Rajdhani Express

The Rajdhani Express is a series of passenger train service in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capitals or largest city of various states. The word Rajdhani has been derived from the Devanagri script, which means Capital in English. Apart from that the word Rajdhani means Capital in many languages as spoken in India.[1][2]. This series of trains regularly gets the highest priority in the Indian Railways network and is considered a prestigious and premium train.

This article is about the passenger train service in India. For the train-service provider in Sri Lanka, see Rajadhani Express. For the film, see Rajdhani Express (film).

Rajdhani Express
New coaches of Patna Rajdhani Express painted with Madhubani art
Overview
Service typeConnecting various state capitals with Delhi
StatusOperating
First serviceMarch 3, 1969 (1969-03-03)
Current operator(s)Indian Railways
Websitehttp://indianrail.gov.in
Route
Train number(s)24
On-board services
Class(es)First Class AC, AC 2-tier, AC 3-tier
Seating arrangementsYes
Sleeping arrangementsYes
Catering facilitiesOn-board catering
Observation facilitiesLarge windows
Entertainment facilitiesElectric outlets
Reading Lights
Baggage facilitiesUnderseat
Other facilitiesBedrolls
Passenger Information System
Technical
Rolling stockLHB rakes
Track gaugeIndian Gauge
1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speedMaximum 130–140 km/h (81–87 mph)
Track owner(s)Indian Railways

History

In the Railway Budget of 1969-70, an introduction of a new superfast train was done which will connect Delhi to Kolkata in less than 18 hours. Until then, the fastest trains implying between these two cities usually takes more than 18 hours. Thus on 1 March 1969, the first Rajdhani Express left from New Delhi to Howrah at 1730 hrs and arrived at its destination at 1050 hrs on next day. Thus completing its total journey 1451 km in a record time of 17 hours 20 minutes. The return Rajdhani Express left Howrah Junction at 1700 hrs and arrived at New Delhi on its next day at 1020 hrs. The initial maximum speed of the Howrah Rajdhani Express was 100 km/hr. Till 1972, Howrah Rajdhani Express was the only Rajdhani Express in India, until in 1972 when Indian Railways decided to introduced Bombay Rajdhani, now Mumbai Rajdhani Express between Mumbai Central and New Delhi. Till 1992, there were only two Rajdhani Express in India. Later on with subsequent development of the tracks other Rajdhani Express were introduced gradually. The last Rajdhani Express to be introduced as of now was the Mumbai CSMT–Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express on 19 January 2019.

Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Uttrakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland and Punjab are the only states without a Rajdhani express terminating/originating from any of its major cities.

About

Rajdhani express gets the highest priority on the Indian railway network.[3] They are fully air-conditioned. Passengers are served optional meals (food price included in the train fare) during the journey. Depending on the duration and timings of the journey, these could include morning tea, breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner.[3] All Rajdhani Express trains offer three classes of accommodation: AC First Class (1A) with 2-berth and 4-berth coupès (with locking facility for privacy), AC 2-tier (2T) with open bays (4 berths/bay + 2 berths on the other side of the aisle of each bay), provided with curtains for privacy, and AC 3-tier (3T) with open bays (6 berths/bay + 2 berths on the other side of the aisle of each bay) without curtains.

Currently there are 24 pairs of trains, connecting New Delhi to important cities across the country. These trains have fewer stops than other express trains and halt only at prominent stations. Recently Dynamic pricing has been introduced on all Rajdhani express trains.

Routes

There are currently 24 operational pairs of Rajdhani Express:[4][5]

State Terminal Station in Delhi Train Name Train No. Distance Average Speed Inauguration
AssamNew DelhiDibrugarh Town Rajdhani Express (via Barauni)12423/124242,434 km (1,512 mi)75 km/h (47 mph)1996
New DelhiDibrugarh Town Rajdhani Express (via Hajipur)20505/205062,458 km (1,527 mi)68 km/h (42 mph)1999
New DelhiDibrugarh Rajdhani Express (via Muzzafarpur)20503/205042,452 km (1,524 mi)68 km/h (42 mph)2010
BiharNew DelhiPatna Rajdhani12309/12310998 km (620 mi)83 km/h (52 mph)1996
ChhattisgarhNew DelhiBilaspur Rajdhani12441/124421,501 km (933 mi)74 km/h (46 mph)2001
GoaHazrat NizamuddinMadgaon Rajdhani22413/224142,094 km (1,301 mi)71 km/h (44 mph)2015
GujaratNew DelhiSwarna Jayanti Rajdhani12957/12958934 km (580 mi)68 km/h (42 mph)1998
Jammu and KashmirNew DelhiJammu Tawi Rajdhani12425/12426582 km (362 mi)64 km/h (40 mph)1994
JharkhandNew DelhiRanchi Rajdhani (via Bokaro)20839/208401,305 km (811 mi)74 km/h (46 mph)2001
New DelhiRanchi Rajdhani (via Daltonganj)12453/124541,341 km (833 mi)76 km/h (47 mph)2006
KarnatakaHazrat NizamuddinBengaluru Rajdhani22691/226922,365 km (1,470 mi)70 km/h (43 mph)1992
KeralaHazrat NizamuddinThiruvananthapuram Rajdhani12431/124323,149 km (1,957 mi)68 km/h (42 mph)1993
MaharashtraNew DelhiMumbai Rajdhani12951/129521,384 km (860 mi) km88 km/h (55 mph)1972
Hazrat NizamuddinAugust Kranti Rajdhani12953/129541,377 km (856 mi)79 km/h (49 mph)1992
Hazrat NizamuddinMumbai CSMT Rajdhani22221/222221,535 km (954 mi)86 km/h (53 mph)2019
OdishaNew DelhiBhubaneswar Rajdhani (via Adra)22811/228121,723 km (1,071 mi)76 km/h (47 mph)1994[6]
New DelhiBhubaneswar Rajdhani (via Bokaro)22823/228241,800 km (1,100 mi)74 km/h (46 mph)2003[7]
New DelhiBhubaneswar Rajdhani (via Sambalpur)20817/208181,914 km (1,189 mi)71 km/h (44 mph)2018
Tamil NaduHazrat NizamuddinChennai Rajdhani12433/124342,175 km (1,351 mi)77 km/h (48 mph)1993
TelanganaHazrat NizamuddinSecunderabad Rajdhani12437/124381,661 km (1,032 mi)76 km/h (47 mph)2002
TripuraAnand Vihar TerminalAgartala Rajdhani20501/205022,421 km (1,504 mi)59 km/h (37 mph)2017
West BengalNew DelhiHowrah Rajdhani (via Gaya)12301/123021,447 km (899 mi)86 km/h (53 mph)1969
New DelhiHowrah Rajdhani (via Patna)12305/123061,530 km (950 mi)79 km/h (49 mph)
New DelhiSealdah Rajdhani12313/123141,453 km (903 mi)83 km/h (52 mph)2000

Incidents
  • On 25 June 2014, at least four passengers were killed and eight injured when the New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed at Goldin Ganj station near Chapra in suspected sabotage by Maoists. The train was heading towards Dibrugarh.[8]
  • On the morning of 14th Sept 2017, at around 6.00 a.m. IST, a coach of the New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express derailed at the New Delhi station. According to railway spokesperson, no one was injured in the incident.[9]
  • On 09 September 2002. At least 130 people were killed in an accident when the Howrah New Delhi Rajdhani derailed near Rafiganj, which was reportedly due to sabotage by a local Maoist terrorist group, the Naxalites.
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See also

References
  1. "Top 10 Highest Priority Trains of Indian Railways Network". WalkthroughIndia.com. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  2. "Highest Priority Trains of Indian Railways". erail.in. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  3. "Rajdhani Express and Duronto Express Trains". MakeMyTrip. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. "List of all Rajdhani Express trains". etrain.info. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  5. "Rajdhani Express Trains - Railway Enquiry". indiarailinfo.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  6. Rail Budget 1994-95
  7. Rail Budget 2003-04
  8. "Rajdhani Express derails near Chhapra in Bihar; Railway suspects 'sabotage'". timesofindia-economictimes. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  9. "Rajdhani Express coach derails at New Delhi Railway Station". timesofindia-indiatimes. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
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