Express trains in India
Encyclopedia
The fastest train in India is the Bhopal Shatabdi
, a Shatabdi Express
train, with a maximum speed of 160 km/h (100 mph) and an average speed of 93 km/h (58 mph), excluding stops. The Mumbai Rajdhani is the second fastest train. The Duronto Express
trains introduced in 2009, runs without stop between major cities, is projected the fastest train in India, when new services are introduced with a higher speed limit of 130 km/h. Despite limited to a much lower speed limit, it is as fast as a Rajdhani or Shatabdi on the same route (see Tracks and Speed sections). Rajdhani Express
which connects New Delhi
with other destinations in India was introduced in 1969, has speed up to 140 km/h. These trains are not comparable in speed of high-speed services in Europe and East Asia.
Rail transport also faces competition from the use of roads improved under National Highways Development Project
. People owning cars can, for short distances, benefit in terms of shorter travel time, given the lack of commute to and fro a railway station at both ends of a journey. This is also balanced against the need to maintain one's vehicle and its security during such trips.
trains run on Indian broad-gauge
which is 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). These tracks are multi-purpose supporting all passenger and freight traffic, and are not made exclusively for lighter load fast-express passenger trains. The Rajdhani and Shatabdi adhere to a speed limit of 130 km/h, and the Duronto is limited to 110 km/h. They run on tracks with classifications Group A, permitting speed up to 160 km/h, and Group B for speed up to 130 km/h. Lower speed limits apply when they are on tracks or railway switches
, which have lower speed limits. The design of the railway switches, with a speed limit of 15–75 km/h, is the major bottleneck to higher speed. Another constraint is the need to accommodate freight trains at the current top speed of 70 km/h. These constraints to speed are consequences of sharing tracks with freight and lower speed suburban passenger trains. But currently, as of 2010, a separate freight corridor construction work is in progress with land acquisitions and other hurdles being slowly overcome.
, WAP-5
, or WAP-7
, each with an output of more than 5,000 hp. WAP-5 design originated from Bombardier
-Adtranz
-ABB
, and it is capable of pulling trains to speed of 200 km/h without modification. WAP-7 is more powerful, and can haul longer trains, to a speed of 140 km/h.
at Kapurthala
. These Alstom-LHB coaches can be pulled to a speed of 200 km/h without any modification. New fast-express coaches are made partly or completely of stainless steel, primarily motivated by lower maintenance, and higher availability. Stainless steel construction also reduces empty weight, enabling more passengers per coach. The bogies, design from Fiat, has 2 disk brakes per axle essential for safe operations especially at the speed of fast-express trains.
The speed of express trains is calculated from Indian Railways schedule.
Regular unbranded express trains on the same route are only slightly slower, since the same locomotives haul them.
-Bokaro Steel City
on the Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi, and as long as 528 km between Vadodara
-kota
on the Trivandrum Rajdhani. The non-stop service of Sealdah
-New Delhi
Duronto has three technical stops, for change of staff, loading of food and other reasons, at Dhanbad
, Mughal Sarai, and Kanpur Central
.
Bhopal Shatabdi
Bhopal Shatabdi Express is a train operated by the Northern Railway which runs between New Delhi, the main railway station of India's capital territory, New Delhi. and Bhopal Junction the main railway station of Bhopal City, the state capital of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The train is...
, a Shatabdi Express
Shatabdi Express
Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect Metro cities with other cities important for tourism, pilgrimage or business...
train, with a maximum speed of 160 km/h (100 mph) and an average speed of 93 km/h (58 mph), excluding stops. The Mumbai Rajdhani is the second fastest train. The Duronto Express
Duronto Express
Duronto Express is a category of long distance trains on Indian Railways. The special feature of these trains is that they run non-stop from source to destination, barring technical halts. All Duronto Express trains can be easily recognized by the characteristic yellow-green livery of their...
trains introduced in 2009, runs without stop between major cities, is projected the fastest train in India, when new services are introduced with a higher speed limit of 130 km/h. Despite limited to a much lower speed limit, it is as fast as a Rajdhani or Shatabdi on the same route (see Tracks and Speed sections). Rajdhani Express
Rajdhani Express
Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India connecting New Delhi with other important destinations, especially state capitals. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in Hindi.- History :...
which connects New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
with other destinations in India was introduced in 1969, has speed up to 140 km/h. These trains are not comparable in speed of high-speed services in Europe and East Asia.
Competition
Like elsewhere, railways in India compete with air travel and road transport. The advantages of travelling by air between cities are the greater frequency of flights, and shorter travel time. Rail travel, with few exceptions, offers lower cost.Rail transport also faces competition from the use of roads improved under National Highways Development Project
National Highways Development Project
The National Highways Development Project is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard. The project was implemented in 1998. "National Highways" account for only about 2% of the total length of roads, but carry about 40% of the total traffic across...
. People owning cars can, for short distances, benefit in terms of shorter travel time, given the lack of commute to and fro a railway station at both ends of a journey. This is also balanced against the need to maintain one's vehicle and its security during such trips.
Tracks
Duronto, Shatabdi, and RajdhaniRajdhani Express
Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India connecting New Delhi with other important destinations, especially state capitals. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in Hindi.- History :...
trains run on Indian broad-gauge
Indian gauge
Indian gauge is a track gauge commonly used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina and Chile. It is also the gauge that is used on BART , in northern California.- Scotland :...
which is 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). These tracks are multi-purpose supporting all passenger and freight traffic, and are not made exclusively for lighter load fast-express passenger trains. The Rajdhani and Shatabdi adhere to a speed limit of 130 km/h, and the Duronto is limited to 110 km/h. They run on tracks with classifications Group A, permitting speed up to 160 km/h, and Group B for speed up to 130 km/h. Lower speed limits apply when they are on tracks or railway switches
Railroad switch
A railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
, which have lower speed limits. The design of the railway switches, with a speed limit of 15–75 km/h, is the major bottleneck to higher speed. Another constraint is the need to accommodate freight trains at the current top speed of 70 km/h. These constraints to speed are consequences of sharing tracks with freight and lower speed suburban passenger trains. But currently, as of 2010, a separate freight corridor construction work is in progress with land acquisitions and other hurdles being slowly overcome.
Locomotives
Duronto, Shatabdi, and Rajdhani trains are hauled by powerful electric locomotives built by the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, such as WAP-4Indian locomotive class WAP-4
WAP-4 is one of the most important electric locomotives used in India. It is a very powerful class capable of hauling 26 coaches at a speed of 140 km/h...
, WAP-5
Indian locomotive class WAP-5
WAP 5 is the name of a class of electric locomotive used by Indian Railways. The first 10 locomotives were imported from ABB in Switzerland in 1995. They are supposed to be a variant of the Lok 2000. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works started production in 2000. It was designed to haul 18 coach...
, or WAP-7
Indian locomotive class WAP-7
WAP 7 is a high speed locomotive indigenously developed by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works. It is capable of hauling trains at speeds ranging between 140 and 160 km per hour and is now largely used by Northern Railways , South Central Railways , South Western Railway and Southern Railways .-...
, each with an output of more than 5,000 hp. WAP-5 design originated from Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
-Adtranz
Adtranz
ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation , commonly known under its brand Adtranz, was a multi-national rail transport equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the USA....
-ABB
Henschel & Son
Henschel & Son was a German company, situated in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons....
, and it is capable of pulling trains to speed of 200 km/h without modification. WAP-7 is more powerful, and can haul longer trains, to a speed of 140 km/h.
Coaches
The coaches in these trains are of crash-worthy design from Alstom-LHB, built by Rail Coach FactoryRail Coach Factory
Established in 1986, the Rail Coach Factory was the second coach manufacturing unit of Indian Railways. Its foundation stone was laid by the then Prime Minister of India Mr. Rajiv Gandhi...
at Kapurthala
Kapurthala
Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...
. These Alstom-LHB coaches can be pulled to a speed of 200 km/h without any modification. New fast-express coaches are made partly or completely of stainless steel, primarily motivated by lower maintenance, and higher availability. Stainless steel construction also reduces empty weight, enabling more passengers per coach. The bogies, design from Fiat, has 2 disk brakes per axle essential for safe operations especially at the speed of fast-express trains.
Speed
The average speed of fast trains range from 59 to 93 km/h. Of 80 routes (each direction counting as one route) in the Indian Railways schedule, 21 are 80 km/h or faster, 16 are below 70 km/h, remaining 43 have an average speed between 70 and 80 km/h.The speed of express trains is calculated from Indian Railways schedule.
| Train | Source, Destination | Number of Stops |
Total stop time, h:m |
Distance, km |
Total time, h:m |
Speed excluding stop time, km/h (mph) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12002 Bhopal Shatabdi Bhopal Shatabdi Bhopal Shatabdi Express is a train operated by the Northern Railway which runs between New Delhi, the main railway station of India's capital territory, New Delhi. and Bhopal Junction the main railway station of Bhopal City, the state capital of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The train is... |
New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is... , Bhopal |
5 | 0:18 | 701 | 7:50 | 93.1 (58.1) | Fastest shatabdi and fastest train in india |
| 12951 Mumbai Rajdhani | Mumbai Central Mumbai Central Mumbai Central , previously known as Bombay Central, is a major intercity railway station and a commuter station in Mumbai. It was designed by the british architect Claude Batley. It serves as the terminal for several long distance trains operated by Western Railway. The station is located in south... , New Delhi |
4 | 0:32 | 1384 | 15:50 | 90.5 (56.5) | Fastest Rajdhani Express Rajdhani Express Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India connecting New Delhi with other important destinations, especially state capitals. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in Hindi.- History :... |
| 12259 Sealdah Duronto | Sealdah Sealdah Sealdah is one of the major train stations serving Kolkata in India, the others being Howrah Station, Shalimar Station and Kolkata Railway Station. Sealdah is one of the busiest rail stations in India and an important suburban rail terminal... , New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is... |
non-stop | - | 1454 | 16:20 | 89.0 (55.6) | Fastest Duronto |
| 12910 Nizamuddin-Bandra Garib Rath | Hazrat Nizamuddin,Mumbai Bandra Terminus | 7 | 0:33 | 1366 | 16:30 | 85(53) | Fastest Garib Rath Garib Rath The Garib Rath express train is one of the premier trains introduced by the Indian Railways in 2005 by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to provide fully air-conditioned travel to those passengers who could not afford the expensive tickets of the fully air-conditioned coaches as in Rajdhani... |
| 12011 Kalka Kalka Kalka is a town in the Panchkula district of Haryana, India. The name of the town is derived from the goddess Kali. The town is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and is a gateway to the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh. It is on the National Highway 22 between Chandigarh and Shimla,... Shatabdi |
New Delhi railway station New Delhi Railway Station The New Delhi Railway Station , station code NDLS, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj is the main railway station in Delhi. New Delhi railway station is the second busiest and one of the largest in India. It handles over 300 trains each day with 16 platforms and about 360,000 passengers... , Kalka Kalka Kalka is a town in the Panchkula district of Haryana, India. The name of the town is derived from the goddess Kali. The town is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and is a gateway to the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh. It is on the National Highway 22 between Chandigarh and Shimla,... railway station |
4 | 0:14 | 303 | 4:05 | 78.7 km/h (48.9 mph) | Shortest Shatabdi Route |
| 12431 Trivandrum Rajdhani | Trivandrum Central Trivandrum Central Trivandrum Central is the main railway station in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the largest and busiest railway station in Kerala in terms of passenger movement and the second most important rail hub in South India. It is also the most profitable station... , H Nizamuddin |
15 | 1:21 | 3149 | 41:25 | 78.6 (49.1) | It has a record for the highest section speed, reaching 104 km/h (65 mph) between Ratnagiri and Sawantwadi Road (225 km or 140 mi in 2 h 10 min) and the longest Rajdhani Express Rajdhani Express Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India connecting New Delhi with other important destinations, especially state capitals. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in Hindi.- History :... train in the country. |
| 12030 Swarna Shatabdi | Amritsar Amritsar Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077... Junction, New Delhi |
5 | 0:11 | 448 | 6:05 | 75.9 (47.5) | Northern regional express |
| 12841 Coromandel Express | Howrah Station, Chennai Central Chennai Central Chennai Central , erstwhile Madras Central, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai . It is the home of the Southern Railway and the most important rail hub in South India. The other major railway hub stations in the city are Chennai Egmore and Tambaram... |
10 | 14:50 | 17:05 | 12.00 | 110 Km/hrs(99.2) | Southern regional express |
| 12024 Janshatabdi Express | Patna Patna Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world... , Howrah Junction Howrah station Howrah Station is one of the four intercity train stations serving Howrah and Kolkata, India; the others are Sealdah Station, Shalimar Station and Kolkata railway station in Kolkata. Howrah is situated on the West bank of the Hooghly River, linked to Kolkata by the magnificent Howrah Bridge which... |
12 | 0:24 | 532 | 7:40 | 73.2 (45.5) | Eastern regional express |
| 12267 Ahmedabad Duronto | Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad Junction Ahmedabad Railway Station Ahmedabad Railway Station is the main railway station of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is also the biggest & busiest railway station within Gujarat... |
non-stop | - | 491 | 6:45 | 72.7 (45.5) | Western regional express |
| 12436 Dibrugarh Dibrugarh Dibrugarh is the headquarters of Dibrugarh district, Assam, India, and is the second largest city in Assam after Guwahati. It is situated on the banks of the Brahmaputra River, about north-east of Guwahati. It is the gateway to the three tea-producing districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, and Sibsagar... Rajdhani |
New Delhi, Dibrugarh Town | 21 | 3:16 | 2463 | 44:55 | 59.1 (37.0) | Slowest. Also has most stops |
Regular unbranded express trains on the same route are only slightly slower, since the same locomotives haul them.
Stops
Frequent stops reduce the average running speed of a train greatly by preventing it from gaining higher speed. Duronto, Shatabdi, and Rajdhani express trains have very few stops. The distance between stops is as short as 15 km between ChandrapuraChandrapura
Chandrapura is a census town in Bokaro district in the state of Jharkhand, India. The township, created for the Thermal Power Project, is situated beside the river Damodar. It is well connected by road and rail. As of now expansion of DVC's Power Project is underway. BHEL has been contracted for...
-Bokaro Steel City
Bokaro Steel City
Bokaro Steel City is one of the largest Industrial city situated in the State of Jharkhand, in India. Bokaro is the 48th cleanest city in India and second in Jharkhand after Jamshedpur and one of the best cities to live in India...
on the Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi, and as long as 528 km between Vadodara
Vadodara
Vadodara formerly known as Baroda is the third most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat . It is one of the four cities with the population of over 1 million...
-kota
Kota, Rajasthan
Kota , formerly known as Kotah, is a city in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located south of state capital, Jaipur. Situated on the banks of Chambal River, the city is the trade centre for an area in which millet, wheat, rice, pulses, coriander and oilseeds are grown; industries...
on the Trivandrum Rajdhani. The non-stop service of Sealdah
Sealdah
Sealdah is one of the major train stations serving Kolkata in India, the others being Howrah Station, Shalimar Station and Kolkata Railway Station. Sealdah is one of the busiest rail stations in India and an important suburban rail terminal...
-New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
Duronto has three technical stops, for change of staff, loading of food and other reasons, at Dhanbad
Dhanbad
Dhanbad features climate that is transitional between a humid subtropical climate and a tropical wet and dry climate. Summer starts from last week of March and ends in mid-June. Peak temperature in summer can reach 47oC. Dhanbad also receives heavy rainfall...
, Mughal Sarai, and Kanpur Central
Kanpur Central
Kanpur Central is the major intercity rail station and a commuter rail hub in the Indian city of Kanpur. It falls is one of the most busiest stations in India. The Kanpur Central Railway Station is on the main Howrah - Delhi route broad gauge in Uttar Pradesh...
.