbered starting as 1 from the main entrance and ending at 16 at Kashmere Gate entrance and some platforms were merged to form long platforms to accommodate trains of 24 coaches.[4] The station building was renovated in 2012–13.
Delhi earlier handled both broad and meter gauge trains. Since 1994, it is a purely broad-gauge station, meter gauge traffic having been shifted to Delhi Sarai Rohilla Station.[5]
In 2016, it was planned to install 2.2 MW of rooftop solar project at the railway station.
The station has eighteen platforms two of which can accommodate two trains of 24-coach length end-to-end.
The station has four pit lines for washing and cleaning trains.[6]
The entrance and exist of the nearest Delhi Metro station is now within the compound of the Delhi junction. It was achieved by constructing an underground walkway from Chandni Chowk metro station. Now one does not have to walk half a kilometre on crowded roads and lanes to reach the Metro station.
Railway lines from five routes connect at the Delhi Junction: