Rail transport in the state of Haryana, India, is conducted by five rail divisions in three zones: the North Western Railway zone (the Bikaner and Jaipur railway divisions), Northern Railway zone (the Delhi and Ambala railway divisions), and North Central Railway zone (the Agra railway division). The Diamond Quadrilateral high-speed rail network, Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor pass through Haryana.
History
19th century
On 3 March 3, 1859, the Allahabad-Kanpur line (North India's first passenger railway line) opened; it is now part of the Northern Railway zone. Tracks passing through Haryana were completed in 1864, when a broad gauge track from Calcutta to Delhi was laid. In 1866, trains started running on the East Indian Railway Company's Howrah-Delhi line. In 1870, the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway completed its long Amritsar-Ambala-Jagadhri-Saharanpur-Ghaziabad line connecting Multan (in present-day Pakistan) with Delhi. The Sarai Rohilla railway station was built in 1872, when the metre gauge railway line from Delhi to Jaipur and Ajmer was laid. It was a small station just outside Delhi, which was then a walled city. All metre-gauge trains between Delhi and Rewari, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat passed through Sarai Rohilla. Metre-gauge track from Delhi to Rewari and Ajmer was laid in 1873 by the Rajputana State Railway.
In 1884, the Rajputana-Malwa Railway extended the -wide (metre-gauge) Delhi-Rewari section of its Delhi–Fazilka line to Bathinda. It became the Delhi-Bathinda-Samasatta line, and was opened by the Southern Punjab Railway Company in 1897. The line passed through the Muktasar and Fazilka tehsils and connected Samma Satta (in present-day Pakistan) directly to Karachi. The Bathinda-Rewari metre-gauge line was converted to -wide broad gauge in 1994.
The Delhi-Panipat-Ambala-Kalka line was opened in 1891. The -wide narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway, built by the Delhi-Panipat-Ambala-Kalka Railway Company, opened in 1903."Engineer" journal article, circa 1915, reprinted in Narrow Gauge & Industrial Railway Modelling Review, no. 75, July 2008 In 1905, the line became -wide narrow gauge.
20th century In 1900, the Jodhpur–Bikaner line was merged with the Jodhpur-Hyderabad Railway. Part of this railway is in present-day Pakistan, with connections to Hyderabad in Sindh. In 1901–1902, the line was extended to Bathinda to connect it with the metre-gauge section of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway and the metre gauge of the North Western Railway Delhi–Fazilka line via Hanumangarh. On the Indian border, it was later converted to broad gauge. Mahatma Gandhi was arrested at the Palwal station on his way to Punjab for an April 1919 non-cooperation movement meeting, and a six-foot commemorative statue of Gandhi was installed in October 2013.EMU rams into train near Palwal, driver dies
In 1926, the New Delhi railway station opened to serve the new imperial capital. Before the capital was founded in 1911, the Old Delhi Railway Station served the city. The Agra-Delhi railway line ran through Lutyens' Delhi, known for its India Gate war memorial and the Rajpath, but was moved to the Yamuna river and opened in 1924 to make way for the new capital. The Minto (Shivaji) and Hardinge (Tilak) rail bridges were built for the rerouting.
The East Indian Railway Company, who oversaw railways in the region, sanctioned the construction of a single-story building with one platform between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj in 1926; this was later known as New Delhi railway station. Government plans to have the station built inside the Central Park of Connaught Place were rejected by the rail company as impractical.
Work continued after the station opened, and the New Delhi Capital works project to construct of new lines was completed in 1927 and 1928. The viceroy and royal retinue entered the city through the new station during the 1931 New Delhi inauguration. New structures were added to the station, and the original building became the parcel office.
On 5 November 1951, the Jodhpur–Bikaner line was merged with the Western Railway. Construction began to convert its metre gauge to broad gauge and build a link to Phulera, and it was the Jodhpur–Merta City–Bikaner–Bathinda line by 2008. On April 14, 1952, the Northern Railway zone was created with the merger of the Jodhpur State, Bikaner State and Eastern Punjab Railways and three East Indian Railway divisions northwest of Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh.
In 1976–77, the Ghaziabad-Nizamuddin-New Delhi-Delhi line was electrified. On 1 July 1987, the Ambala railway division was created when 639 km of tracks were transferred from the Delhi Division and 348 km were transferred from the Firozpur Division; it became operational on 15 August 1988. Sixty-two percent of the division is in Punjab, with the rest in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chandigarh. The division has 141 stations, including the World Heritage Site Kalka Shimla Railway.Ambala Division map and history.
Electrification continued during the 1990s, and the Sabjimandi-Karnal sector was electrified between 1992 and 1995. The Ambala-Chandigarh sector was electrified in 1998 and 1999 and was followed by Chandigarh-Kalka, electrified in 1999 and 2000.
Before December 1994, the Delhi-Rewari line had double metre-gauge tracks; that year, one track was converted to broad gauge as part of the Ajmer-Delhi line conversion. Both tracks between the Sarai Rohilla and Delhi railway stations were converted to broad gauge within a few years, and metre-gauge trains stopped operating from the Delhi station.
21st century The North Western Railway zone was created on 1 October 2002, followed by the North Central Railway zone on 1 April 2003. The second metre-gauge track from Sarai Rohilla to Rewari was converted to broad gauge by September 2006, and metre-gauge trains stopped operating between the stations; the converted track opened for public use in October 2007.Press Information Bureau English Releases Broad-gauge conversions were adjusted for the Bikaner–Rewari line between 2008 and 2011, and for the metre-gauge Hisar-Sadulpur section in 2009.
A 104-km survey for the Panipat–Meerut line was part of the 2010–11 rail budget. The project, costing crore, was approved in the 2017-18 budget.Haryana gets much less than expected in rail budget, Jagran, 25 February 2016. New lines were built and opened in 2013. The Chandigarh–Sahnewal line (also known as the Ludhiana-Chandigarh rail link) was inaugurated, the broad-gauge, electrified Rewari–Rohtak line was built, and the foundation stone for the shifting of a section of the Rohtak-Gohana-Panipat line was laid.
A re-survey of the Yamunanagar–Chandigarh line, costing , was part of the 2016–17 rail budget. The total cost of the project was 875 crore. In the 2017-18 rail budget, Indian Railways approved the Panipat-Jind line and Panipat-Rohtak line electrification plans costing 980 core. A Panipat-Shamli-Baghpat-Meerut line was approved for 2,200 crore.
By December 2017, 6,095 GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System railway-signaling devices had been installed in the Northern, North Central, North Eastern and North Western Railway zones. The devices ended the practice of putting firecrackers on train tracks to alert train drivers to reduce speed; the location of signals, level-crossing gates and other such markers is known in advance.Indian Railways to use GPS-enabled devices to fight fog this season, Economic Times, 12 Dec 2017. The Rewari Railway Heritage Museum, built in 1893, is India's only surviving steam locomotive shed.
Network Haryana Space Applications Centre, Hisar (HARSAC) has produced the state's railway map, and its lines are included in the rail "pink book".Multi-model transport network map of Haryana, Haryana Space Applications Centre, Hisar.Railway network of Haryana, HARSAC.Pink book, Indian Railway.
Divisions and workshops Haryana has five divisions in three rail zones, and each division has its own workshops.
North Western Railway zone The Bikaner railway division manages the network in western and southern Haryana, covering the Bhatinda-Dabwali-Hanumangarh, Rewari-Bhiwani-Hisar-Bathinda, Hisar-Sadulpur and Rewari-Kanina-Loharu-Sadulpur lines.Bikaner Division map and history A-category stations are Bhiwani and Hisar; Sirsa is a B-category station; D-category stations are Ellenabad, Mandi Dabwali, Bhattu, Mandi Adampur, Hansi, Loharu, Charkhi Dadri, Kanina, Mahendragagh and Kosli, and Satrod is an E-category station. There are sidings at Sirsa for FCI, and at Jharli for the thermal power plant. Railway health units are at Sirsa and Hisar (one doctor at each), and the Railway Divisional Hospital is at Lalgarh (on the outskirts of Bikaner). The Jaipur railway division manages the network in south-west Haryana, covering the Rewari-Reengas-Jaipur, Delhi-Alwar-Jaipur and Loharu-Sikar lines.Jaipur division network map Northern Railway zone The Delhi railway division manages the network in north, east, and central Haryana, covering the Delhi-Panipat-Ambala, Delhi-Rohtak-Tohana, Rewari–Rohtak, Jind-Sonepat and Delhi-Rewari lines.Delhi division map and history The Ambala railway division manages a small part of the network in north-east Haryana, covering the Ambala-Yamunanagar and Ambala-Kurukshetra lines and the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kalka–Shimla Railway. There are two workshops in the division: Carriage & Wagon Workshop, Jagadhari and Carriage & Wagon Workshop, Kalka, for narrow gauge.Kalka workshop North Central Railway zone The Agra railway division manages the Palwal-Mathura line in south-east Haryana.
Lines
North Western Railway zone Bikaner railway division Bhatinda-Dabwali-Hanumangarh line Rewari-Bhiwani-Hisar-Bathinda and Hisar-Sadulpur lines Rewari-Kanina-Loharu-Sadulpur line Bhiwani-Rohtak line Hisar-Hansi-Rohtak line (under construction) Hisar-Agroha line (surveyed and approved) Hisar-Jind line (surveyed) Hansi-Narnaund-Jind line (being surveyed) Jaipur railway division Rewari-Reengas-Jaipur line Delhi-Alwar-Jaipur line Loharu-Sikar line Northern Railway zone Ambala railway division Ambala-Yamunanagar line Ambala-Kurukshetra line Kalka–Shimla Railway Chandigarh-Adi Badri-Paonta Sahib line (surveyed in 2012) Yamunanagar-Chandigarh line (new line, being resurveyed) Delhi railway division Delhi-Panipat-Ambala line Delhi-Rohtak-Jind- Narwana-Tohana- Jakhal line Narwana-Kaithal-Kurukshetra line Rewari–Rohtak line Jind-Sonepat line (via Gohana) Jind-Panipat line (via Safidon) Rohtak-Panipat line (via Gohana, being elevated)Rly Min gives approval for accelerated speed rail route between Delhi and Hisar, United News, 29 Dec 2017. Delhi-Rewari line Panipat-Meerut line (surveyed) North Central Railway zone Agra railway division Palwal-Mathura line
Projects Undertaken by Indian Railways and Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Haryana) (H-RIDE, also known as the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation). Announced in 2018 (feasibility studies):7 new projects announced, India Today, 26 January 2018. Karnal-Yamunanagar line, with additional funding in the 2019-20 rail budgetNew rail projects will get speed in Haryana, Amar Ujala, 3 Feb 2019. Kaithal-Karnal- Meerut line Yamunanagar-Chandigarh via Naraingarh and Sadhaura: A 91-km link sent to the planning commission in 2013. An MoU was signed in 2015, and it was included in the 2018 pink book. Additional funding was allocated in the 2019-20 union railway budget. As of Feb 2025, it will cost Rs 901 cr, detailed study is complete, work will commence soon. Mohali-Rajpura line, 24 km long Rs 406 cr line will provide additional connectivity between Chandigarh and Ambala. As of Feb 2025, the detailed study is about to be completed, work will begin soon.