Rajdhani Express

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Indian English Template:Infobox rail service The Rajdhani Express (Template:Lit) is a series of passenger train services in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capitals or the largest cities of various states. Rajdhani, derived from the Sanskrit means "capital". Introduced in 1969, the trains are amongst the premium services operated by Indian Railways and regularly get a higher priority on the railway network.

History

In 1960, the Railway Board of India commissioned a study to increase the speed of its trains, which was restricted to Template:Cvt on the existent broad gauge lines.[1] A target of Template:Cvt with an intermediate stage of Template:Cvt was set for passenger trains. Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) started work on the same in 1962 with field trials commencing in 1967.[1] The coaches were manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory at Madras and hauled by diesel locomotives.[1]

File:Guard giving green signal to start inaugural Rajdhani from Howrah to New Delhi.jpg
Guard S. O. Levi giving the green signal to start the journey of Rajdhani express on 3 March 1969 from Howrah[2]

On 19 February 1969, the Government of India introduced a new express train capable of reaching speeds of up to Template:Cvt as announced in the railway budget.[3] On 1 March 1969, the first Rajdhani Express with nine coaches was flagged off from New Delhi to Howrah with the return journey commencing on 3 March.[4] The train completed the Template:Cvt trip in 17 hours 20 minutes and was the only such train in operation till 1972, when the second Rajdhani was introduced from Mumbai.[1]

Rajdhani, derived from the Sanskrit means "capital" and later, with subsequent up-gradation of the tracks, new Rajdhani expresses were introduced connecting major cities with the capital New Delhi.[5]

Rake

Rajdhani trains have fully air-conditioned coaches that have to be reserved in advance. While the trains initially had chair car coaches, now the trains exclusively have sleeper coaches in three configurations: first class, two-tier and three-tier.[1] The first class has dedicated coupes, two-tier with open bays containing six berths per bay (four berths in two tiers and two on the side of the aisle) with curtains and three-tier with open bays containing eight berths per bay (six berths in two tiers and two berths on the side of the aisle).[6] The coaches were exclusively manufactured by Integral Coach Factory at Chennai till 2006, when LHB coaches manufactured by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala were introduced.[1] Template:As of, each train-set costs Template:INRconvert.[7] While the trains are capable of running at higher speeds, the maximum speed is often limited to Template:Cvt with the fastest Rajdhani permitted to reach a maximum speed of Template:Cvt and average speeds being much lesser due to traffic congestion and lack of supporting tracks.[8] The Rajdhani express trains are usually hauled by WAP-7 electric locomotives.[9]

Tejas-Rajdhani express

In July 2021, Indian railways started upgrading the coaches of Rajdhani express to new Tejas coaches with enhanced features.[10][11] These coaches are equipped with newer air suspensions, bio-toilets, Wi-Fi, fire alarms, CCTVs, reading lights, dedicated power sockets, automatic doors, passenger information system, improved interior and designed exterior.[12] The trains which are equipped with all new coaches are known as "Tejas Rajdhani" express.[13] Indian Railways plans to introduce Tejas coaches across all Rajdhani trains in a phased manner.[14]

Services

The trains are amongst the premium services operated by Indian Railways and regularly gets a higher priority on the railway network.[15][16] Passengers are served optional meals by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the menu of which could include morning tea, breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner depending on the duration and timing.[17] These trains have fewer halts than other express trains with stoppages only at prominent stations. Dynamic pricing is applicable on fares across all Rajdhani trains.[18]

Operational trains

There are currently 25 operational pairs of Rajdhani express including seven with Tejas coaches:[19][20]

Template:Tool tip Train name Template:Tool tip Rake Origin station Terminal station Zone Halts Template:Tool tip Distance Travel time Speed Inaugural run Template:Tool tip
Template:Tool tip Template:Tool tip
1 Howrah Rajdhani Express (via Gaya) 12301/ 12302 LHB Howrah New Delhi ER 7 6 days/wk Template:Cvt 17h 15m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 3 March 1969 [21]
2 Mumbai Tejas Rajdhani Express 12951/ 12952 Tejas Mumbai Central New Delhi WR 6 Daily Template:Cvt 15h 32m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 17 May 1972 [22]
3 August Kranti Tejas Rajdhani Express 12953/ 12954 Tejas Mumbai Central Hazrat Nizamuddin WR 10 Daily Template:Cvt 16h 33m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 1 January 1992 [23]
4 Bangalore Rajdhani Express 22691/ 22692 LHB KSR Bengaluru Hazrat Nizamuddin SWR 13 Daily Template:Cvt 33h 30m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 1 November 1992 [24]
5 Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express 12431/ 12432 LHB Thiruvananthapuram Central Hazrat Nizamuddin NR 19 Tri-weekly Template:Cvt 41h 15m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 3 July 1993 [25]
6 Chennai Rajdhani Express 12433/ 12434 LHB MGR Chennai Central Hazrat Nizamuddin NR 8 Bi-weekly Template:Cvt 28h 25m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 3 July 1993 [26]
7 Howrah Rajdhani Express (via Patna) 12305/ 12306 LHB Howrah New Delhi ER 7 Weekly Template:Cvt 20h 00m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 3 July 1993 [27]
8 Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (via Adra) 22811/ 22812 Tejas Bhubaneswar New Delhi ECoR 13 Bi-weekly Template:Cvt 23h 20m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 1 April 1994 [28]
9 Bhubaneswar Tejas Rajdhani Express (via Tatanagar) 22824/ 22823 Tejas Bhubaneswar New Delhi ECoR 13 4 days/wk Template:Cvt 24h 30m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 1 April 1994 [29]
10 Dibrugarh - New Delhi Rajdhani Express 12423/ 12424 LHB Dibrugarh New Delhi NR 9 Daily Template:Cvt 37h 55m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 6 July 1994 [30]
11 Jammu Tawi Rajdhani Express 12425/ 12426 LHB Jammu Tawi New Delhi NR 3 Daily Template:Cvt 8h 20m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 10 July 1994 [31]
12 Patna Tejas Rajdhani Express 12309/ 12310 Tejas Rajendra Nagar Terminal New Delhi ECR 4 Daily Template:Cvt 12h 30m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 1 September 1996 [32]
13 Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express 12957/ 12958 LHB Sabarmati Jn. New Delhi WR 9 Daily Template:Cvt 12h 10m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 1 January 1998 [33]
14 Secunderabad Rajdhani Express 12437/ 12438 LHB Secunderabad Jn. Hazrat Nizamuddin NR 5 Weekly Template:Cvt 21h 40m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 21 January 1998 [34]
15 Diburgarh Rajdhani Express (via Bogibeel) 20505/ 20506 LHB Dibrugarh New Delhi NFR 23 Bi-weekly Template:Cvt 39h 38m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 11 January 1999 [35]
16 Sealdah Rajdhani Express 12313/ 12314 LHB Sealdah New Delhi ER 6 Daily Template:Cvt 18h 00m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 1 July 2000 [36]
17 Ranchi Rajdhani Express (via Bokaro) 20839/ 20840 LHB Ranchi New Delhi SER 6 Bi-weekly Template:Cvt 17h 00m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 17 October 2001 [37]
18 Bilaspur Rajdhani Express 12441/ 12442 LHB Bilaspur Jn. New Delhi NR 8 Bi-weekly Template:Cvt 20h 40m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 28 October 2001 [38]
19 Ranchi Rajdhani Express (via Japla) 20407/ 20408 LHB Ranchi New Delhi NR 6 Weekly Template:Cvt 16h 45m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 11 June 2006 [39]
20 Ranchi Rajdhani Express (via Chopan) 12453/ 12454 LHB Ranchi New Delhi NR 7 Weekly Template:Cvt 17h 55m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 11 June 2006 [40]
21 Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express (via Moranhat) 20504/ 20503 LHB Dibrugarh New Delhi NFR 22 5 days/wk Template:Cvt 41h 15m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 6 March 2010 [41]
22 Madgaon Rajdhani Express 22414/ 22413 LHB Madgaon Jn. Hazrat Nizamuddin NR 9 Bi-weekly Template:Cvt 24h 54m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 20 November 2015 [42]
23 Agartala Tejas Rajdhani Express 20501/ 20502 Tejas Agartala Anand Vihar Terminal NFR 14 Weekly Template:Cvt 39h 50m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 28 October 2017 [43]
24 Bhubaneswar Tejas Rajdhani Express (via Sambalpur) 20817/ 20818 Tejas Bhubaneswar New Delhi ECoR 14 Weekly Template:Cvt 26h 40m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 10 February 2018 [44]
25 Mumbai CSMT Rajdhani Express 22221/ 22222 LHB Mumbai CSMT Hazrat Nizamuddin CR 7 Daily Template:Cvt 17h 55m Template:Cvt Template:Cvt 19 January 2019 [45]

Trivia

Gallery

File:Coach A1 - 12957 Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express.jpg
Ahmedabad - New Delhi Rajdhani Express
File:SC-NZM Rajdhani Express at Moulali.jpg
Secunderabad–Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express with a WAP-7 at Moula Ali

Accidents and incidents

In popular culture

Being one of the most popular trains in India, the train's name featured as a title of a Bollywood movie, Rajdhani Express.[55]

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Indian Railways Template:Rajdhani Express Template:Authority control

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