Shatabdi expressed.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Every Delhi walla has probably been here. It is the New Delhi railway station, which, this year, is hitting a shatabdi, or century.

The city landmark first came up as an interchange station bearing a platform 800 feet long and 20 feet wide. Then came the setting up of a “wayside station,” which led to a small building. An expanded building opened in 1956, when the then President Rajendra Prasad pulled a silver signal lever, prompting a “presidential train” to chug into the platform. All these details are enshrined in a plaque outside the station.

Today, the railway station with its 16 platforms is undergoing an ambitious “redevelopment” project. The station outdoors are packed with cranes and labourers in yellow helmets. This afternoon, the station is buzzy as usual with peoples and trains—it daily hosts about 4,00,000 travellers, plus more than 300 trains, including three high-speed Vande Bharat Express and scores of Shatabdi Express (the “shatabdi” in the name of this series of superfast trains refers to the 100th year anniversary of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru).

Despite the noise and crowds, a spot within the railway station exists like an isle of silence and solitude. It comprises of a temple tucked off the platform no. 7. The discreetly situated courtyard is studded with sacred idols and peepal trees, and feels utterly remote, as if it were miles away from the city.

Additionally, the railway station has contributed to the city in ways that have nothing to do with train travel. The colloquial names of its two entrances have grown to be a part of Delhi lexicon. The east-facing entrance marks the “Ajmeri Gate side;” the west-facing entrance—the station’s original entrance—marks the “Paharganj side.” Moreover, Paharganj acquired its unique identity as among the world’s most iconic backpackers’ district (similar to Thamel in Kathmandu) because of the New Delhi railway station. The emergence of the latter caused a boom of cheap hotels and hostels in Paharganj’s Main Bazar, triggering budget travellers from abroad to make it their convenient Delhi stopover.

The station’s “Paharganj side” also contains some intense history. It exhibits a narrow-gauge steam engine, which used to haul the trains on the mountainous Kalka-Shimla route. The engine happens to be a relic of Hitler’s Third Reich, made in Germany in 1935. The other thing that is soon to be history is the station as it appears today. It will hopefully acquire a superior look following the redevelopment project.

Finally, towards the northern extremity of the station, along platform 1, the high walls are painted with illustrations depicting archetypal Delhi scenes, such as pigeons, domes etc. One artistically painted yellow wall depicts in white the station’s year of origin—see photo. Viewed this year in 2026, it appears to celebrate the station’s shatabdi.