IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 8361 - 8380
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Diva-Vasai (Big Turn table!!)
Date: 10 Sep 1999 00:44:37 -0500
> Theres been no time to give a brief write up on my weekend to Chiplun
...
> which I went by the Matsyagandha and returned by the Madgaon - Mumbai
> Intercity (renamed a few days back as the "Mandvi" express). The trip,
to
> capsulate it, was nothing less than excellent.
There used to be MG Mandovi express from Miraj to Vasco in the good old
days of
the MG track. Can you remember any more instances of the train name
being
recycled to refer to another run elsewhere ? I also remember train
numbers being
recycled. A few years back the Secundrabad - Mumbai Hussein Sagar
Express had
the number 7001/2. Just the year before that this number was allotted to
Pinakini Express (HYB - TPTY ?)
> I must say that the Diva Vasai trip is a real peaceful slow trip (good
for a
> lazy getaway from the Mumbai suburban network) and extremely beautiful
> scenery too. the frequency of the trains coul be improved - say by
operating
> additional services with the same rake during the day.
I have always wondered, who leads who ? Is there a justifiable
passengers
requirement to run more services (one up and down trip per hour would be
nice
between 0500 to 2300 hrs). Or will existence of adequate passenger
services lead
to more traffic ? I remember reading that the DI - BSR - DI section will
ply
EMUs soon.
> Appu and folks from Pune could join in
> .... lets see what can be worked out. Am looking for company for
"Active
> Train Spotting"
Karjat is the golden mean for this sort of joint activities.
Apurva
From: lwebber <>
Subject: Anyone have these Inter-Station Distances, please?
Date: 10 Sep 1999 05:34:46 -0500
Could someone with Regional Railway Timetables, pre-1998 Bradshaws,
reasonable maps or other sources, please provide inter-station distances
(approximate will do) and/or any missing stations in the sequence?
It is simplest to just insert the km-distance between the station names
when replying. Please, answers to irfca.
I will repeat this message as updates are received, as necessary
removing lines (because I have been given the data, or received
confirmation that the track is now scrapped) or adding some (while I
have finished inter-station distances for CR/ER/KR/NEFR/NER/NR subject
to the below, SCR is still in progress and SER,SR and WR will be
addressed over the forthcoming few days).
I AM MISSING DISTANCES FOR THE FOLLOWING RAILWAYS/GAUGES:-
CR,BG,Khajuri,Parakheda,Churelkheda,Mohana,Renhat,Ghatigaon,Panihar,Naug
aon,Gwalior Jn.
CR,BG,Airoli,Thane
CR,BG,Diva Jn.,Airoli,Ghansoli,Rabale,Mahape,Kopar
Khairane,Pavane,Turbhe
CR,BG,Wani Jn.,Pimpalkhuti,Chanakh
CR,BG,Tadali Jn.,Ghugus
CR,BG,Dativali,Bhivandi Jn.
ER,BG,Seoraphuli Jn.,Diara,Nasibpur,Singur,Kamarkundu Jn.,Nalikul,Malia
Halt,Haripal,Kaikala,Bahirkhanda,Loknath,Tarkeshwar
ER,BG,Sheakhala,Dankuni Jn.,Andul Jn.
ER,BG,Kalyani,Kalyani Silpanchal,Kalyani Ghoshpara,Kalyani Simanta
ER,BG,Princep Ghat,Eden Gardens,BBD
Bagh,Burrabazar,Ahiritola,Sovabazar,Bagbazar,Tala,Ultadanga
Road,Bidhannagar Road
ER,BG,Ultadanga Road,Dum Dum Jn.,Dum Dum
Cantonment,Durganagar,Birati,Bishorpara Kodaliya Halt,New
Barrackpur,Madhyamgram,Hridaypur,Barasat
Jn.,Bamangachhi,Dattapukur,Bira,Guma,Ashoknagar
Road,Habra,Machhalandapur,Gobardanga,Thakurnagar,Chandpara,Bongaon
Jn.,Ranaghat Jn.,Bankim Nagar Halt,Panchberia
Halt,Aranghata,Bahiragachhi Halt,Bhayana Halt,Bagula,Mayurhat,Taraknagar
Halt,Majhdia,Banpur,Harisnagar Halt,Gede
ER,BG,Kalinarayanpur Jn.,Phulia,Habibpur,Shantipur
ER,BG,Barasat Jn.,Kareya Kadambagachhi,Bahira-Kalibari
Halt,Sondalia,Beliaghata Road Halt,Labutala Halt,Bhasila,Harua
Road,Kankra-Mirzanagar Halt,Champapukur,Bhyabla Halt,Basirhat,Madhyampur
Halt,Nimdanri Halt,Taki Road,Hasnabad
ER,BG,Baliganja Jn.,Lake Gardens,Tollyganj,New Alipur,Majherhat,Brace
Bridge,Santoshpur,Akra,Nungi,Baj Baj
ER,BG,Dhakuria,Jadavpur,Bhaga Jatin,Garia,Sonarpur
Jn.,Bidyadharpur,Kalikpur,Champahati,Piali,Champahati,Ghutiari
Sharif,Betberia Ghola Halt,Taldi,Canning
ER,BG,Sonarpur Jn.,Subhasgram,Malikpur,Baruipur Jn.,Kalyanpur
(W.B.),Dakshin Durgapur,Hotar,Dhamua,Uttar Radhanagar Halt,Magra
Halt,Bahirpuya Halt,Sangrampur,Deula,Netra,Basuldanga,Gurudas
Nagar,Diamond Harbour
ER,BG,Baruipur Jn.,Shasan Road,Dhapdhapi,Surjyapur,Gocharan,Dakshin
Barasat,Baharu,Jaynagar-Majilpur,Mathurapur Road,Madhabpur
Halt,Lakshmikantapur,Namkhana
ER,BG,Malkera,Katrasgarh
ER,BG,Mokama Jn.,Mokama Ghat
ER,BG,Ikra Jn.,Gaurangdih
ER,BG,Damodar Jn.,Kalipahari
ER,BG,Patna Jn.,Digha
ER,BG,Hathidah Jn.,Rajendra Pul,Simaria,Garhara,Barauni Jn.
ER,BG,Sindri Town,Pathardih Jn.,Sindri Marshalling Yard
NEFR,MG,Domohani,Bhottepatti,Changrabandha
NEFR,MG,Alipurduar Jn.,Alipurduar Court,Alipurduar,Baneswar,New Cooch
Behar,Cooch Behar,Dawan Hat,Bhetaguri,Dinhata College
Halt,Dinhata,Falimari,New Gitaldaha Jn.,Abutara Halt,Bamanhat
NEFR,MG,New Gitaldaha Jn.,Gitaldaha
NEFR,MG,Raja Bhat Khawa Jn.,Jayanti
NEFR,MG,Chalsa Jn.,Matiali
NEFR,MG,Agyathori Jn.,Amingaon
NER,BG,Sonpur Jn.,Paleza Ghat
NER,MG,Sitapur Jn.,Thompsonganj
NER,MG,Bhagalpur Jn.,Bhagalpur Kacheri,Barari
NER,MG,Nepalganj Road,Babaganj,Nanpara
Jn.,Matera,Risia,Bahraich,Chilwaria,Yogendradham
Halt,Paryagpur,Bisheshwarganj,Bangain,Gangadham,Gonda Jn.
NR,BG,Kanpur Bridge,Chandari,Govindpuri
NR,BG,Daraganj,Prayag
NR,BG,Jalandhar City Jn.,Lyalpur Khalsa,Jhamsher
Khas,Thabalke,Shankar,Nakodar Jn.
NR,BG,Ashapura Gomat Jn.,Pokaran
NR,BG,Aishbagh,Amausi
NR,BG,Ramganga Jn.,Chanethi
NR,BG,Fazilka Jn.,Chananwala
NR,BG,Firozpur City Jn.,Husainwala
NR,BG,Bhuchchu,Katar Singh Wala,Garhi Bhagi,Sangat
NR,MG,Bhagat-ki-Kothi,Fedusar
NR,MG,Balotra Jn.,Pachpadra City,Pachpadra Salt Depot
NR,MG,Tilwara Jn.,Tilwara Mela
PVT,NG,Fatuha,Hilsa,Ekangar Sarai,Islampur
SCR,BG,Sulehalli,Halakatta,Nalwar
SCR,BG,Bantanahal,Nancherla
SCR,BG,Manikgarh Jn.,Chondu
SCR,BG,Motumari Jn.,Jaggayyapetta
SCR,BG,Kolhapur,Valivade,Rukadi,Hatkanangale,Nimsirgaon
Tamdalge,Jaysingpur,Miraj
Jn.,Vishrambag,Sangli,Madhavnagar,Nandre,Bhilavadi,Amnapur,Kidoskarwadi,
Takari,Bhavani
Nagar,Shenoli,Karad,Shiravade,Masur,Targaon,Rahimatpur,Koregaon,Satara,J
arandeshwar,Palsi,Wathar,Adarki,Salpa,Lonand,Nira,Walha,Daundaj,Jejuri,R
ajevadi,Ambale,Shindawane,Alandi,Phursungi,Savad Road,Ghorpuri,Pune Jn.
SCR,BG,Gudur
Jn.,Kondagunta,Vendodu,Nidigallu,Venkatagiri,Yataluru,Yellakaru,Sri
Kalahasti,Yerpedu,Renigunta Jn.,Tirupati (EAST???)
SCR,MG,Namburu,Ladepalle
Thanks in advance
Regards to all
Larry
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From: lwebber <>
Subject: Re: Delhi Area Questions - Daya Basti v. Delhi Sarai Rohilla, etc.
Date: 10 Sep 1999 05:36:02 -0500
Thanks, Harsh! You have cleared my remaining Delhi questions.
Harsh said:
> best wishes for your project.
Thanks! :)
> P.S. Sorry for being such a nerd.
?? I'm the nerd - head buried in maps, TTs etc.!
>I could still never understand your 120
> Kkm. Do you mean to say that you have travelled 120, 000 Kms on IR !?
Yes, at least that... Many, many trips, spread over dozens of years.
> If yes, please tell me how much % of total IR routes have you covered?
A very good question! I will come back on that when I have worked it
out. My *guess* is only about 20%, though - many major routes
(Del/Bom/Cal/Mad quad'l, & North to Himalayas (Punjab/UP/HP) have been
done plenty of times. Not that much pottering on slow BG/MG nowadays...
when younger, more adventurous.
In modern times, with the magic Indrail pass, I usually end up spending
about 75% of time on trains (not counting waiting times for train to
appear!) - it is called getting value for money :-) On a 15 day
Indrail, I end up travelling for over 250 hrs - you can see how the kms
clock up (250 x 40kph = 10,000kms). Typically, the space on the pass
would be insufficient to record the data (sheet would need to be
attached). This is why I always research average delays before booking
- the whole route-plan is quite tight, and a missed connection would be
- OUCH. Irrecoverable. IThere have been quite a few really narrow
scrapes, jumping in to moving train (after crazy auto-rickshaw/cab
dashes in Delhi and Ahmedabad, after returning from hills by car to
Kalka, etc.)
The non-rail time is typically spent in the hills.. Of the little
railways, my favorite is Neral-Matheran, followed by Mettupalaiyam-Ooty.
Darjeeling... if only they ever ran while I was there. Shimla (Simla)
is somewhat spoilt now (IMO)...
I intend to properly explore NEFR soon. :)
Regards to all
Larry
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From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: Re: Presenting, at last - the IRFCA Mail Archive!
Date: 10 Sep 1999 07:23:05 -0500
This is awesome and certainly very nostalgic!! Just finished perusing
through some of the 'ancient' messages of '89, '90. Dheeraj, Kumar,
Jishnu, Pushkar,..... little did we realize that this club would take on
mammoth
proportions. I, for one, did not anticipate that I would be browsing
through
tons of IR images barely a decade from IRFCA's inception. What next?!!
Video clips?? Keep up the great work!!
Vijay
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shanku Niyogi [SMTP:shankun@microsoft.email
> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 1999 11:40 PM
> To: 'irfca@cs.email
> Subject: Presenting, at last - the IRFCA Mail Archive!
>
> Gang,
>
> Although my work on the IRFCA.ORG web site is progressing a bit slower
> than
> I had hoped (for various reasons), I am happy to tell you that the
first
> version of the IRFCA.ORG mail archive is now available. The location
for
> the
> archive is
>
> <A HREF="http://www.irfca.org/mail">http://www.irfca.org/mail</A>
>
> Please note the following limitations:
> - All the non-mail links on the page will not work - they point to
other
> parts of the IRFCA site which I have not put up yet. It gives you a
rough
> idea of the site design though.
> - Although there is a table of contents, there are no other indices.
These
> may be added later.
> - There is no threaded view. This may be added later.
> - Search, a truly useful feature, can't be added right now, because I
> can't
> put a search engine on the server (it's not mine). Hopefully, by end
of
> year, I will be serving this site out of my home using DSL, and I will
be
> able to add search.
> - Email addresses have been removed from the "From" field. If email
> addresses appear in the message body, they have not been removed -
this
> would be tough to do.
> - Attachments are not included, for space reasons.
> - Hyperlinks should be clickable, but a MAJOR bug in the hyperlink
stuff
> screws up messages with hyperlinks. This will be fixed REAL soon.
> - Although the archiver is an automatic process, I still have to
manually
> collect emails sent to the list into a folder and run the archiver.
> Because
> of this, there may be missing or duplicate items. Also, this means
that I
> will not be able to update the archive on an hourly or daily basis. I
hope
> to update frequently though.
>
> Let me know how you like the site, and if it shows up OK on your
browser
> (IE4+, NS4+ recommended). My web provider theoretically provides me
with
> unlimited disk space, but if they decide for some reason to pull it,
I'll
> have to take the archive off until I can host the site myself.
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: Re: I'm less confused about Calcutta area - but, still Help Neede d
Date: 10 Sep 1999 07:47:11 -0500
> >1. Kalinarayanpur Jn. Birnagar Taherpur Badkulla
> >Jalalkhali Halt Ranaghat Jn.
>
> ????????????
>
> Should the last not be Krishnanagar City Jn.?
>
Oops, my mistake. It is Krishnanagar City Jn.
Vijay
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: Re: Mahuda-Bhojudih revisited
Date: 10 Sep 1999 08:14:07 -0500
> > There is a line from Jamuniatanr H. that goes to Dugdawasrery -
> Rajabera.
> > In fact, it joins the Chandrapura-Rajabera line somewhere in the
middle.
> > This line must be crossing the Chandrapura-Dudga-Jamuniatand-Mahuda
> > line near Dugda/Jamuniatand.
>
> From the topology described by you, it could *alternatively* cut both
the
> Gomoh-Telo-Chandrapura line and the Chandrapura-Bhandaridah line to
get
> there... I know "one x-over" is much more probable than "two", but was
it
> a guess by you?
>
No. It does not cut either of these lines since Rajbera is on the
South-East side of the Chandrapura-Bhandardih line and this line joins
Rajbera from the East.
> > Jamuniatanr H. Dugdawasrery Rajabera (joining
Chandrapura-Rajabera
> > somewhat north of Rajabera)
>
> Are there any more stations shown on this Dugdawasrery line?
>
None.
Here is a crude attempt to portray this line from the ER map.
o Jamunatanr(H)
/
Chandrapura o /
/ o Dudgawasrery
/ \ __ /
/ | /
/ |
/ /
/ o Rajabera
Bhandardih o__ /
> Asansol & Anara areas are also "interesting" - but not anything like
> Mahuda... :(
>
Adra is essentially one corner of a diamond with diagonals as bypasses.
The
two perpendicular lines are -
Gomoh......Bhojudih.....Rukni Sanka Adra....Bankura....Kharagpur -
used
by the N.Delhi - Puri Exp.
Asansol.....Joychandipahar (bypass Adra) Garh Dhrubeswar
Anara...Purulia....Tatanagar
Interestingly, none of the Asansol-Tata trains use the above Adra
bypass
line, they all reverse at Adra.
Rukni - Joychandipahar - Adra - Anara forms the diamond. The
Rukni-Anara
link is used by trains such as
the Purshottam Exp. to get to Purulia-Tata from Gomoh-Bhojudih without
touching Adra.
Vijay
From: ranand <>
Subject: Re: Presenting, at last - the IRFCA Mail Archive!
Date: 10 Sep 1999 08:36:15 -0500
Great work!
I too have enjoyed perusing old postings (including some of mine) from
10 years ago. We need to some data mining from these archives to
minimize discussions of topics already beaten to death :-)
Anand
Internet: anand@watson.email
External tel: (914) 784 7054
Notes: Rangachari Anand/Watson/IBM@IBMUS
Tie-line: 863 7054
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: IR train names and their significance
Date: 10 Sep 1999 10:29:57 -0500
Folks,
Have been following this recent thread with great interest. How
about
compiling a list of train names and their significance / reason for
choosing
the
particular name. The July 1999 TAAG has a well-organized list of all
express/mail
trains that are indicated in the TT - they have been arranged in
ascending
order
of their 4-digit numbers. Let me use this list and get going!
Comments/corrections
most welcome.
First, generic names -
Rajdhani Exps. - Rajdhani = capital. connects Delhi, the capital of
India
with other cities
Shatabdi Exps. - Shatabdi = century. these trains mark a new era of
high-speed travel
in the 21st century.
Swarna Jayanti Exps. - Swarna = gold, Jayanti = year? Trains
introduced
in 1997 - the
Golden Jubilee year since India's independence.
Janata Exps. - Janata = people, masses. Trains with 2nd class
accommodation only - catering
to the masses.
And specific ones -
Train (with 1xxx numbers) Significance
------- -----------------
Mumbai-Madgaon Mandvi Exp. ??
Mumbai-Nanded Devgiri Exp. ??
Mumbai-Pune Deccan Exp. enters the Deccan Plateau after crossing
the
Ghats
Mumbai-Pune Sinhagad Exp. Sinhagad is a fort? Where?
Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Exp. Mahalaxmi temple in Mumbai
Kurla-Gorakhpur Kushinagar Exp. ??
Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Konark Exp. Konark is a tourist spot about 65 km.
from
Bhubaneswar
(famous for the Sun temple)
Mumbai-Pune Indrayani Exp. Indrayani temple? In Pune?
Mumbai-Solapur Siddheswar Exp. Siddheswar temple? In Solapur?
Mumbai-Pune Pragati Exp. Pragati = progress
Dadar-Gorakhpur Kashi Exp. used to terminate at Varanasi -
referred to as Kashi more
from a religion standpoint
Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Exp. Azad = free, Hind = India.
Something to do with India's
independence? Or just denoting
a
train in free India?
Pune-Varanasi Gyan Ganga Exp. Gyan = knowledge. River of knowledge?
Or
does it refer
to Varanasi which has BHU -
Asia's
largest university and
is on the banks of the Ganga.
Kurla-Agra Laskar Exp. ??
Kurla-Faizabad Saket Exp. ??
Kurla-Allahabad Tulsi Exp. Crosses the Tulsi river? Where?
Kurla-Varanasi Kamayini Exp. Kamayini temple? Where? (I am
not
aware of any such temple in Varanasi)
Pune-Jammu Jhelum Exp. Jhelum is an important river in Kashmir
flowing through Srinagar, the summer capital
Mumbai-Varanasi Mahanagri Exp. Mahanagri = big city, metropolis.
Refers to
Mumbai.
Ahmadabad-Pune Ahimsa Exp. Ahimsa = non-violence.
Something to
do with Ahmadabad - what??
Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Exp. Gwalior is in the Bundelkhand
region.
Howrah-Gwalior/Agra Chambal Exp. crosses the Chambal river
between
Morena and Dhaulpur
Itarsi-Bina Vindhyachal Exp. crosss the Vindhyachal mountain
range between Itarsi and Bhopal
Mumbai-Manmad Panchavati Exp. Panchavati has mythological significance
-
where is this located?
Dadar-Nagpur Sewagram Exp. Sewagram is near Wardha - Gandhi
's
ashram?
Howrah-Jabalpur Shaktipunj Exp. ??
Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Mahakoshal Exp. ??
Nagpur-Gaya Dikshabhoomi Exp. diksha = blessing? bhoomi = land.
Refers
to Gaya - one of the
major religious centres for
Buddhists.
Vijay
From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: I'm less confused about Calcutta area - but, still Help Needed
Date: 10 Sep 1999 11:51:17 -0500
lwebber@planetmail.email wrote:
>
> Jishnu Mukerji said:
> >L Webber wrote
>
> Thanks for the data, all digested and understood!
You're most welcome
> > Sealdah North
I believe the North side of Sealdah is just called Sealdah. The SOuth
side is called Sealdah South.
Also BTW, there is a pair of tracks that connect the South side to the
North side at Sealdah. This is distinct from the Kankurgacchi Chord that
we have discussed earlier.
Another piece of info, apparently there already are at least a few EMU
trains that run from Buj Buj to Dum Dum via Kankurgacchi Chord. This
indicates that I need to investigate further on whether there are any
halts on the Chord itself, and also whether the Chord has platforms in
the vicinity of Park Circus station.
Jishnu.
From: T.H.Sanyal. <>
Subject: Re: Bombay VT (CSTM) remodelling/Churchgate questions
Date: 10 Sep 1999 12:55:00 -0500
Thank you Shrinivas for the information, but perhaps you (or someone
else) could put up with a few more?
>All credit goes to personnel handling rail traffic at CST, only few
locals
>used to be diverted to main line at CST during the project was
completed.
>And a footover bridge also was built at Kalyan end connecting all the
>platforms & it comes out on the Times of India footpath.
Did they also have to divert some long-distance trains away from VT,
or did the expansion of VT Main take care of that?
Is there a single arch roof covering all the platforms in VT suburban
so that there are no pillars on the platforms (holding up the sheds)
to impede flow of the commuters? This is what I seem to remember.
I remember Thana locals via Harbour branch that would switch to
the through lines at Kurla, therefore not stop at Vidyavihar,
then switch to local lines at Ghatkopar, and then run all stop to
Thana. Running these trains had a serious detrimental effect on
line capacity. Do these trains still run, or are they discontinued?
Looks to me that the proposed additional tracks northwards from Kurla
could run these trains without interference with the VT-Kalyan traffic.
>Churchgate has 4 double discharge platforms. Subways are there since
very
>long. Rest all the scene is similar to CST. It is to be seen to be
>believed.
Isn't there a foot overbridge across Veer Nariman Road straight out
of Churchgate?
ths.
From: Shanku Niyogi <>
Subject: Fixes to mail archive
Date: 10 Sep 1999 13:34:04 -0500
The mail archive has been updated with some fixes (whew, it takes a
loooong
time to re-publish 8300 files over FTP!)
Problems fixed:
- the rogue hyperlink problem is fixed. Messages with hyperlinks on a
single
line should no longer appear as one big hyperlink.
- some emails had incorrectly displayed sender and date information in
the
table of contents.
- call this one the Satish bug - older mails from Satish had the sender
as
"S Pai<S Pai>". That looked weird, so I added a fix for it.
- While the archive is updating, you should now get a friendly message
that
says to come back later.
From: Dr. S. PARTHASARATHY <>
Subject: Mail archive
Date: 10 Sep 1999 21:55:34 -0500
Congrats to the IRFCA gang who keep making improvements to this
wonderful
mailing list and club. I think it is high time to start a "digest" form
of
mailing list -- our mailing on IRFCA is becoming very large (and of
course
informative). Many people like me find it difficult to follow the
conversation on a low budget and poor links. I have been writing to
Anurag Acharya who has promised to look into this aspect.
I am sure there are other passengers in the IRFCA train who will agree
with me on the need for a digest form of mailing (as an option).
Keep up the good work.....thanks once again....... partha
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From: Avinash Pandey <>
Subject: Re: IR train names and their significance
Date: 10 Sep 1999 23:54:11 -0500
Hi everyone:
I think its a great idea to signify the meaning of train names.
Here are my corrections/additions to Vijay's list:
Itarsi-Bina Vindhyachal Express: This train meanders around the
Vindhyachal mountain ranges (Vijay is almost right).
Jabalpur-Howrah Shaktipunj Express: This train travels through
a very important electric power (=shakti) generation belt in the
Singrauli,
Rihand Dam area near the border of MP, UP and Bihar.
Jabalpur-Hazrat Nizamuddin Mahakoshal Express: Jabalpur is the
chief commercial center of the surrounding region
(includes Katni, Damoh, Sagar, Pipariya, Narsimhpur etc)
which is called Mahakaushal.
(One can tell that I from Jabalpur!)
Shatabdi Express: The first Shatabdi (between New Delhi-Bhopal)
was introduced in autumn (Oct-Nov) 1989 when Madhav Rao Scindia was
Railways
Minister and Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister. That year also marked the
centenary of the birth of Jawahar Lal Nehru
and there were a plethora of Government sponsored functions called
'Centenary
celebrations' throughout 1988-1989. In my opinion, the New Delhi-Bhopal
Shatabdi
(=century/centenary) was named so for that reason. In the following
years it
became a generic name for fast AC chair car trains connecting important
cities.
Avinash
Vijay Balasubramanian wrote:
> Folks,
>
> Have been following this recent thread with great interest. How
about
> compiling a list of train names and their significance / reason for
choosing
> the
> particular name. The July 1999 TAAG has a well-organized list of all
> express/mail
> trains that are indicated in the TT - they have been arranged in
ascending
> order
> of their 4-digit numbers. Let me use this list and get going!
> Comments/corrections
> most welcome.
>
> First, generic names -
>
> Rajdhani Exps. - Rajdhani = capital. connects Delhi, the capital of
India
> with other cities
> Shatabdi Exps. - Shatabdi = century. these trains mark a new era of
> high-speed travel
> in the 21st century.
> Swarna Jayanti Exps. - Swarna = gold, Jayanti = year? Trains
introduced
> in 1997 - the
> Golden Jubilee year since India's
independence.
> Janata Exps. - Janata = people, masses. Trains with 2nd class
> accommodation only - catering
> to the masses.
>
> And specific ones -
>
> Train (with 1xxx numbers) Significance
> ------- -----------------
>
> Mumbai-Madgaon Mandvi Exp. ??
> Mumbai-Nanded Devgiri Exp. ??
> Mumbai-Pune Deccan Exp. enters the Deccan Plateau after
crossing the
> Ghats
> Mumbai-Pune Sinhagad Exp. Sinhagad is a fort? Where?
> Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Exp. Mahalaxmi temple in Mumbai
> Kurla-Gorakhpur Kushinagar Exp. ??
> Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Konark Exp. Konark is a tourist spot about 65 km.
from
> Bhubaneswar
> (famous for the Sun temple)
> Mumbai-Pune Indrayani Exp. Indrayani temple? In Pune?
> Mumbai-Solapur Siddheswar Exp. Siddheswar temple? In Solapur?
> Mumbai-Pune Pragati Exp. Pragati = progress
> Dadar-Gorakhpur Kashi Exp. used to terminate at Varanasi
-
> referred to as Kashi more
> from a religion standpoint
> Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Exp. Azad = free, Hind = India.
> Something to do with India's
> independence? Or just
denoting a
> train in free India?
> Pune-Varanasi Gyan Ganga Exp. Gyan = knowledge. River of knowledge?
Or
> does it refer
> to Varanasi which has BHU -
Asia's
> largest university and
> is on the banks of the Ganga.
> Kurla-Agra Laskar Exp. ??
> Kurla-Faizabad Saket Exp. ??
> Kurla-Allahabad Tulsi Exp. Crosses the Tulsi river?
Where?
> Kurla-Varanasi Kamayini Exp. Kamayini temple? Where? (I am
not
> aware of any such temple in Varanasi)
> Pune-Jammu Jhelum Exp. Jhelum is an important river in
Kashmir
> flowing through Srinagar, the summer capital
> Mumbai-Varanasi Mahanagri Exp. Mahanagri = big city, metropolis.
Refers to
> Mumbai.
> Ahmadabad-Pune Ahimsa Exp. Ahimsa = non-violence.
Something to
> do with Ahmadabad - what??
> Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Exp. Gwalior is in the Bundelkhand
> region.
> Howrah-Gwalior/Agra Chambal Exp. crosses the Chambal river
between
> Morena and Dhaulpur
> Itarsi-Bina Vindhyachal Exp. crosss the Vindhyachal
mountain
> range between Itarsi and Bhopal
> Mumbai-Manmad Panchavati Exp. Panchavati has mythological
significance -
> where is this located?
> Dadar-Nagpur Sewagram Exp. Sewagram is near Wardha -
Gandhi 's
> ashram?
> Howrah-Jabalpur Shaktipunj Exp. ??
> Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Mahakoshal Exp. ??
> Nagpur-Gaya Dikshabhoomi Exp. diksha = blessing? bhoomi = land.
Refers
> to Gaya - one of the
> major religious centres for
> Buddhists.
>
> Vijay
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avinash Pandey ~ Phone: 650 607 3717
Oracle Corporation ~ Fax : 650 506 7800
500 Oracle Parkway 3OP7 ~ Email: apandey@us.email
Redwood Shores CA 94065 ~ URL : www.oracle.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life has no obligation to meet your expectations." -Osho
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Fixes to mail archive
Date: 11 Sep 1999 03:12:21 -0500
Hello,
I'm a great one for nostalgia and jog down memory lane and senti trips.
I've been browsing all morning: the archives really are something. Hats
off to you Shanku. I cannot believe that all the posts are actually
there,all the way back since 1989!!
I could not spot any member webpages in the initial stages though.
Thank you very much Shanku for making all this possible.
I'll continue browsing in the afternoon.
Cheers.
Shankar
Shanku Niyogi wrote:
>
> The mail archive has been updated with some fixes (whew, it takes a
loooong
> time to re-publish 8300 files over FTP!)
>
> Problems fixed:
> - the rogue hyperlink problem is fixed. Messages with hyperlinks on a
single
> line should no longer appear as one big hyperlink.
> - some emails had incorrectly displayed sender and date information in
the
> table of contents.
> - call this one the Satish bug - older mails from Satish had the
sender as
> "S Pai<S Pai>". That looked weird, so I added a fix for
it.
> - While the archive is updating, you should now get a friendly message
that
> says to come back later.
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Presenting, at last - the IRFCA Mail Archive!
Date: 11 Sep 1999 04:04:08 -0500
How about a 'downloadable' zip file or pdf of the mails which
can be perused off
line ? There are many like me for whom entertainment is
reading old mails.
Apurva
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: IR train names and their significance
Date: 11 Sep 1999 04:05:39 -0500
> Mumbai-Madgaon Mandvi Exp. ??
After the mighty Mandovi river just north of the Goa capital
Panji.
> Mumbai-Nanded Devgiri Exp. ??
There is apparently a Devagiri fort in that area.
>
> Mumbai-Pune Deccan Exp. enters the Deccan Plateau after
crossing the
> Ghats
Actually Deccan is anglicized Dakshin (South), but the Deccan
plateau
explanation is correct. A famous area in Pune is Deccan
Gymkhana.
> Mumbai-Pune Sinhagad Exp. Sinhagad is a fort? Where?
Sinhagad is 30 Kms south of Pune. The two TV towers for Pune
city are located on
this lofty fort.
> Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Exp. Mahalaxmi temple in Mumbai
After the even more important Mahalaxmi temple at Kolhapur,
just outside the KOP
station actually.
> Kurla-Gorakhpur Kushinagar Exp. ??
AFAIK Kushinagar is the place where Gautam Buddha was born,
and that is near
Gorakhpur.
> Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Konark Exp. Konark is a tourist spot about 65 km.
from
> Bhubaneswar
> (famous for the Sun temple)
Konark is the name of the Sun temple.
> Mumbai-Pune Indrayani Exp. Indrayani temple? In Pune?
After the Indrayani river. The river runs right next to the
railway lines at
Kamshet station. Legend has it that old time mail driver
'Kaka' Bhagwat who had
a penchant of saying 'Hari Hari' with the beginning of every
sentence, used to
stop the Up and Down Deccan Queen at Kamshet and have a quick
dip in the
Indrayani before proceeding. The Mumbai division also had a
driver who used to
wear only half pants and smoke a cigar. This division does not
insist on a
uniform for the drivers or motormen. This is for the drivers
to do a quick
merging act when caught in a potentially dangerous situation
in Mumbai, when the
crowd confronts a driver when running late. The Mumbai EMU
also has retractable
wire mesh screens for the windscreen and the side windows. The
driver can put
these screens up in a hurry if caught amongst a (stone
throwing ?) mob.
> Mumbai-Solapur Siddheswar Exp. Siddheswar temple? In Solapur?
Siddheswar temple in Solapur is correct, for years this train
was wrongly
mentioned in the TAAG as Siddheshari express, which is the
name of a famous
Gazhal singer and junta from SUR were too lazy to point out
the mistake.
> Mumbai-Pune Pragati Exp. Pragati = progress
Correct
> Dadar-Gorakhpur Kashi Exp. used to terminate at Varanasi -
> referred to as Kashi more from a religion standpoint
You would know better, having stayed there, but the oldest
part of Varanasi
(also known as Benaras) is still known as Kashi by Hindi
speaking junta. 27 Dn
used to work Dadar Varanasi for so many years, I think the
line to GKP was still
MG then.
> Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Exp. Azad = free, Hind = India.
> Something to do with India's independence? Or just denoting a
> train in free India?
After the Azad Hind Fauj (army) led by Subhash Chandra Bose.
It apparently had
some links with the freedom fighters in Pune. The Shiv Sena
wanted to launch a
disruptive agitation and rename this train to Jai Bhavani
express or some such
name - no comments or flames please - this actually happened.
> Pune-Varanasi Gyan Ganga Exp. Gyan = knowledge. River of knowledge?
Or
> does it refer to Varanasi which has BHU - Asia's
> largest university and is on the banks of the Ganga.
Pune is know as the seat of learning, having a large number of
schools and
colleges hence 'Gyan', Gyani Zail Singh, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
Vishvnath Pratap
Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpai and many many luminaries have been
students in Pune's
colleges. Ganga as in the river at Varanasi. But Pune's
knowledge is only of the
20th Century, while Varanasi's knowledge goes back many
centuries. So maybe the
Pune division train had only the destination in mind.
> Kurla-Agra Laskar Exp. ??
Lashkar is the generic hindi for armed forces. The train goes
to Agra Cannt.
> Kurla-Faizabad Saket Exp. ??
Mythical place which was Lord Ram's home near Faizabad.
> Kurla-Allahabad Tulsi Exp. Crosses the Tulsi river?
Where?
Allahabad is a great pilgrim center, Tulsi is required for
many a Hindu rituals.
> Kurla-Varanasi Kamayini Exp. Kamayini temple? Where? (I am
not
> aware of any such temple in Varanasi)
No idea about this - this name seems to have no significance
to the route or
destinations.
> Mumbai-Varanasi Mahanagri Exp. Mahanagri = big city, metropolis.
Refers to
> Mumbai.
That is correct - UP refers to Mumbai as Mahanagri.
> Ahmadabad-Pune Ahimsa Exp. Ahimsa = non-violence.
Something to
> do with Ahmadabad - what??
Mahatma Gandhi's ashram at Sabarmati.
> Mumbai-Manmad Panchavati Exp. Panchavati has mythological
significance -
> where is this located?
Near Nasik, the mythical place where Ram's wife Seeta lived
before their
marriage.
> Dadar-Nagpur Sewagram Exp. Sewagram is near Wardha -
Gandhi 's
> ashram?
Sewagram near Wardha.
> Howrah-Jabalpur Shaktipunj Exp. ??
Train passes through the North and Eastern India's energy
capital Singrauli
which has 13 super thermal power plants and the Rihand
hydroelectric project (on
the back of the 100 Rs. note) is also located nearby. Shakti
is power, Punj is
wealth.
> Nagpur-Gaya Dikshabhoomi Exp. diksha = blessing? bhoomi = land.
Refers
> to Gaya - one of the major religious centres for
> Buddhists.
Gaya is where Gautam Buddha has his enlightenment or Diksha.
Apurva
From: lwebber <>
Subject: Nagpur Area Puzzle...
Date: 11 Sep 1999 04:07:15 -0500
My large scale Railway Map indicates there is a direct route (SER, BG)
from Kalamna to Nagpur Jn, avoiding.
Is this true?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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From: lwebber <>
Subject: Nagpur Area Puzzle... (corrected)
Date: 11 Sep 1999 04:29:57 -0500
(sorry for the last half-message, don't know what went wrong there)
My large scale Railway Map indicates there is a direct route (SER, BG)
from Kalamna to Nagpur Jn, avoiding Itwari Jn.
Is this true? My Bradshaw suggests not. Anyone with a mopre recent
map, or an SER TT?
TIA
Regards to all
Larry
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From: Prateep Chatterjee <>
Subject: Re: IR train names and their significance
Date: 11 Sep 1999 12:32:06 -0500
Hi !
> > Kurla-Gorakhpur Kushinagar Exp. ??
>
> AFAIK Kushinagar is the place where Gautam Buddha was born,
> and that is near
> Gorakhpur.
As far as I remember, Lumbini in Nepal is the birth place of Buddha.
Perhaps
Kushinagar was the capital city of his kingdom (???)
Prateep
--
--------------------------------------------------
Prateep Chatterjee
Graduate Student
Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
and Engineering Mechanics
University of Missouri-Rolla
Rolla, MO 65409
Phone : (573) 308-1542
--------------------------------------------------
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Sarosh's Black & White pics webpage
Date: 11 Sep 1999 13:25:59 -0500
Gang !
Please go through Sarosh's ADI, SBI and Yari Road pictures. As it is
Indian Railway
pics are a rarity on the web, these are black & white , which is rarer
still. My
scanning skills are no match for the light and shade magic of Sarosh's
camera craft.
However I have deliberately lightened some scans to make the maximum
details visible.
Please send Sarosh a mail of comments (preferably appreciation !)
Go to:
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/index.htm">http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/index.htm</A>
and click on the last link.
Let me know if a hyperlink does not work.
Apurva