Shatabdi Express

Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast (called superfast in India) passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect Metro cities with other cities important for tourism, pilgrimage or business. Shatabdi Express are day-trains and they return to the station of origin the same day.

Not to be confused with Jan Shatabdi Express.

Shatabdi Express
Clockwise from top left: Howrah Puri Shatabdi Express, Habibganj New Delhi Shatabdi, Howrah New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi, Chennai Mysore Shatabdi, Chennai Coimbatore Shatabdi, Pune Secunderabad Shatabdi
Overview
StatusOperating
First service14 November 1988 (1988-11-14)
Current operator(s)Indian Railways
Websitehttp://indianrail.gov.in
On-board services
Class(es)Anubhuti Class, Executive Class, AC Chair Car
Seating arrangementsYes
Sleeping arrangementsNo
Catering facilitiesNo Pantry car attached but has onboard catering
Entertainment facilitiesElectric outlets
Baggage facilitiesOverhead racks, baggage area near vestibule
Technical
Rolling stockLHB coaches
Track gaugeIndian gauge
1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Track owner(s)Indian Railways

The Shatabdi along with The Rajdhani and the Duronto are among the fastest trains in India and Indian Railways considers Rajdhani and Shatabdi as prestigious. Shatabdi Expresses gets the second-highest priority, after Rajdhani Expresses which get the highest priority. The Shatabdi Express trains run over short to medium distances while the Rajdhani Expresses and the Duronto Expresses are long-distance trains. Rajdhani Expresses connect the nation's capital New Delhi to capitals of states and other major cities while Duronto Expresses connect major cities to other major cities. All three series of trains have a maximum speed of about 120 km/h (75 mph). The 12001 Bhopal Shatabdi express, however, runs at a peak speed of 155 km/h (96 mph), which makes it the third fastest train in India after the Gatimaan Express and Vande Bharat Express.

History

The name "Shatabdi" means centenary in Sanskrit. The first Shatabdi Express train was introduced in 1988, by then Railways Minister Madhavrao Scindia to commemorate the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India, between New Delhi and Jhansi Junction.

Service

Shatabdi Express trains offer fast connectivity with only a few intermediate stops. They are fully air-conditioned and of a much higher standard than most Indian trains. Shatabdi travelers are provided with bottled water, juice, coffee or tea, and meals relevant to the time of day of the journey.

Shatabdi trains are also further distinguished from other trains, in terms of convenience in boarding and disembarking. Most stations give them priority berthing at the better platforms, such as ones located close to the station building or waiting halls (generally platform number 1 at most of the stations).

Berths and seats in Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express and Rajdhani Express trains have to be reserved in advance before boarding the train. There is no unreserved accommodation in these trains, unlike most of the other trains in India. A few Shatabdis have a current booking system where tickets can be booked within a couple of hours before departure.

As Shatabdi Express are day-trains and return to the station of origin the same day, coaches (AC Chair Car) on the train have only seats and not berths. All the Shatabdi Express trains have, however, one or two coaches of Executive Class seating. Recently, Indian Railways have started offering Anubhuti Class seating also. These coaches have a wider legroom and offer better food compared to the normal Air conditioned seating (CC).

New onboard entertainment systems have also been installed on some of these trains where the passengers can view movies and television serials directly via satellite. One of the first services to have this system is the Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express.

List of Shatabdi trains

Indian Railways operates 23 pairs of Shatabdi Express as of October 2019. These trains are listed here.

List of Trains[1]
Sr. No. Train No. Route Stops Distance Year introduced
112001Habibganj - New DelhiBhopal, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Gwalior, Morena, Dholpur, Agra, Mathura705 km (438 mi)1988
12002New Delhi–Habibganj
212003Lucknow - New DelhiKanpur, Etawah, Tundla, Aligarh, Ghaziabad513 km (319 mi)1989
12004New Delhi - Lucknow
312005New Delhi - KalkaPanipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Chandigarh303 km (188 mi)1992
12006Kalka- New Delhi
412007MGR Chennai Central - MysuruKatpadi, Bangalore500 km (310 mi)1994
12008Mysuru - MGR Chennai Central
512009Mumbai Central - AhmedabadBorivali, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Nadiad491 km (305 mi)1994
12010Ahmedabad - Mumbai Central
612011New Delhi - KalkaPanipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Chandigarh303 km (188 mi)NA
12012Kalka - New Delhi
712013New Delhi - AmritsarAmbala Cantt, Sirhind, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas449 km (279 mi)NA
12014Amritsar - New Delhi
812015New Delhi - Daurai (Ajmer)Delhi Cantt, Gurgaon, Rewari, Alwar, Jaipur, Ajmer451 km (280 mi)NA
12016Daurai (Ajmer) - New Delhi
912017New Delhi - DehradunGhaziabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Roorkee, Haridwar315 km (196 mi)NA
12018Dehradun - New Delhi
1012019Howrah - RanchiDurgapur, Raniganj, Asansol, Dhanbad, Chandrapura, Bokaro Steel City, Muri421 km (262 mi)1995
12020Ranchi - Howrah
1112025Pune - SecunderabadDaund, Solapur, Gulbarga, Wadi, Tandur, Vikarabad, Begumpet597 km (371 mi)2011
12026Secunderabad - Pune
1212027Chennai - BengaluruKatpadi, Bengaluru Cantt.362 km (225 mi)2005
12028KSR Bengaluru - MGR Chennai Central
1312029New Delhi - AmritsarAmbala, Rajpura, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas448 km (278 mi)NA
12030Amritsar - New Delhi
1412031New Delhi - AmritsarAmbala, Rajpura, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas448 km (278 mi)NA
12032Amritsar - New Delhi
1512033Kanpur Central - New DelhiEtawah, Aligarh, Ghaziabad440 km (270 mi)1994
12034New Delhi - Kanpur Central
1612039Kathgodam - New DelhiHaldwani, Lalkuan, Rudrapur, Rampur, Moradabad, Ghaziabad282 km (175 mi)2012
12040New Delhi- Kathgodam
1712041Howrah - New JalpaiguriBolpur Shantiniketan, New Farakka Junction, Malda Town, Kishanganj566 km (352 mi)2012
12042New Jalpaiguri- Howrah
1812045New Delhi - ChandigarhAmbala Cantt, Karnal244 km (152 mi)2013
12046Chandigarh - New Delhi
1912047New Delhi - FirozpurRohtak, Jind, Jakhal, Mansa, Bathinda300 km (190 mi)2014
12048Firozpur - New Delhi
2012085Guwahati - DibrugarhLumding, Dimapur, Mariani506 km (314 mi)2017
12086Dibrugarh - Guwahati
2112087Naharlagun - GuwahatiRangiya, Rangapara332 km (206 mi)2017
12088Guwahati - Naharlagun
2212243MGR Chennai Central - CoimbatoreKatpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur502 km (312 mi)2011
12244Coimbatore - Chennai
2312277Howrah - PuriKharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar500 km (310 mi)2010
12278Puri - Howrah
List of Defunct Trains
# Train No. Route Distance Operational Years
1 12027 Mumbai - Pune 192 km 1995-2004
12028 Pune - Mumbai
2 12035 Jaipur - Agra Fort 241 km 2012-2018
12036 Agra Fort - Jaipur
3 12037 New Delhi - Ludhiana 329 km 2011-2019
12038 Ludhiana - New Delhi
4 12043 New Delhi - Moga 398 km 2012-2019
12044 Moga - New Delhi

A variant of the Shatabdi Express, Swarna Shatabdi Express, is considered more luxurious by Indian Railway. Indian Railways later introduced a lower-priced version Jan Shatabdi Expresses, which are nearly all without air-conditioning and much more affordable.

The former railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav had also introduced Garib Rath (chariot of the poor) in 2005. These are fast trains (like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi), which are fully Air-Conditioned and with lower fares. These trains are quite successful and compete with low-cost airlines on some long-distance routes.

  • Trainboard of 12027 Banglore Shatabdi Express
  • Commonwealth Games livery coach of 12018 Dehradun Shatabdi Express
  • Electronic Coachboard of 12017 Dehradun Shatabdi Express
  • ex 12007 Mysore Shatabdi Coach E1 of 12026 Shatabdi Express
  • Coachboard of 12010 Shatabdi Express
  • Nameboard of 12010 Shatabdi Express
  • Interior view of the new Executive AC Chair Car coaches (EC) on the Chennai-Mysore line
  • Interior view of the new AC Chair Car coaches (CC) on the Chennai-Mysore line
  • Puri Shatabdi express at Balasore railway station
  • The Chennai Mysore Shatabdi at the Mysore Junction
  • 12025 Shatabdi Express crossing Bharathnagar MMTS station, Hyderabad
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See also

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  • Complete list of Shatabdi Express trains
  • List of all Shatabdi Express trains
  • "'Shatabdi is the heart of Indian railways'". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  • "No halts, new Shatabdi Express to fly to Delhi". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 May 2014.

References
  1. "India Rail timetable".
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