Anand Vihar Railway Terminal
Encyclopedia
Anand Vihar Railway Terminal (Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

:आनन्द विहार रेलवे टर्मिनल), station code ANVT, is a large railway station in the Anand Vihar locality of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is under the administrative control of the Delhi Division of the Northern Railway zone of the Indian Railways
Indian Railways
Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....

.

This station was officially inaugurated on December 19, 2009 by the then Union Railway minister
Ministry of Railways (India)
The Ministry of Railways in India is in charge of the Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport in India. Dinesh Trivedi is the current minister responsible for railways....

, Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee is the 11th and current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal. She is the first woman to hold the office. Banerjee founded All India Trinamool Congress in 1997 and became chairperson, after separating from the Indian National Congress...

 and the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit is the Chief Minister of Delhi. She is from the Indian National Congress. Dikshit was sworn in as the Chief Minister for a third consecutive term of the Government of Delhi state in January 2009 after pulling a victory in November 2008 state elections...

. The terminal, spread over 42 hectares is one of the largest railway stations and will cater to all East–bound trains from Delhi after the second phase becomes operational.

Background

The city of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

 heavily depends on the Rail transport to cater for the increasing load of passengers to their destinations. The long-distance trains from Delhi used to ply from three stations namely Delhi Junction
Delhi Junction Railway station
Delhi Junction, also known as Old Delhi Railway Station , station code DLI, is the oldest railway station of Delhi city, and a Junction station. It was built by the British in the style of red-coloured fort, in 1903...

 (Old Delhi), New Delhi
New Delhi Railway Station
The New Delhi Railway Station , station code NDLS, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj is the main railway station in Delhi. New Delhi railway station is the second busiest and one of the largest in India. It handles over 300 trains each day with 16 platforms and about 360,000 passengers...

 and Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Stations. These stations lacked the infrastructure facilities to handle such high passenger rush. Also, Delhi is the connecting station for the cities in the Northern states Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

, Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

, Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

, Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

 and Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...

. With increasing passenger pressure at the existing stations, the requirement of additional major passenger terminals was identified by the Northern Railways. The East-bound trains from Delhi to the states of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

, Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

, Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...

 West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 and other North-eastern states had to cross the bridge over River Yamuna as all the three stations are located on the other side of the river. Thus, the area of Anand Vihar was selected in the trans-Yamuna region to construct a mega-railway terminal. In 2003, Union railway minister Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumār is an Indian politician currently serving as Chief Minister of Bihar, an eastern state of India. He leads the Janata Dal party...

 announced that Delhi would get a new rail terminal at Anand Vihar. The station was commissioned in the 2003 rail budget and in December 2003, Northern Railway floated a tender to employ consultants for Phase-I of Anand Vihar railway station project. The foundation stone of the station was laid by the then Union Minister of Railways, Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumār is an Indian politician currently serving as Chief Minister of Bihar, an eastern state of India. He leads the Janata Dal party...

 on 25 January 2004. The first phase was expected to be completed by 2006.

Development

Due to the delay caused by various reasons, the construction was started by the Northern Railways in October 2006. The deadline for completion of the first phase was initially mid-2007 which was later revised to March 2008 due to various reasons. The station was finally declared clear for public use by the Commissioner of Railway Safety on October 20, 2009 and was officially inaugurated on December 19, 2009 by the current Union Railway minister
Ministry of Railways (India)
The Ministry of Railways in India is in charge of the Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport in India. Dinesh Trivedi is the current minister responsible for railways....

, Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee is the 11th and current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal. She is the first woman to hold the office. Banerjee founded All India Trinamool Congress in 1997 and became chairperson, after separating from the Indian National Congress...

 and the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit is the Chief Minister of Delhi. She is from the Indian National Congress. Dikshit was sworn in as the Chief Minister for a third consecutive term of the Government of Delhi state in January 2009 after pulling a victory in November 2008 state elections...

. However, regular trains starting to ply from March 10, 2010 and the station continued functioning below capacity till a stampede at New Delhi station
New Delhi Railway Station
The New Delhi Railway Station , station code NDLS, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj is the main railway station in Delhi. New Delhi railway station is the second busiest and one of the largest in India. It handles over 300 trains each day with 16 platforms and about 360,000 passengers...

 on May 16, 2010 made it clear that the New Delhi station handling 3.5 to around 5 lakh passengers each day in the was saturated and thus the Northern Railways decided to transfer more trains to Anand Vihar and utilise it effectively. Northern Railways planned to shift around six more regular trains to Anand Vihar by mid-July and also open the tender inviting global consultancies to propose a masterplan for the station Phase-II which also included augmenting the number of platforms to 7 from the existing 3 platforms in the Phase-I of the project.

The Station

Anand Vihar The new terminal will help decongest the New Delhi Railway Station
New Delhi Railway Station
The New Delhi Railway Station , station code NDLS, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj is the main railway station in Delhi. New Delhi railway station is the second busiest and one of the largest in India. It handles over 300 trains each day with 16 platforms and about 360,000 passengers...

, Delhi Junction
Delhi Junction Railway station
Delhi Junction, also known as Old Delhi Railway Station , station code DLI, is the oldest railway station of Delhi city, and a Junction station. It was built by the British in the style of red-coloured fort, in 1903...

 and Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. The terminal is modelled on the lines of the Vashi
Vashi
Vashi is an upmarket residential as well as commercial township in the city of Navi Mumbai. It is a premier city in Navi Mumbai and was one of the first "nodes" developed by CIDCO.-Populace:...

 terminal at Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai is a Planned Satellite City on the west coast of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was developed in 1972 as a twin city of Mumbai, and is the largest planned city on the planet, with under the jurisdiction of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and a total area of . Navi Mumbai...

. The new terminal will help relieve congestion on roads into New Delhi, reducing the load of a million people daily entering the city. The railway terminal will be integrated with the Anand Vihar Interstate Bus Terminal
Inter State Bus Terminals
Inter State Bus Terminals in India provide bus service to points in other states of India outside the state in which they are located.- Delhi :In Delhi, the major inter state bus terminals include:* Kashmiri Gate Inter State Bus Terminal...

 (Vivekanand Bus Terminal) and the Anand Vihar station
Anand Vihar (Delhi Metro)
Anand Vihar is an elevated metro station located on the branch line of the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro. The station is located in the Anand Vihar locality of East Delhi and is connected to the Anand Vihar ISBT and Anand Vihar Railway Terminal.-Phase III:...

 of the Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. It is one of the largest metro networks in the world. The network consists of six lines with a total length of with 142 stations of which 35 are underground...

 located close by, thus transforming it into a major transportation hub of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

. Further, widening of the rail overbridge at Anand Vihar is planned as the current structure is not capable for handling the traffic.

Phase I

Phase I of the two-storey railway station was inaugurated on 19 December 2009 with three platforms
Railway platform
A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...

, a coach maintenance yard and feeder lines to the Sahibabad Junction. This phase cost and took five years to be completed. In the inauguration two new trains – the Anand Vihar-Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

 Special Train and the Ghaziabad-New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

 Ladies Special Train were flagged off. A Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

-Panipat
Panipat
Panipat بَنِبَت is an ancient and historic city in Panipat district, Haryana state, India. It is 90 km north from Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three battles fought at the city were turning points in Indian history. The city is famous in India by the name of "City of...

 EMU
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

 with number of coaches augmented from 12 to 15 was also inaugurated. The two passenger trains to West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

-New Jalpaiguri Express and Farakka Express will be shifted to run from this terminal. Further, three existing trains running from Nizamuddin and New Delhi
New Delhi Railway Station
The New Delhi Railway Station , station code NDLS, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj is the main railway station in Delhi. New Delhi railway station is the second busiest and one of the largest in India. It handles over 300 trains each day with 16 platforms and about 360,000 passengers...

 stations to Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...

, Jogbani
Jogbani
Jogbani is a town and a notified area in Araria district in the Indian state of Bihar.The town is located between 26.42° North latitude and 87.25° East longitude at a height of 67 above mean sea level.- Transport :...

 and Motihari
Motihari
Motihari is the headquarters of East Champaran district in the Indian state of Bihar.-History:In 1866 Champaran was made into a district with Motihari as its headquarters. On 1 December 1977 the Champaran district was divided into two districts, and Motihari became the headquarters of East...

 will be shifted to the new terminal to originate from there from March onwards. While the original deadline for completion of the first phase was mid-2007, it was revised to March 2008 and the project was delayed further due to various reasons.

However regular trains from the station started on March 10, 2010. A number of EMU
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

s of the Delhi Suburban Railway
Delhi Suburban Railway
Delhi Suburban Railway services is a commuter rail service operated by Northern Railway zone of the Indian railways for the National Capital Region. This Railway services covers the city state of Delhi, along with the adjoining districts of Faridabad,Ghaziabad and other adjoining places in Haryana...

 pass through the station. Currently, the trains that originate from the station are,
Regular Express trains
Train Number Train Name Destination Station
2211/2212 Anand Vihar Motihari Garib Rath
Garib Rath
The Garib Rath express train is one of the premier trains introduced by the Indian Railways in 2005 by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to provide fully air-conditioned travel to those passengers who could not afford the expensive tickets of the fully air-conditioned coaches as in Rajdhani...

Motihari
Motihari
Motihari is the headquarters of East Champaran district in the Indian state of Bihar.-History:In 1866 Champaran was made into a district with Motihari as its headquarters. On 1 December 1977 the Champaran district was divided into two districts, and Motihari became the headquarters of East...

 (MKI)
2551/2552 Anand Vihar Varanasi Garib Rath Varanasi Junction
Varanasi Junction
Varanasi Junction, popularly known as Varanasi Cant Railway Station is the major rail hub in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the most busiest stations in India.-Overview:...

 (BSB)
2487/2488 Seemanchal Express Jogbani
Jogbani
Jogbani is a town and a notified area in Araria district in the Indian state of Bihar.The town is located between 26.42° North latitude and 87.25° East longitude at a height of 67 above mean sea level.- Transport :...

 (JBN)
2388/2387 Delhi Patna Jan Sadharan Express Rajendranagar Terminal
Rajendranagar Terminal
Rajendra Nagar Terminal, , located in Rajendra Nagar, Patna is one of the five main railway stations in Patna, the capital city of Bihar state. It is located in the Danapur railway division of the East Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways...

 (RJPB)
2557/2558 Delhi Muzaffarpur Sapt Kranti Express Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur Town is a town in Muzaffarpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of Muzaffarpur district and Tirhut division....

 (MFP)

Special trains
Further the summer special trains Delhi Varanasi Summer Special (0457/0458), Anand Vihar Terminal Barauni Express (0581/0582) including several other trains were announced to run from April to June to accommodate the heavy rush of passengers.

Phase II

In the phase II the number of platforms will be increased to seven in total and the terminal will have a capacity to handle over three hundred thousand passengers and as many as 270 trains daily. The total cost of the terminal is estimated to be around including the cost of the phase I and it would have a new Passenger Reservation system (PRS). Phase II of the Anand Vihar makeover involves linking of this terminal with the original Anand Vihar station (Station code: ANVT) which is a roadside station comprising two platforms serviced by only sub-urban trains. Northern Railways invited a consultant for Phase-II of Anand Vihar for upgrading the station with world class facilities.

Facilities

The station has facilities like booking office, booking counters, waiting halls with facilities for handicapped passengers, separate arrival and departure areas, cloak rooms, reservation halls, toilets, parcel and luggage office, operational and service accommodation and parking areas. The station also has some modern amenities like ATM
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...

s, a touch-screen enquiry system, foreign exchange counters, commercial and maintenance offices, food plazas, and a computerised ticketing facility. Retiring rooms and dormitories are also be provided in the station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 building. The terminal has a separate parcel loading facility, two escalators and six lifts and a special heritage gallery and custom-made subways which can be used by physically challenged passengers. It will also be the only station in the India
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...

 where loading and unloading of parcels, linen and food items will be carried out at the station yard and not in the platform as per the prevailing practise, to keep the platforms clean.

See also

  • List of railway stations in India
  • New Delhi Railway Station
    New Delhi Railway Station
    The New Delhi Railway Station , station code NDLS, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj is the main railway station in Delhi. New Delhi railway station is the second busiest and one of the largest in India. It handles over 300 trains each day with 16 platforms and about 360,000 passengers...

  • Delhi Junction Railway station
    Delhi Junction Railway station
    Delhi Junction, also known as Old Delhi Railway Station , station code DLI, is the oldest railway station of Delhi city, and a Junction station. It was built by the British in the style of red-coloured fort, in 1903...

  • Nizamuddin Railway Station
    Nizamuddin Railway Station
    Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station is one of the three main railway stations of Delhi, India. Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station connects all the major cities and is being developed to ease congestion on New Delhi Railway Station. Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station is served by Northern Railway....

  • Sarai Rohilla
    Sarai Rohilla
    Sarai Rohilla , station code DEE, is a railway station in Delhi, India. This station is meant for metre gauge trains and the station is small when compared to other main stations in Delhi namely, New Delhi, Delhi Junction, Anand Vihar and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations...


External links

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