Express trains in India

Indian locomotive class WAP-5 hauling the fastest train of India until overtaken by Gatimaan expressBhopal Shatabdi Express to New Delhi
Indian Railways Rajdhani/Shatabdi Lines[1]

Mail/Express trains are Regular Express rail service of India. Express trains make small number of stops, unlike Passenger/Local train. In some cases, trains run express where there is overlapping local train service available, and run local at the tail ends of the line, where there is no supplemental local service. Because of their limited stops, these trains are able to obtain the highest speeds of any trains in India.

An express train is one where the average speed, excluding halts, is greater than 36 km/h. Including halts speed may sometimes fall into the region of around 20 km/h, for express trains.

The Duronto Express trains introduced in 2009 (which run between major cities without any intermediate halts) are projected to be the fastest train in India when new services are introduced with a higher speed limit of 120-130 km/h. Despite being limited to a lower speed limit, they take as much time as a Rajdhani or Shatabdi on the same route, courtesy the non-stop nature of their journey (see Tracks and Speed sections). Rajdhani Express which connects New Delhi with the state capitals in India was introduced in 1969, travels at speeds up to 130 km/h.

Competition

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 (if any), 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 from 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.

Tracks

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. 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 15–90 km/h, is the major bottleneck to higher speed.[2] 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.

Locomotives

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 160 km/h without modification.[4][5] WAP-7 is more powerful, and can haul longer trains, to a speed of 140 km/h.[5][6]

Coaches

The coaches in these trains are of crash-worthy design from Alstom-LHB, built by Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala.[7][8] These Alstom-LHB coaches can be pulled to a speed of 160 km/h without any modification.[9] 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.[10] The bogies, design from Fiat, has 2 disk brakes per axle[9] essential for safe operations especially at the speed of fast-express trains.

Speed

The average speed of superfast trains,excluding halts, range from 59 to 93 km/h. Of 80 routes (each direction counting as one route) in the Indian schedule, 18 have an average speed between 80 and 90 km/h, 16 are below 70 km/h, remaining 45 have an average speed between 70 and 80 km/h. The speed of express trains is calculated from Indian Railways schedule.

Sl Train No Train Type Source – Destination Zone Stops Total stop time-h:m Distance- km (mile) Total time-h:m Average Speed km/h (mph) [excluding halts] Remarks
1 12951 Rajdhani Mumbai Central – New Delhi WR 5 0:25 1384 (860) 15:35 91.25 (56.36) Fastest Rajdhani Train in entire Indian Railways
2 12002 Shatabdi New Delhi – Habibganj (Bhopal) NR 8 0:30 707 (436) 8:25 89.31(55.13) Fastest Shatabdi
3 12034 Shatabdi New Delhi – Kanpur NCR 2 0:04 437 (270) 5:00 88.64 (54.71)
4 12249 Yuva Howrah – Anand Vihar ER 5 0:27 1434 (891) 16:40 88.41 (54.93) Fastest Yuva Train but runs with regular delay
5 22913 Premium Mumbai-New Delhi WR 2 0:15 1386(861) 16:00 87.87(54.24)
6 12260 Duronto New Delhi – Sealdah ER 3 0:20 1453 (906) 16:55 87.64 (54.10) Fastest Duronto
7 12302 Rajdhani New Delhi – Howrah ER 6 0:28 1447 (902) 17:00 87.53 (54.04) Highest Priority in Indian Railways
8 12274 Duronto New Delhi – Howrah ER 3 0:20 1446 (893) 17:15 85.48 (52.76)
9 12910 Garib Rath H. Nizamuddin – Bandra WR 7 0:30 1366 (849) 16:35 85.38 (52.7) Fastest Garib Rath
10 12313 Rajdhani Sealdah – New Delhi ER 6 0:30 1458 (906) 17:35 85.36 (52.69)
11 12276 Duronto New Delhi – Allahabad NCR 1 0:02 634 (394) 7:30 84.87 (53.97)
12 12309 Rajdhani Rajendranagar – New Delhi ECR 4 0:28 1001 (623) 12:15 84.97 (52.45)
13 12953 Rajdhani Mumbai Central – H. Nizamuddin (August Kranti) WR 12 0:43 1377 (856) 17:10 83.7 (51.67)
14 12004 Shatabdi New Delhi – Lucknow (Swarna Shatabdi) NR 5 0:13 511 (315) 6:30 81.37 (50.29)
15 12285 Duronto Secunderabad- H. Nizamuddin SCR 4 0:25 1660 (1030) 21:05 80.31 (49.57) The fastest train originating in South India
16 12281 Duronto Bhubaneswar – New Delhi ECoR 4 0:35 1726 (1072) 22:10 80.02 (49.40)
17 12306 Rajdhani New Delhi – Howrah ER 6 0:36 1531 (951) 19:45 79.84 (49.28)
18 22109 AC Superfast Mumbai LTTT – Delhi NZM CR 9 0:40 1518 (949) 19:55 78.85 (49.28) Ja sadharan Vatanookulit The fastest train in Superfast/AC SF Category
19 12290 Duronto Mumbai CST – Nagpur CR 3 0:27 837 (521) 11:05 78.74 (48.60) The fastest non-Delhi zone train
20 12269 Duronto Chennai – H. Nizamuddin SR 6 0:37 2175 (1343) 27:55 79.67 (49.18)
21 12439 Rajdhani Ranchi – New Delhi NR 6 0:27 1305 (813) 16:55 79.23 (48.91)
22 12247 Yuva H. Nizamuddin – Bandra WR 5 0:32 1366 (849) 17:45 79.32 (48.97)
23 12433 Rajdhani Chennai – H. Nizamuddin SR 7 0:40 2174 (1351) 28:15 79.10 (49.15)
24 12437 Rajdhani Secunderabad – H. Nizamuddin NR 5 0:37 1658 (1030) 21:35 79.08 (49.14)
25 12187 Garib Rath Jabalpur Junction – Mumbai CST WCR 10 0:48 1726 (1072) 22:40 78.93 (49.05)
26 12224 Duronto Ernakulam – Lokmanya Tilak (T) CR 4 0:30 1598 (993) 20:45 78.91 (49.03) The length of Konkan Railway is inflated by 40% to calculate fare
27 12213 Duronto Yesvantpur – Sarai Rohilla NR 7 0:50 2384 (1481) 31:10 78.59 (48.84)
28 12877 Garib Rath Ranchi – New Delhi SER 11 0:31 1341 (833) 17:40 78.19 (48.59)
29 12264 Duronto H. Nizamuddin – Pune NR 6 0:42 1509 (938) 20:00 78.19 (48.58)
30 12262 Duronto Howrah – Mumbai CST SER 5 0:50 1968 (1223) 26:10 77.68 (48.27)
31 12453 Rajdhani Ranchi – New Delhi NR 4 0:22 1341 (833) 17:40 77.51 (48.17)
32 12222 Duronto Howrah – Pune SER 6 1:10 2021 (1256) 27:15 77.48 (48.15)
33 12156 Superfast Hazrat Nizamuddin – Bhopal Habibganj WCR 7 0:48 800 (635) 10:15 78.33 (48.05)
34 22824 Rajdhani New Delhi – Bhubaneswar ECoR 10 0:51 1800 (1118) 24:10 77.20 (47.97)
35 12009 Shatabdi Mumbai Central – Ahmedabad WR 7 0:20 493 (306) 6:45 76.83 (47.74)
36 12060 Jan Shatabdi Hazrat Nizamuddin – Kota WCR 8 0:22 458 (285) 6:20 76.76 (47.7) Fastest Jan Shatabdi Express
37 12243 Duronto Chennai – Coimbatore SR 1 0:10 496 (308) 6:40 76.31 (47.42)
38 12013 Shatabdi New Delhi – Amritsar NR 5 0:11 449 (279) 6:05 76.10 (47.29)
39 12029 Shatabdi New Delhi – Amritsar NR 5 0:11 449 (279) 6:05 76.10 (47.29)
40 12031 Shatabdi New Delhi – Amritsar NR 5 0:11 449 (279) 6:05 76.10 (47.29) Northern regional express
41 12268 Duronto Ahmedabad – Mumbai Central WR 0 0:00 493 (306) 6:30 75.85 (47.13) Western regional express
42 22203 Duronto Visakhapatnam – Secunderabad SCR 1 0:15 701 (436) 09:30 75.78 (47.08) Fastest train of faltair Andhra Pradesh
43 22424 Rajdhani New Delhi – Guwahati NR 11 1:31 1908 (1186) 27:20 73.91 (45.92)
44 12429 Rajdhani H. Nizamuddin – Bangalore NR 11 1:02 2383 (1481) 33:30 73.40 (45.61)
45 12026 Shatabdi Secunderabad – Pune CR 6 0:12 597 (371) 8:20 73.40 (45.61)
46 12028 Shatabdi Bangalore – Chennai SWR 2 0:04 362 (225) 5:00 73.38 (45.6)
47 12024 Jan Shatabdi Patna – Howrah ECR 12 0:24 532 (331) 7:40 73.21 (45.49) Eastern regional express
48 12007 Shatabdi Chennai – Mysore SR 1 0:10 500 (311) 7:00 73.17 (4 12155 Superfast Habibganj – H. Nizamuddin (Shaan – E – Bhopal) WCR 8 0:29 701 (436) 10:05 73.02 (45.37)
49 12278 Duronto Puri-Howrah ECoR 2 0:20 500 (311) 7:15 72.29 (44.92)
50 12394 Superfast New Delhi – Rajendranagar (Sampoorna Kranti Express) ECR 2 0:10 1002 (623) 14:05 72.00 (44.74)
51 12227 Duronto Indore – Mumbai Central WR 3 0:28 828 (514) 12:00 71.79 (44.61)
52 12397 Superfast Gaya – New Delhi (Mahabodhi Express) ECR 13 0:40 993 (617) 14:30 71.78 (44.6)
53 12415 Superfast Indore – Hazrat Nizamuddin NR 17 1:27 818 (720) 11:27 71.41 (44.37)
54 12676 Superfast Coimbatore – Chennai (Kovai Express) SR 10 0:23 496 (308) 7:20 71.37 (44.35)
55 12431 Rajdhani Thiruvananthapuram – H. Nizamuddin NR 15 1:25 2847 (1769) 41:25 71.18 (44.23) The length of Konkan Railway is inflated by 40% to calculate fare
56 12074 Jan Shatabdi Bhubaneswar – Howrah ECoR 7 0:21 437 (272) 6:30 71.06 (44.15)
57 12042 Shatabdi New Jalpaiguri – Howrah NFR 3 0:09 566 (352) 8:00 70.75 (43.96) Fastest End-to-End EMD diesel hauled Shatabdi Express
58 12452 Superfast New Delhi – Kanpur (Shram Shakti Express) NR 0 0:00 441 (274) 6:15 70.56 (43.84)
59 12493 Rajdhani H. Nizamuddin – Bangalore NR 7 0:57 2293 (1425) 33:30 70.45 (43.77)
60 12246 Duronto Yesvantpur – Howrah SER 4 0:50 1960 (1218) 28:45 70.21 (43.63)
61 12005 Shatabdi New Delhi – Kalka NR 3 0:15 269 (167) 4:05 70.17 (43.6) The length is inflated by 34 km to calculate fare
62 12958 Rajdhani New Delhi – Ahmedabad (Swarna Jayanti) WR 6 0:19 935 (581) 13:40 70.04 (43.52)
63 12423 Rajdhani Dibrugarh – New Delhi NR 17 2:36 2473 (1537) 37:55 70.02 (43.51)

Regular unbranded express trains on the same route are only slightly slower, since the same locomotives haul them.

Gallery

  1. ^ a b c Sarbamit Chowdhury

Stops

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 2 km between New Bongaigaon-Bongaigaon on the Howrah-Dibrugarh Kamrup Express, and as long as 528 km between Vadodara-kota on the Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Indias-fastest-train-completes-final-test-run-in-record-time/articleshow/47534278.cms. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ High Speed – T.R.Natarajan, Indian Railways
  3. ↑ Indian Railways 2020 Vision – Government of India Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) December, 2009
  4. ↑ "Locomotive, section WAP-5". timetrackinfosys.com. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  5. 1 2 "Electric Locomotive, sections WAP-5/WAP-7 – Indian Railways FAQ:Locomotive". Irfca.org. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  6. ↑ "Chittaranjan Locomotive Works website". Clwindia.com. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  7. ↑ "To make fast-express trains safe, new design of coach on anvil". indianexpress.com. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  8. ↑ Rlys may raise stainless steel coach production – BusinessLine
  9. 1 2 SYNOPSIS OF PAPERS PRESENTED IN SEMINAR ON ‘LHB COACH AND NEW MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES’ HELD AT RCF, KAPURTHALA ON 4TH AND 5TH NOVEMBER’ 2003
  10. ↑ "Stainless Steel in Rail Transportation - stainlesssteel.org" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-03-11.
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