Kalka Mail

Kalka Mail at Kalka Railway Station
Overview
Service type	Mail
Locale	West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana
First service	1 July 1855 (1855-07-01) as the "East Indian Railway Mail".
Current operator(s)	Eastern Railways
Route
Termini	Howrah Kalka
Distance travelled	1,713 kilometres (1,064 mi)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	12311/12312
On-board services
Class(es)	Sleeper, General, First A/C, 3Tier A/C, 2Tier A/C
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	Pantry Car and Catering available
Observation facilities	Large Windows
Baggage facilities	yes
Technical
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	110 km/h (71 mph) maximum 57 km/h (35 mph) (average with halts)
Route map km 267 Kalka Delhi–Kalka line 252 Chandi Mandir 253 Chandigarh 198 Ambala Cantonment 156 Kurukshetra 123 Karnal 89 Panipat 72 Samalkha 59 Ganaur 43 Sonipat 10 Adarsh Nagar 3 Sabji Mandi 0 Delhi Junction Howrah–Gaya–Delhi line 20 Ghaziabad Kanpur–Delhi section 83 Khurja 126 Aligarh Junction 156 Hathras Junction 204 Tundla Junction 221 Firozabad 241 Shikohabad 296 Etawah Junction 352 Phaphund 435 Kanpur Central Mughalsarai–Kanpur section 513 Fatehpur 630 Allahabad Junction 719 Mirzapur 783 Mughalsarai Junction Grand Chord 837 Bhabua Road Gaya–Mughalsarai section 885 Sasaram 902 Dehri-on-Sone 987 Gaya Junction Asansol–Gaya section 1064 Koderma 1112 Hazaribagh Road 1139 Parasnath 1157 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Gomoh 1187 Dhanbad Junction Railways in Jharia Coalfield 1245 Asansol Junction Bardhaman–Asansol section 1287 Durgapur 1351 Barddhaman Junction Howrah–Bardhaman chord 1446 Howrah Junction Source: Google and 12312 Kalka Mail

Netaji Express (formerly known as Kalka Mail) is the oldest running train in India. This train connects Howrah in Kolkata, capital of the State of West Bengal to Kalka in the North-Western state of Haryana. Kalka is the railhead for the Kalka-Shimla Railway which connects to Shimla, the one time summer capital of the British Raj.

Overview

Kalka Mail aka Netaji Express at present is the oldest trains running in the country, it has a total of 24 coaches (eleven Sleeper Class coaches, two SLR coaches, two General Class coaches, one First AC-cum-AC Two Tier coach, three AC Three Tier coaches , three AC Two Tier coaches , one Second class-seating and one Pantry Car) and has total 4 Rakes. This train is categorized as superfast-mail and runs at a maximum speed of 110 km/hrs. The train stops at 37 stations in its entire route, thus passengers boarding the train have to abide by distance restriction (the minimum travel distance is 160 km in all AC classes and 480 km in Sleeper and 2S). However, it carries all passengers on the Delhi-Kalka route.

Due to the passenger demand, one AC Two Tier Coach, one AC Three Tier Coach, five Sleeper Class coach, one General Class coach, the RMS coach, one SLR coach and the Pantry Car is separately reserved for the passengers boarding from Chandigarh Junction only. Hence these eleven coaches are attached during the journey towards Howrah in Chandigarh and is detached during its journey towards Kalka in Chandigarh itself.

History

Run by the East Indian Railway Company, the train (originally numbered 1 Up / 2 Dn) began operation between Calcutta and Delhi in 1864 as the "East Indian Railway Mail". Its run was extended from Delhi to Kalka in 1891. The train was the principal mechanism by which British civil servants moved to their summer capital in Simla from Calcutta with the entire government machinery traveling on the train at the start of the summer months and returning by it at the end of summer. Both stations, Howrah as well as Kalka, had internal carriageways running along the platform so that the Viceroy and other high-ranking officers could drive right up to their rail coaches. The carriageway at Howrah is still used and runs between Platforms 8 and 9 but the carriageway at Kalka has been converted into a platform.^[1] With the rationalization of train numbering in the 1990s, the Kalka Mail lost its 1 Up /2 Dn numbering and now it runs as 12311 from Howrah and 12312 from Kalka. The train was renamed Netaji Express in honor of the Indian leader Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose was thought to have escaped from Gomoh to Peshawar on this train from Gomoh Railway Station.

Traction

As the route is fully electrified, it is generally hauled by a WAP 7 of Tughlakabad, Howrah or Sealdah shed, end to end. Sometimes, it is also hauled by a WAP 4.

In popular culture

Kalka Mail is featured in a short story by Satyajit Ray, the Indian film director and writer. In the story, The Mystery of the Kalka Mail (Baksho Rahasya), the three main characters travel from Calcutta to Delhi and on to Kalka on the train. The plot involves a stolen diamond and an unpublished manuscript.^[2] The story was also made into a radio play and a film.

Renaming

Kalka Mail was renamed to Netaji Express in honour of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to commemorate his 124th Birth Anniversary on 23 January 2021.^[3]

Accidents

References