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.. This series of trains regularly gets the highest priority in the Indian Railways network and is considered a prestigious and premium train.

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. They are fully air-conditioned. Passengers are served optional meals during the journey. Depending on the duration and timings of the journey, these could include morning tea, breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner. All Rajdhani Express trains offer three classes of accommodation: AC First Class with 2-berth and 4-berth coupès, AC 2-tier with open bays, provided with curtains for privacy, and AC 3-tier with open bays 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:
StateTerminal Station in DelhiTrain NameTrain No.DistanceAverage SpeedInauguration
AssamNew DelhiDibrugarh Town Rajdhani Express 12423/124241996
AssamNew DelhiDibrugarh Town Rajdhani Express 20505/205061999
AssamNew DelhiDibrugarh Rajdhani Express 20503/205042010
BiharNew DelhiPatna Rajdhani12309/123101996
ChhattisgarhNew DelhiBilaspur Rajdhani12441/124422001
GoaHazrat NizamuddinMadgaon Rajdhani22413/224142015
GujaratNew DelhiSwarna Jayanti Rajdhani12957/129581998
Jammu and KashmirNew DelhiJammu Tawi Rajdhani12425/124261994
JharkhandNew DelhiRanchi Rajdhani 20839/208402001
JharkhandNew DelhiRanchi Rajdhani 12453/124542006
KarnatakaHazrat NizamuddinBengaluru Rajdhani22691/226921992
KeralaHazrat NizamuddinThiruvananthapuram Rajdhani12431/124321993
MaharashtraNew DelhiMumbai Rajdhani12951/12952 km1972
MaharashtraHazrat NizamuddinAugust Kranti Rajdhani12953/129541992
MaharashtraHazrat NizamuddinMumbai CSMT Rajdhani22221/222222019
OdishaNew DelhiBhubaneswar Rajdhani 22811/228121994
OdishaNew DelhiBhubaneswar Rajdhani 22823/228242003
OdishaNew DelhiBhubaneswar Rajdhani 20817/208182018
Tamil NaduHazrat NizamuddinChennai Rajdhani12433/124341993
TelanganaHazrat NizamuddinSecunderabad Rajdhani12437/124382002
TripuraAnand Vihar TerminalAgartala Rajdhani20501/205022017
West BengalNew DelhiHowrah Rajdhani 12301/123021969
West BengalNew DelhiHowrah Rajdhani 12305/123061969
West BengalNew DelhiSealdah Rajdhani12313/123142000

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.
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.
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.