1911 - 2011 Railway near to Sansad Bhawan, Delhi

8/7/2019 1911 - 2011 Railway near to Sansad Bhawan, Delhi

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Avishek G Dastidar■ avishek.dastidar@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI:Much before even a brick was laid at the site that is now NewDelhi, thearchitectsof thenew cityhadtofightan interestingbureaucratic bat-tlewiththerailwaystosecure twocru-cial things, without which the newCapital would not have been a reality.

Firstly, they needed a host of newlines to be laid on the rocky ridges of RaisinaHillto transport menandmate-rial for 20 years. And secondly, theyneededtherailwaysto remove thecru-cialDelhi-AgraChord line,which thenran across the site earmarked for thehexagonal All-India War Memorial(India Gate), Kingsway (which later becameRajpath),andmuchof thepres-ent Lutyens' Bunglow Zone area.

The first was an engineering featconsidering the rocky terrain, and it wasachievedover a longperiodas con-struction work expanded. Aspecialrail- way line, called the 'Imperial DelhiRailway', was built to transport con-struction material andworkers.A cir-cular track ranaroundtheentirelengthofthe CouncilHouse (now ParliamentHouse). Butitwasthesecondtaskthatprovedto bea bitof a stumbling blockin the initial years.

Correspondencesbetweenthe archi-tectsand officialsof EastIndian RailwayBoard reveal that the railway brass

came up with every reason, technicalor otherwise, they could find to keeptheDelhi-AgraChordlinewhereit was.

The Delhi Lines Committee set upafter World War I to advise the gov-ernment on the pace and nature of growth of the railways in the newCapital, proposed a grand scheme tothiseffect, suggestingeventhe locationof a new railway station for the city.

The Board in its reply said while it

"generally agreed" with the schemeproposed, itfavoureda "gradual" pace

of investment "based on requirementand experience" and that it would be"necessary tomodify thescheme fromtime to time".

Theprevailingtheory wasthatsince(Old) Delhi already worked as a busy junctionin thearea,hostingfourzonalrailways, the new capital city did notneed to overhaul the whole networkaround it.

"The line was of course realignedaftera fewyears, butinitiallythe Boardappearedabit cautiousinitsresponseto the whole plan," said Vinoo NarainMathur, formerMember Traffic,IndianRailways, and author of Bridges,Buildings and Black Beauties of Northern Railway.

TheMintoand Hardingerailbridgescame up for this realigned line, which wasshiftedalong Yamunaand wasopenin 1924. It stays that way even today.

Avishek Dastidar and Sidhartha Roy■ avishek.dastidar@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI:When Emperor George Vand Queen Mary arrived in Delhi forthe coronation Durbar, theywere first welcomed at the Delhi main railwaystation.

The specially decked 'Royal train'arrived at the Delhi station (See pic-tureon left)on December7,1911,a fewdays ahead ofthe Delhi Durbarwherethe King would announce the shiftingof capital from Calcutta to Delhi.

The King and Queen had firstlanded at the Apollo Bandar (wherethe Gateway of India was later built)in Bombay and then took a train

to Delhi.Nearlyonelakh peopleconvergedatthe station to welcome the royal cou-ple. The crowd included VIPs likeBritish officials, soldiers and about100 princes from different Indianstates.

From the station, a five-mile pro-cession led by the King crossed RedFort, Jama Masjidand ChandniChowk before ending at Kingsway camp.

During theDurbar, a temporarysta-tionwasconstructed onthe HamiltonRoadsideof Delhistationto handletheDurbar shuttle trains. The facilities were dismantled the next year.

Another grand ceremony was heldfor the royal couple at the Salimgarhstationbeforetheir departureafter theDurbar.

A GRANDENTRY FORTHE VICEROY

It wasuponthe railwaysthat thetaskof making a grand entrance for the Viceroy rested in the late '20s.

There needed to be a station fortheceremonialwelcome anda roadforthe Viceregal entourage to enter NewDelhi.

Vinoo Narain Mathur, formerMemberTraffic,IndianRailways,andauthorof Bridges,Buildingsand BlackBeauties of Northern Railway, writes in his book, "The first phase of theinterchangestation…whichinclud-

ed a platform for ceremonial purpos-es, the State Entry Road and forma-tionandthe siteforceremonialrecep-tion of the Viceroy and dock platformforunloadingmotors, horsesand car-riages."

In1926a passengerstation cameupnear Ajmeri Gate road over bridge inplace of Delhi Sadar station and latermorphed into a small station buildingcalled "NewDelhi".

"Theplatformstillremains andtheStateEntry RoadconnectingNew DelhiRailwaystation's Platform1 withOuterCircle of Connaught Circus is still inuse. There isa needto conservetheseaspreciouslegacyof theshiftingof thecapital of which the railways were a vital part," said Shashanka Nanda,member of Indian Railway Fan Club

Association (IRFCA).

04 | metro | hindustan times HINDUSTAN TIMES, NEW DELHIWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19 , 2011

CENTENARY OF THE CAPITALnewdelhi 100

TALK TO US■ If you have a story to tell or pictures toshow of you and your family growing up in,and with, New Delhi over the years, pleasesend them to us. We will want to showcase

the stories and pictures on our website andthe newspaper as well. Write tonewdelhi100@hindustantimes.com

OBJECTIONS Levelling the rocky Raisina Hills to transport construction material andmen was far less a problem than getting the railways to agree to remove its existing line

When Railways nearlyderailed New Delhi

Royal welcomeat Delhi station

■ A railway line was laid to the c onstruction site for building the monumental buildings of New Delhi such as Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, South and North Blocks. The photograph shows the railway line going past the Jantar Mantar Observatory inNew Delhi. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY INDIAN RAILWAYS.

GROWTH’S TIMELINE

1918:Delhi Lines Committee proposesgrand plans for new station and shiftingof prevailing rail lines out of sites ear-marked for the new Capital.

1919-20: The diversion of the Delhi-Agra Chord line started. Provision madefor a roadside station to serve the newcapital area (New Delhi station).

1924-25: Realigned Delhi-Agra Chordline opened for public. Works opened aspart of the D elhi Railway Works Schemefor the New Imperial Capital.

1926-27: East Indian Railway Boardsanctioned the making of a one-storystation building around a single platformnear Ajmeri Gate road overbridge. It laterbecame the New Delhi railway station.

1927-28: New Delhi Capital Worksproject involving construction of 4.79miles of new lines completed.

1933-34: Re-girdering of railroadspans of the Yamuna Bridge between

Ghaziabad and Delhi. The project costnearly Rs 22 lakh.

1934-35: Remodelling of the Delhimain station (old Delhi station), whichhad become quite cramped by now.Platforms were lengthened, yardarrangements were altered and powersignalling was introduced.

1937-38: A new double storiedDivisional Office Building was construct-ed on Chelmsford Road near ConnaughtPlace. The building cost Rs 3 lakh. Newfacilities added at the New Delhi stationto handle coal traffic and also to serve oilinstallations.

1938-39: The railways started takingthe garbage collected by Delhi municipal-ity and dump it 10 miles away at a 'HorseShoe Jheel', near Badli. It was called t heDelhi Refuse Disposal Scheme.

1940-41: Air-conditioned coachesintroduced in the tri-weekly Delhi Mailbetween Howrah and Delhi.

The important years during which the railways expanded in the newcapital and changed New Delhi’s structure.

NEARLY ONE LAKHPEOPLECONVERGEDATTHE STATIONTO WELCOMETHE ROYALCOUPLE. THE CROWDINCLUDEDVIPS LIKEBRITISHOFFICIALS, SOLDIERSAND100INDIAN PRINCES.

■ Fairy Queen, the world's oldest steam locomotive commissioned in 1855, at theGreat Place (Vijay Chowk) near Viceregal House (Rashtrapati Bhawan) in the mid1920s. The locomotives took part in a grand exhibition called "Transport throughthe ages" meant for the top brass of the government.

■ A specially decked ‘royal train’ brought Emperor George V and Queen Mary to the new capital for Delhi Durbar. A temporarystation was constructed on the Hamilton Road side of Delhi station to handle the Durbar shuttle trains.

■ The Old Delhi railway station.

TOMORROW

Temporary Capital: Civil Lines in northDelhi enjoyed the distinction of being the

'temporary capital', from 1911 till the timeNew Delhi was inaugurated in 1931.