From platforms to parking, ticketing to trains —  chaos greets passengers at the New Delhi railway station. For the 16 platforms handling as much traffic as the entire population of urban Noida —  500,000 —  there are three escalators and two ramps. Railway officials blame nearly everything on the massive footfall and shortage of funds — a Rs. 12,000 crore grant was shelved and authorities left with a budget of Rs. 250 crore.

Beginning today, HT will take stock of new Delhi and all important railway stations in the Capital in a two-part series and also offer solutions on how to make things better.