Popular Trains That Pass Through Ghaziabad Junction: Train List and Timings

While there are many famous railway stations like the CSMT, NDLS or the Howrah Junction, there are other stations that might not be as popular as these heavyweights, but still hold an important place in the country’s transportation system. Take for example the Ghaziabad Junction. This isn’t a very popular station. However, every train from Delhi heading towards the eastern, northeastern or the northern regions must pass through this station.

There are so many railway stations in Delhi alone, yet all the trains in the region move through Ghaziabad Junction, once. This station is situated outside the capital’s territory but absorbs the train traffic from all the corridors. Every day, more than five hundred trains pass through this central station on five platforms. The trains heading to all stations from Lucknow to Puri, Dehradun to Prayagraj may be heading here.

The popular trains at Ghaziabad Junction have been covered in this blog across various categories, platform timings, route information and what to order, if you feel hungry midway!

About Ghaziabad Junction

Ghaziabad Junction is a NSG-2 Grade platform. NSG-2 stands for Non Suburban Grade 2. This category applies to stations nationwide when yearly earnings fall within ₹100 crore and ₹500 crore, otherwise passenger volume reaches 10 to 20 million. Though income qualifies some, others meet the bar by traffic alone.

Right where three big rail routes meet stands Ghaziabad Junction, a key spot by design. Not just any crossing, but one tying together the path from Howrah to Delhi, linking directly into the capital’s spine. Another arm stretches through Meerut toward-Saharanpur, feeding movement westward. Then there is the route pushing east via Bareilly to Lucknow, threading deep into Uttar Pradesh. Each connection pulls traffic, making the junction pulse with constant arrivals..

Recently, in the 2025-26, the station has gone on with significant upgrades. Newly included features include multi-storey buildings, wide concourse, a rooftop plaza, better parking facilities and multiple foot bridges along with escalators and lift facilities.

Passengers who want to check the trains running between this station  to another station, can check the list of the trains using the trains between two stations services at the RailMitra website as well as by application.

Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi Trains at Ghaziabad Junction

No berths, no pantry car on most runs, daytime only. Speed touches 130 km/h on the western UP plains. First in line at every signal. Halt at GZB: two minutes on most Shatabdis. Suburban trains behind them on the same corridor need that slot to stay on time. Three minutes late here and it does not stay local.

Delhi to Dehradun: Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi

The Dehradun Shatabdi Express (12017/12018): Before dawn breaks fully, train 12017 leaves NDLS at 06:45. Its destination lies west as Dehradun awaits arrival later that day. While dawn spreads across the platform, the engine begins its journey westward. Reaching around noon, it finalizes its run by 12:55, around six hours later. Back again, just before five, railcar 12018 rolls away from Dehradun station. Each day without fail, the afternoon run of the Shatabdi Express sets off like clockwork. The return journey is a night one. Getting to NDLS just before midnight, it arrives at 22:50. Each direction maintains a consistent daily schedule.

Passengers who don’t want to go through the Shatabdi Express because of the hefty fair price, can choose Jan Shatabdi as an affordable alternative. The duration of the journey is also closer to the Shatabdi Express with the Jan Shatabdi Express also taking about 6 hours only.

Delhi to Lucknow and Kathgodam: Swarn Shatabdi and Kathgodam Shatabdi

Swarn Shatabdi Express (12003/12004): Travelers moving from Ghaziabad Junction to Lucknow often choose the Swarn Shatabdi Express. Completing the trip in less than seven hours, it moves quickly across the route. Though several trains serve this corridor, few match its pace.. While many options exist, this one finishes faster than most. This time becomes interesting once you understand that the distance between these two stations lie at 512 km. Not what most day trains on this stretch manage. 12004 toward Lucknow: two minutes at GZB, in at 06:40, out at 06:42. 12003 coming back passes at 21:40. Although these timings are the standard timing provided by the train, actual timings can change a little due to various reasons. It is better to check the live train status at the RailMitra platform. 

Kathgodam Shatabdi (12039/12040): This path takes a different line as first it reaches Moradabad, then onward to Haldwani, rising into the Kumaon highlands close to Nainital. At 06:55, train 12040 moves past GZB; later that day, 12039 rolls back through the same point by 20:10.

Premium Overnight Trains: Sleeper and Mail Services

Heavy sleeper stock and daytime express corridors do not mix well, so nights are how the scheduling works out. For passengers it is a simpler equation: get on in the evening, you are there by morning.

Prayagraj Express and Lucknow Mail

Early morning light hits when Train 12417 pulls into Ghaziabad at six fifteen. That run starts in Prayagraj, covering about 635 kilometers in eight hours and fifty minutes. Hardly any pauses along the way keep things moving fast as the average speed lands near seventy two kph. On return, number 12418 rolls past after ten forty four at night. When holidays come around, seats vanish quickly. A look at RailMitra’s seat availability some days before travel helps avoid tight spots later. Last-minute checks often bring disappointment instead.

Midnight wheels start rolling when Lucknow Mail leaves each city at ten sharp. Just under five hundred kilometers separate Delhi from Lucknow. Into Ghaziabad it comes as train 12229 at 05:55, just as light begins to rise. Night after night, without fail, they move in step, these twin routes, each mirroring the other. From station code LKO to NZM, steel rails connect them fast. 12230 in the other direction crosses at 22:45.

Swatantrata Senani Express and Sangam Express

Morning light is still new when Swatantrata Senani Superfast Express leaves New Delhi behind, heading north without pause. Trains like this one cut through Varanasi first, after that comes Muzaffarpur as Samastipur appears last on the list. Twelve hundred thirty-four kilometers unfold beneath steel wheels, nearly twenty-two hours passing slowly. Arrival at Samastipur means changes begin as the locomotive detaches quietly, swings wide, reconnects facing back where it came from. Fifteen minutes set aside for this flip, written neatly into schedules kept by conductors. From New Delhi as train number 12562, it passes Ghaziabad just past nine thirty-five in the evening. Return path under number 12561 starts far east, pulls into Ghaziabad again the following afternoon near two fifty-five.

Running between Subedarganj near Prayagraj and Meerut City, the train called Sangam Express carries numbers 14163 and 14164. While passing through GZB, the 14163 sits still much past others as arrival marks 04:13, then only moves on at 04:28, held there fifteen full minutes. Most trains here get two minutes and leave. If you are connecting off this service at GZB, that gap is genuinely usable. 14164 heading toward Subedarganj: through at 21:25.

Long-Distance Trunk Trains at Ghaziabad Junction

The biggest runs here stretch close to 1,900 km across four or five states. Most GZB crossings on these services fall between midnight and 4 AM. Passengers in berths, junction passes, nobody notices.

Trains to Odisha, Bihar, and Eastern India

Purushottam Express (12801/12802):

This train travels between ANVT and Puri covering 1,863 km in around 31 hours. On the third day, 12801 from Puri reaches GZB at 03:20. 12802 en route to Puri passes at 22:54, at a time still close to ANVT. Train schedule on these very lengthy operations are changed every season, so checking the present train timings at RailMitra before making reservations is a grounded measure to take.

Seemanchal Express (12487/12488)

This is a transport line that extends up to Jogbani very near the Nepal border in Bihar 1 379 km, under 24 hours. 12488 from ANVT: GZB at 08:39. 12487 from Jogbani side: 20:15.

Lichchavi Express (14005/14006):

40 stops 1 193 km to Sitamarhi. With the number of stops like that, superfast is a very kind word. This train is aimed mostly at the small towns that do not have much else. 14006 at GZB: 18:29. 14005 back: 03:40, day 2.

Poorabiya Express (15280):

This train runs only Monday and Thursday: ANVT to Saharsa Bihar 25 hours 40 minutes. GZB at 17:45 on running days.

Cross-Country Trains: Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal

Amrapali Express (15707/15708):

Out of Katihar, a small place in Bihar, it rolls westward for nearly two thousand kilometers stitched through fields and towns. The rails carry it slowly toward Amritsar, distance folding behind steel wheels. Through northern India it moves, making halts at fifty-four stations before reaching its endpoint. Distance covered totals exactly 1,805 kilometers by journey’s conclusion. For several places it touches, this train marks the sole rail connection available. When traveling east as number 15707, it reaches GZB at 02:05 on the third day. On its return trip westward under the name 15708, it moves past the same point at 17:59.

Ranikhet Express (15013/15014):

Before sunrise, movement starts for this train cutting across 1,263 kilometers of flat sands and winding slopes. This train line links Jaisalmer with Kathgodam, joining areas worlds apart in look and feel. Heading east, it runs as the Ranikhet Express, tagged 15013 along those rails. Returning west, its name stays but the number swaps to 15014. Few routes mix these extremes so regularly. Onward journey hits GZB at twenty-three past eleven during night one. The reverse trip pulls into the same station just after three in the morning on the next calendar page.

Netaji Express (12311/12312):

Starting at Howrah, Netaji Express cuts across 1,710 kilometers before reaching Kalka. This ride takes close to twenty nine hours. The train runs both ways through GZB without fail. When you arrive in Kalka, connecting to the narrow gauge line up to Shimla becomes possible. Trains heading east or west make the same stop along that stretch.

Mussoorie Express (14041/14042):

Out of step with the day’s rhythm, the Mussoorie Express rolls westward under moonlight. Midnight slips into the next hour when engine 14041 eases beyond Ghaziabad. Ten slow hours stretch ahead, linking Old Delhi to Dehradun by rail. Forward motion begins just after eleven twenty, a quiet push through still air. Night wraps around the rails as the trip unfolds steadily toward morning. On the way back, train numbered 14042 moves forward just after six in the morning, seen rolling past GZB then. Far from a quick hop, the journey spans ten hours between city and city with no real pause when sun is up.

Kashi Vishwanath Express (15127/15128):

Midnight nears when the Kashi Vishwanath Express shows up at GZB, that’s train 15128 rolling in. Heading out from New Delhi toward Banaras, it eats up close to seventeen hours on tracks. Bound east for Varanasi, it moves past endless plains under sky stretching far. Coming back, the same route wears a different tag: 15127.

Food Delivery at Ghaziabad Junction

Pantry stock thins out on longer routes, especially overnight and cross-country services. RailMitra’s train food delivery at GZB tracks your train’s actual GPS position using your PNR. If the train is running 90 minutes late, the kitchen holds. Food goes out when the train is genuinely close.

Two restaurant partners at Ghaziabad Junction right now:

JAIN SUDH BHOJNALYA is rated 4.7, pure vegetarian, Jain preparations available. Minimum order Rs. 180, around 60 minutes delivery. Good call on a long overnight run where you want something filling, no onion no garlic.

SWEET HEART PIZZA is rated 4.6, pure vegetarian, minimum order Rs. 99, delivery around 50 minutes. More snacks than meals. Suits shorter daytime runs where a full thali order does not make sense. Order via the RailMitra app or website, or call and WhatsApp 8102888222. SMS confirmation plus a tracking link come through once the order is placed.

Conclusion

More than 500 trains cross through the Ghaziabad Junction. Trains from all around the country and cities such as Puri, Amritsar, Jaisalmer, Jogbani and Deharadun headed towards NDLS pass through this station. Some stations often get undershadowed, but have a tremendous role to play when the movement of passengers is  concerned. 

Passengers must check the live train status before heading out to the Ghaziabad Junction. Trains often run delayed and change the platform number at the last moment. Train live status tracks the train in real time and also provides the platform number on which the train will halt.