Top 12 Busiest Railway Stations In India

Indian Railways which is the largest rail network in Asia and the second largest in the world transports almost 2.5 crores travellers on a daily basis. It is also one of the bulkiest employers with approximately, 1.4 million employees. Delhi, in fact, has secured a spot in the Guinness Book of Records for having the world’s largest Relay Interlocking System. This also says that we have the busiest railway stations in India.

With such a vast number of train-routes and people working for it, Indian Railways sure is one of the most preferred modes of communication. Some of the busiest railway stations under this system are given below.

These stations have the most number of people commuting through each day.

List of Top 12 Busiest Railway Stations in India-

1. Howrah Junction

With respect to passenger volumes, Howrah Junction is the busiest railway station serving more than a million people in a day. Also, with the most number of platforms, Howrah, is one of the oldest railway stations in India, started operation in 1854. Out of the five intercity railway stations which serves the city of Kolkata, Howrah is one of them.

There are four lines operating under this junction.

1. Howrah Delhi main line
2. Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line
3. Howrah-Chennai main line
4. Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line

 

Image Credit: Wikipedia

 

Other Details of Howrah Junction:

Code: HWH

Zone: ER/Eastern

Number of Platforms: 23

Trains/Per Day: 210

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 974

 

2. New Delhi Station

New Delhi Station is the largest railway station in India and second busiest with respect to passenger volumes. Also termed as ‘Old Delhi Railway Station’, it started in the year 1864. In terms of Departure/Arrival Frequency, NDLS is the busiest junction in India.

 

Image Credit: Travelkhanna

 

Other Details of New Delhi Station:

Code: NDLS

Zone: ER/Eastern

Number of Platforms: 16

Trains/Per Day: 350

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 931

Passengers: 500000

 

3. Kalyan Junction

One of the major railway stations of the Mumbai rail network, Kalyan Junction lies between the north-east and south-east lines of the suburban Mumbai division.

There are six lines under this junction.

1. Central line
2. Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line
3. Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line
4. Mumbai-Chennai line
5. Bhusawal-Kalyan section
6. Mumbai Dadar-Solapur section.

 

Image Credit: Wikipedia

 

Other Details of Kalyan Junction:

Code: KYN

Zone: North Central

Number of Platforms: 8

Trains/Per Day: 200

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 813

Passengers: 800000

 

4. Vadodara Station

Vadodara Station is the ninth busiest stations in India and busiest in Gujarat. The station started operating in 1861 and has three main lines.

1. Ahmedabad Vadodara line
2. New-Delhi Mumbai main line
3. Vadodara-Chhota Udaipur line.

 

Image Credit: Indian Rail Info

 

Other Details of Vadodara Junction:

Code: BRC

Zone: WR/Western

Number of Platforms: 7

Trains/Per Day: 237

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 709

 

5. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 

Premised to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is one of the busiest stations in the country. This terminal serves as a central hub for both long-distance trains and commuters trains. The name of the station was changed from ‘Victoria Terminus’ to ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus’.

There are two lines under this terminus:

1. Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line.
2. Mumbai-Chennai line.

 

Image Credit: HolidayIQ

 

Other Details of CST: 

Code: CST

Zone: Central Railway Zone

Number of Platforms: 18

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 1250

Passengers: 3 million passenger

 

6. Mughal Sarai Junction

One of the most known railway stations in Uttarpradesh, Mughal Sarai Junction serves as a halt to many Rajdhani’s and Superfast trains. Started in the year 1862, there are 8 platforms and 8 lines operating at this Junction.

1. Howrah-Delhi main line
2. Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line
3. Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line
4. Gaya-Mughalsarai section
5. Mughalsarai-Kanpur section
6. Grand Chord
7. Patna-Mughalsarai section

 

Image Credit: Zigya

 

Other Details of Mughal Sarai Junction

Code: MGS

Zone: East Central

Number of Platforms: 8

Trains/Per Day: 198

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 698

 

7. Patna Station

Patna Station is one of the major stops of Bihar. It is placed in between New Delhi and Kolkata, which is also one of the hustling rail routes in India. Embarked in the year 1862, it was titled as ‘Bankipore Junction’.

There are 5 lines operating at his station:

1. Howrah-Delhi main line
2. Asansol-Patna section
3. Patna-Mughalsarai section
4. Patna-Gaya line
5. Patna-Sonepat-Hajipur section.

 

Image Credit: Indianrailinfo

 

Other Details of Patna Station: 

Code: PNBE

Zone: East Central

Number of Platforms: 10

Trains/Per Day: 176

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 771

 

8. Kanpur Central

Out of the five main ‘Central’ stations in India, Kanpur is one of them. It serves as a major intercity station and commuter station to commute in the Kanpur City.

There are 11 lines that operate at Kanpur Central which in itself says a lot about the wide functionality of this station.

1. Mughalsarai-Kanpur section
2. Kanpur-Delhi section
3. Howrah-Delhi main line
4. Howrah Gaya-Delhi line
5. Kanpur-Lucknow
6. Kanpur-Allahabad
7. Kanpur-Bareily
8. Kanpur-Jhansi
9. Kanpur-Banda
10. Kanpur-kasganj-Bareily
11. Kanpur-Mandhana

 

Image Credit: Indianrailinfo

 

Other Details of Kanpur Central:

Code: CNB

Zone: North Central

Number of Platforms: 10

Trains/Per Day: 372

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 890

Passengers/Day: 1,50,000

 

9. Vijayawada Junction

Titled as one of the ‘A-1’ and ‘Model’ railway junctions in India, Vijayawada started its operation in 1888.

It has two operational lines-

1. Howrah-Chennai main line.
2. New-Delhi-Chennai mainline

 

Image Credit: Indianrailinfo

 

Other Details of Vijayawada Junction:

Code: BZA

Zone: South Central

Number of Platforms: 10

Trains/Per Day: 247

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 760

Passengers: 1.40 lakh

 

10. Allahabad Junction

Allahabad Junction handles as a headquarters of the North-central Zone. Majorly, all trains heading South from East pass through this Junction.

There are 8 main lines operating at this stop currently:

1. Howrah-Delhi main line.
2. Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line.
3. Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line.
4. Allahabad-Jabalpur section
5. Mughalsarai-Kanpur section
6. Allahabad-Varanasi line
7. Allahabad-Jaunpur line
8. Allahabad-Gorakhpur line

 

Image Credit: Indianrailinfo

 

Other Details of Allahabad Junction:

Code: ALD

Zone: North Central

Number of Platforms: 15

Trains/Per Day: 187

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 717

 

11. Itarsi Junction

Itarsi, which is well connected from all four sides assists as a major station, especially for the Central Zone. Trains arriving from Central, stop here to change engines, diesel engines and undergo some other electric changes. next page

There are two main lines operating at this Junction:

1. Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line.
2. Delhi-Chennai line

 

Image Credit: Indianrailinfo

 

Other Details of Itarsi Junction:

Code: ET

Zone: West Central

Number of Platforms: 8

Trains/Per Day: 330

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 714

 

12. Lucknow Station

There are two major stations of Lucknow city, one is ‘Lucknow NR’ and the other one is ‘Lucknow Jn’, the following information is about Lucknow NR. Inaugurated in the year 1914, there are 8 lines operational at this station.

1. Varanasi-Jaunpur-Lucknow line
2. Varanasi-Bareli-Lucknow line
3. Varanasi-Sultanpur-Lucknow line
4. Lucknow-Kanpur suburban railway
5. Barabanki-Lucknow Suburban Railway
6. Lucknow-Moradabad line
7. Lucknow-Gorakhpur line

 

Image Credit: Wikipedia

 

Other Details of Lucknow Station: 

Code: LKO

Zone: Northern

Number of Platforms: 9

Trains/Per Day: 196

Daily Departure/Arrival Frequency: 704

 

Intrigued to also learn about the fastest express trains in the country?  Check out our List of 10 Fastest Express Trains of Indian Railways