Delhi Sarai Rohilla railway station

Delhi Sarai Rohilla Terminal railway station (station code: DEE) is situated about 4 km from old Delhi railway junction in India. Its station code is DEE. It is managed by Delhi Division of Northern Railway zone. Many trains from Delhi to Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat stop at this station. More than twenty trains including Duronto and AC trains originate at this station.

Delhi Sarai Rohilla Terminal
Regional rail and Light rail station
LocationNew Rohtak Road, New Delhi
India
Coordinates28°39′47″N 77°11′11″E
Elevation220.950 metres (724.90 ft)
Owned byIndian Railways
Operated byIndian Railways
Line(s)Delhi–Fazilka line
Delhi–Jaipur line
Platforms7
Tracks12
Bus routesDelhi, Garhi Harsaru, Rewari, Rohtak, Sonipat
Construction
ParkingAvailable
Other information
StatusFunctional
Station codeDEE
Zone(s) Northern Railway zone
Division(s) Delhi
History
Opened1873 (1873)
Rebuilt2013 (2013)
ElectrifiedYes
Location
Delhi Sarai Rohilla Terminal
Location within Delhi
Delhi Sarai Rohilla
 To east and north (Ghaziabad)
4 km Delhi Junction
0 Delhi Sarai Rohilla
 1 km Dayabasti
 To Shakurbasti and Azadpur (north)
 3 km Patel Nagar
 4 km Kirti Nagar
 To Naraina and Delhi Safdarjung (south)
 10 km Delhi Cantonment
 13 km Palam
 20 km Bijwasan
Delhi-Haryana border
 27 km Gurgaon
 37 km Garhi Harsaru (Inland Container Depot)
 56 km Pataudi
78 km Rewari
 To west and south-west

Etymology

Sarai means an inn or resting place for travellers. The station is named after the medieval village it was located in. The village itself was named after a sarai, named after Ruhullah Khan, a noble in the Mughal court. Once it was a sarai on the busy road to Delhi and pilgrimage town of Ajmer. He was one of the three sons of Khalil Ullah Khan, the Governor of Delhi province during reign of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, and also a distant relative of Empress Mumtaz Mahal. Over time, this name has been corrupted to Rohilla after Rohillas who ruled a region called Rohilkhand around Bareilly and Rampur northeast of Delhi during the Mughal era.[1]

History
Main article: Northern Railway zone § History

Start

Delhi Sarai Rohilla Terminal railway station was established in 1872 when the metre-gauge railway line from Delhi to Jaipur and Ajmer was being laid. It was a small station just outside Delhi as Delhi was confined to walled city then. All the metre-gauge trains starting from (and terminating at) Delhi (station code DLI) to Rewari, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat passed through this station. The track from Delhi Junction to Sarai Rohilla Terminal was double. The single track from Sarai Rohilla to Rewari was doubled up to Rewari from where single tracks diverged in five directions.

Delhi Sarai Rohilla – Station board
Delhi Sarai Rohilla – Platform board
12215 Delhi–Sarai Rohilla Bandra Terminus Garib Rath Express at platform 1

Gauge conversion

Conversion of metre gauge to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge started in 1991. The Delhi–Rewari railway line had double metre-gauge tracks and one of the tracks was converted to broad gauge in December 1994 as a part of conversion of Ajmer–Delhi line.[2] Within a few years, both the tracks from Sarai Rohilla to Delhi railway station were converted to broad gauge and all metre-gauge trains stopped operating from Delhi station. As a result of this, all the metre-gauge trains terminated and started from Sarai Rohilla which became a railway terminus.

By September 2006, the second metre-gauge track from Sarai Rohilla to Rewari was also converted to broad gauge and all metre-gauge trains stopped operating between Rewari and Sarai Rohilla (though the converted track was opened for public use only in October 2007).[3][4]

Infrastructure

Delhi Sarai Rohilla Terminal railway station has been developed as a terminus. Many trains originating from Delhi city towards Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai now start from Sarai Rohilla railway station and end there. It has a ticket reservation centre, three washing lines for train rakes and five platforms. Two platforms of adjacent Vivekanandpuri railway halt are connected to Sarai Rohilla railway station by a common foot overbridge.

There are plans to redevelop the station as part of the Smart Cities Mission, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed between the Ministry of Urban Development and Indian Railways in October 2016. As per the MoU, areas around the station will also be redeveloped and the redevelopment aims to achieve better passenger amenities, easy access, integrated public transport hubs, optimal utilization of land, etc.[5]

Anand Vihar Terminal and Hazrat Nizamuddin Terminal are two more railway terminals in the city of Delhi from where many regional and long-distance trains originate.

Trains

Earlier all the trains from Sarai Rohilla to Delhi used to terminate at Delhi railway station as the metre-gauge tracks ended there. Now the tracks are broad gauge and therefore many trains from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat going north or east of Delhi pass through Sarai Rohilla and continue beyond Old Delhi station.

Connectivity

Nearest metro station is "Shastri Nagar" (Red Line), which is 800m walking, 1.5 km by road. One can also take auto/e-rickshaw on sharing basis for just Rs. 10 (in 2015). The following buses run between Shastri Nagar–Sarai Rohilla route: 39, 39A, 610, 847 and 939.

See also

References
  1. Nivedita Khandekar (28 July 2013). "An inn lost in the march of time". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  2. Indian Railways FAQ: IR History: Part 5 Ajmer–Delhi MG railway line converted to BG IRFCA
  3. Press Information Bureau English Releases
  4. "Delhi–Haryana rail link gets better". The Hindu. 8 October 2007.
  5. "Sarai Rohilla railway station all set to be re-developed". The Hindu. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
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