| Falaknuma Express | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Service type | Superfast Train |
| Locale | Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal |
| Current operator(s) | South Central Railway |
| Route | |
| Start | Secunderabad Junction |
| No. of intermediate stops | 23 halts between Secunderabad Junction and Howrah Junction |
| End | Howrah Junction |
| Distance travelled | 1,545 km (960 mi) |
| Average journey time | 25 hours 45 minutes |
| Service frequency | Daily |
| Train number(s) | 12704 / 12703 |
| On-board services | |
| Class(es) | 1AC and 2AC combo coach, 1 AC 2-Tier Coach, 2 AC 3-Tier Coaches, 14 Sleeper Class Coaches, 1 Pantry Car, and 3 General Compartments and 2SLR's. |
| Seating arrangements | Yes |
| Sleeping arrangements | Yes |
| Catering facilities | Yes - Good Food |
| Observation facilities | Large Windows in AC classes. |
| Entertainment facilities | Nil |
| Baggage facilities | Under the Seats |
| Technical | |
| Rolling stock | 4 |
| Gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (Broad Gauge) |
| Operating speed | 63 km/h (39 mph) (average with halts) |
2703/2704 Falaknuma Express (12703/12704 from December 2010) is a superfast train of The Indian Railways connecting Howrah to Secunderabad. The train belongs to the South Central Railway. It runs daily and connects important stations such as Bhubaneswar, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur. It is a fast alternative to other trains such as East Coast Express and Visakha Express. Compared to the other trains on the Sec'bad to Howrah/Bhubaneswar, it covers lesser distance as it runs via the Nalgonda, Guntur route.
The train is named after The Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad, India. It covers a distance of 1545 kilometers in about 26 hrs, with 21 halts in between. The train departs from Howrah Junction at 07:25 hours and arrives in Secunderabad at 09:35 hours the next day. From Secunderabad, the train departs at 16:00 hours and arrives in Howrah at 17:45 hours the next day.
Contents |
The train halts at the following places: Nalgonda, Miryalguda, Guntur, Vijayawada, Eluru, Tadepalligudem, Rajahmundry, Samalkot, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagram, Srikakulam Road, Palasa, Ichhapuram, Berhampur, Balugaon, Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur. The train has a scope for speeding up. For instance, 2703 takes about 100 min from Eluru to Vijayawada, which is a distance of 60 km. Amongst all trains in the Howrah to Bhubaneswar section, it(12703) covers the distance in the minimum time(6hrs 20 min)
It gets a WDP4 (Krishnarajapuram shed) loco in the Secunderabad to Vijayawada section and a Lallaguda based WAP-4 locomotive for the Vijayawada to Vishakapatnam section. Then it gets a Santragachi based WAP-4 locomotive for the Vishakapatnam to Howrah section. The same links are in either way.
The train usually has a 1AC and 2AC combo coach(added in Sep'09), 1 AC 2-Tier Coach, 2 AC 3-Tier Coaches, 14 Sleeper Class Coaches, 1 Pantry Car, and 3 General Compartments and 2SLR's. A rake of the Falaknuma Express consists of 24 Coaches. It shares its rakes with the Narayanadri Express. One can see the Tirupati-Secunderabad-Howrah boards in the rakes.
The IRCTC handles the online ticket booking for this train. The table below shows the fares of different classes per one traveler. One can find high difference in the fares of different classes. Example, the fare of Ac - First class is 2743, while the fare of Non AC - Sleeper Class is only 442.
| Class | Fare (in rupees) |
Fare (in US$) |
|---|---|---|
| AC - First Class | 2743 | $ 61.61 |
| AC - Second Class | 1623 | $ 36.46 |
| AC - Third Class | 1187 | $ 26.66 |
| Non AC - Sleeper Class | 442 | $ 9.93 |
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