It was possible to travel by metre gauge all the way from Delhi to Lucknow in 1976 and for many years after that. This the route via Rewari and Achnera:
Delhi Jn
5 Delhi Serai Rohilla
15 Delhi Cantt
32 Gurgaon
83 Rewari (end of NR)
157 Alwar
217 Bandikui
314 Bharatpur
342 Achnera (end of WR)
377 Mathura Jn
428 Hathras Road
482 Kasganj
590 Farukhabad
595 Fatehgarh
727 Kanpur Anwarganj
730 Kanpur Central
733 Kanpur Anwarganj
750 Unnao
821 Lucknow (NER)
The BG distance from Delhi Jn to Lucknow by broad gauge was then 509 km via Kanpur and 487 km via Moradabad.
By metre gauge, there was an Agra Fort-Lucknow Express which joined this route at Achnera. For a short time in the mid-1970s, the metre gauge Vaishali Express ran from Agra Fort to Siliguri via Kanpur and Lucknow.
we had explored an all-MG route between Delhi and Madras which existed in 1976, as well as the extremities of metre gauge at Kot Kapura and Tiruchendur at that time,
In 1976, the extremities of metre gauge were Varvala (near Okha) in the west and Lekhapani (near Ledo) in the east. These were also the extremities of IR as broad gauge had not spread to these areas yet.
Here, we travel from Okha (the western-most terminus) to Lekhapani.
Names are as they were in 1976. There do not seem to have been any instances of inflated distances on this route.
WEST TO EAST BY METRE GAUGEIN 1976
Km
0
Okha
29
Dwarka
141
Kanalus
166
Jamnagar
247
Rajkot
289
Wankaner
365
Surendranagar
428
Viramgam
493
Mahesana
563
Palanpur
616
Abu Road
781
Marwar Jn
869
Beawar
921
Ajmer
1001
Phulera
1056
Jaipur
1147
Bandikui
1244
Bharatpur
1272
Achhnera
End of WR
1307
Mathura
1358
Hathras Road
1412
Kasganj
1520
Farukhabad
1660
Kanpur Central
1731
Lucknow
1763
Barabanki
1791
Burhwal
1852
Gonda
2006
Gorakhpur
2076
Bhatni
2125
Siwan
2185
Chhapra Jn
2240
Sonpur
2245
Hajipur
2316
Bachwara
2332
Barauni
2388
Khagaria
2511
Katihar
End of NER
2551
Barsoi
2606
Kishanganj
2713
Siliguri Jn
2761
New Mal
2876
Alipurduar Jn
2948
Fakiragram
2985
New Bongaigaon
3095
Rangiya
3158
Gauhati
3250
Chaparmukh
3339
Lumding
3408
Dimapur
3516
Mariani
3570
Simaluguri
3671
Tinsukia
3725
Ledo
3734
Lekhapani
NFR
As you can see, this route passes through only three of the existing zones at that time.
It passed through the states of GJ, RJ, UP, BR, WB, AS and NL.
While the Sonpur-Muzaffarpur-Samastipur-Barauni section was already broad gauge, most of the long-distance trains continued to run on MG as the BG lines were too limited in these areas.
The Ledo-Lekhapani section had very limited services of one pair of trains per day. It was opened in the late 1950s after conversion of a privately-owned 2’0″ NG line. Later, it was not found worthwhile to convert to BG so Ledo remains the eastern-most passenger station. The BG line continues a little further east to Tirap Siding where coal is loaded on goods trains.
A possible set of trains for this route (from 1976) are:
Okha-Mahesana Janata Express to Mahesana
Various express trains to Jaipur or Bandikui.
Various express/passenger trains to Achhnera or Agra Fort.
Vaishali Express to Siliguri. (Yes, at that time it started from Agra Fort).
Various express trains to Tinsukia (Assam Mail was direct, otherwise change at NBQ).
Various passenger trains to Ledo.
One passenger train to Lekhapani.
Today, we have through BG trains from Gujarat to Assam.
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