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.[2] 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.
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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. 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.
Duronto, Shatabdi, and Rajdhani 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.[3][4] 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.[5] Another constraint is the need to accommodate freight trains at the current top speed of 70 km/h.[3] 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.
Duronto, Shatabdi, and Rajdhani trains are hauled by powerful electric locomotives built by the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, such as WAP-4, 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.[6][7] WAP-7 is more powerful, and can haul longer trains, to a speed of 140 km/h.[7][8]
The coaches in these trains are of crash-worthy design from Alstom-LHB, built by Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala.[9][10] These Alstom-LHB coaches can be pulled to a speed of 200 km/h without any modification.[11] 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.[12] The bogies, design from Fiat, has 2 disk brakes per axle[11] essential for safe operations especially at the speed of fast-express trains.
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.[1]
| 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 | New Delhi, Bhopal | 5 | 0:18 | 701 | 7:50 | 93.1 (58.1) | Fastest shatabdi and fastest train in india |
| 12033 Kanpur shatabdi | Kanpur, New Delhi | 1 | 0:02 | 437 | 5:05 | 92.2 (57.29) | The second fastest train in India with an average speed of 88 km/h (55 mph).It is also called Kanpur Reverse Shatabdi because it follows the reverse timetable of Lucknow Shatabdi; i.e. UP follows DOWN time table and vice versa. |
| 12951 Mumbai Rajdhani | Mumbai Central, New Delhi | 4 | 0:32 | 1384 | 15:50 | 90.5 (56.5) | Fastest Rajdhani Express |
| 12259 Sealdah Duronto | Sealdah, New Delhi | 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 |
| 12011 Kalka Shatabdi | New Delhi railway station, Kalka railway station | 4 | 0:14 | 303 | 4:05 | 78.7 km/h (48.9 mph) | Shortest Shatabdi Route |
| 12431 Trivandrum Rajdhani | Trivandrum Central, 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 train in the country. |
| 12030 Swarna Shatabdi | Amritsar Junction, New Delhi | 5 | 0:11 | 448 | 6:05 | 75.9 (47.5) | Northern regional express |
| 12841 Coromandel Express | Howrah Station, Chennai Central | 10 | 14:50 | 17:05 | 12.00 | 110 Km/hrs(99.2) | Southern regional express |
| 12024 Janshatabdi Express | Patna, Howrah Junction | 12 | 0:24 | 532 | 7:40 | 73.2 (45.5) | Eastern regional express |
| 12267 Ahmedabad Duronto | Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad Junction | non-stop | - | 491 | 6:45 | 72.7 (45.5) | Western regional express |
| 12436 Dibrugarh 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.
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 Chandrapura-Bokaro Steel City on the Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi, and as long as 528 km between Vadodara-kota on the Trivandrum Rajdhani.[1] 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.[13]