Historical Trivia

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• Superlatives
• Stations
• Gauges
• Junctions
• Mixed Traction
• Food

Note: The latest trivia can be found here.

Superlatives

Here's a collection of superlatives and other trivia related to IR. Most of them are thought to be accurate as of 06/08.

Stations Trivia

Shortest station name

Ib, near Jharsuguda on the Howrah-Nagpur main line (South Eastern Railway) and Od, on the Anand-Godhra section of WR. Some station names with three letters are Ait (between Jhansi and Kanpur), Ara (between Mughalsarai and Patna), Bir (between Khandwa and Itarsi), Mau (between Varanasi and Gorakhpur), Ata, Kem, Pen, etc. -- there are many others. (Note: "Bad" is a misspelling of "Baad" in the CR timetables.)

Longest station name

Venkatanarasimharajuvariipeta (Halt). This is sometimes spelled with 'Sri' prefixed, making it even longer by 3 letters. on the Arakkonam-Renigunta section of the Southern Railway (the first station after Renigunta towards Arakkonam (just within the AP border). Station code VKZ. It is in the Chennai division of SR and not in the Guntakal division of SCR. Here is a picture of the station name board.

Some other stations with long names are Indragarh Sumerganj Mandi (on the Kota - Sawai Madhopur line), Tiruchchirapalli Palakarai (near Tiruchchirapalli), Acharya Narendra Dev Nagar (near Faizabad), Baba Bakala Raiya (on the Jalandhar - Amritsar section, Anandatandavapuram (near Mayiladuturai), Fatehabad Chandrawatiganj (near Indore), Tondalagopavaram (near Vijayawada), Mullagunnathukavu (near Trichur), Giani Zail Singh Sandhwan (between Firozpur and Bathinda), Narayana Pakuriya Muraila (between Howrah and Kharagpur; however, the SER suburban timetable spells it [12/04] as 'Narain Pakuria Murai').

A few stations have names that include acronyms or abbreviations; if these were expanded the names would be quite long. E.g., NPA Shivaramapalli (where NPA = National Police Academy), and BEML Nagar (where BEML = Bharat Earth Movers Limited).

Station codes

The shortest are the single-letter codes, G = Gondia Jn., D = Deula (on the Sealdah - Diamond Harbour section), J = Jalna, R = Raipur, S = Srirangapatna, and Y = Yeliyur. Officialy, there is only one station with a 5-letter code - NDBRT for New Dibrugarh Town although GONDA is sometimes used for Gonda (there is a shorter code, GD, for this station). WARUD is used as a code for Warud station in CR (Nagpur Division) in the working timetables.

There are many 4-letter codes. There are many stations whose codes are the same as their names (leaving out 'Junction', 'Town', etc.): AKOT, BEAS, DURG, ETAH, GHUM, HAPA, JHAR, KOTA, LEDO, MAL, MAU, MOR, NANA, ORAI, PATA, PUNE, RAU, RAY, ROHA, ROZA, RURA, SELU, SIHO, TAKU, TILO, TUNI, TUWA, UMRA, UMRI, VAPI, VELI, WADI, WAIR, and WENA and many more. In recent years the codes for some of these stations with 3- and 4-letter names have been changed so that they match the names.

The earliest in alphabetic ordering are probably AAG = Angar, AAK = Ankai Kila, AAL = Amlai, AAM = Angadippuram, AAR = Adesar, AAY = Aralvaymozhi, and AB = Ambur. The last are probably ZPI = Zampini, ZPL = Zangalpalle, ZPR = Zorawarpura, ZRD = Jiradei, and ZW = Zawar. In some of IR's own lists and web sites, the code ZZZZ is given for 'Bhagalpur' on WR, which is supposed to be between Kim and Sayan on the line from Bharuch to Surat. However, other sources only show a station named Kudsad at this location, so it's not clear whether the ZZZZ code is a real one.

Trains -- Longest, Fastest, Slowest etc;

Longest run (time) -- Broad Gauge

[11/07] The 6317 Himsagar Express (between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi) has the longest run in terms of total time (also in terms of distance, see below). It covers its route of 3751km in 71 hours and 45 minutes. It’s counterpart 6318 takes 70 hours and 50 mintues.

In second place is the Okha - Guwahati express which covers its route of 3296km in 68 hours and 15 minutes. In third place, is the 2515 Trivandrum – Guwahati express which takes 65 hours and 5 min to cover 3574km.

Note 1: However, during British rule there used to be a Mangalore-Peshawar train (the earlier incarnation of the Grand Trunk Exp.) which took about 104 hours (in 1930). This is longer than the Orient Express which took about 60 hours between Paris and Istanbul), but it of course pales into insignificance before the Trans-Siberian Express which takes about 170 hours (even today) between Moscow and Vladivostok.

Longest run (distance) -- Broad Gauge

The Himsagar Express (between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, train no. 6317/6318) has the longest run in terms of distance (and time, see above) on IR -- it covers a distance of about 3751km.

The second longest run in distance is by the Navyug Express (between Jammu Tawi and Mangalore), at 3632km. After this comes the Trivandrum-Guwahati Exp. with a run of 3574km.

Among non-superfast /non-mail/express passenger trains, the longest run is that of the Jodhpur-Bhopal Passenger via Jaipur / Kota, covering 992km. The Nagpur-Tatanagar Passenger (SER) is next, at 883km (with 99 stops). In next place comes the 1321/1322 Pune-Nizamabad with a run of 775km. The Yeshwantpur-Guntur Pass. has a run of 737km.

Other long runs of ordinary passenger trains are Howrah-Puri (512km), Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad (492km), Vishakhapatnam - Kirandul (1VK/2VK) at 437km, and Howrah/Sealdah-Darbhanga (415km).

Longest East-West Run -- Broad Gauge

[11/06] The longest east-west runs are those of the 2515 Trivandrum-Guwahati Express (3574km), 5635 Okha-Guwahati Express (3222km), 8401 Okha-Puri Exporess (2781km), the 5647 Dadar-Guwahati Exp. via Bhagalpur, and the 5645 Dadar-Guwahati Exp. (2657km).

Other Geographical Trivia

Note 1: The 6687/6688 Navyug express between Mangalore and Jammu Tawi crosses the largest number of states (Karnataka, Kerala, TN, AP, Maharashtra, MP, UP, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh (just a few km between Ghiala Halt and Chakki Bank), and Jammu & Kashmir).

Note 2: The 2521/2522 Ernakulam-Barauni crosses the maximum number of zones (8) - SR, SCR, CR, WCR, NCR, NR, NER, ECR.

Note 3: The Kolhapur-Gondia Maharashtra Exp. covers the largest distance entirely in one state (Maharashtra/1346km).

Note 4: The 6733/6734 Weekly Exp between Manmad and Madurai currently holds the record for traversing the most distance within a single zone. It covers 1356km within the South Central Railway. In second place is the Kolhapur - Gondia Maharashtra Exp which travles for 1216km in the Central Railway between Kolhapur and Nagpur. Another train that travels a large distance in a single zone is the Dibrugarh Town - Delhi Brahmaputra Mail which covers 1201km in the North East Frontier Railway.

Longest Run -- Meter Gauge

[06/08] The longest MG run is currently by the 5315 Gokul Exp which covers 604km between Mathura and Gonda. Other MG trains that travel for more than 400kms are the 5313 Mathura - Aishbagh Exp (529km), the 5813 Arunachal Exp between Rangiya and Murkongselek (451km) and the 458B passenger between Akola and Ratlam (431km).

Note: The MG network is the last decade has seen extensive conversion to BG and as such the figures above reflect rather poorly on the extent and reach of the erstwhile network. See below for historical notes on MG runs, distances etc;

Meter Gauge Notes:

[11/06] The Meenakshi Express ran from Jaipur to Secunderabad until not so long ago, covering a distance of 1481km. [1/01] However, gauge conversion of the route started to eat into the run of the train. The first curtailment was between Secunderabad and Mudkhed. And then between Mudkhed and Purna. Until recently [10/06], the Meenakshi ran from Jaipur to Purna, which is a distance of 1152km. The train lost its famed Meenakshi name and was simply the No. 9769 Jaipur-Purna Exp. It was also sometimes listed as the Jaipur-Secunderabad Link Express, with connecting BG trains to complete the journey (see below, 'Trains run in multiple gauge sections').

The Delhi Sarai Rohilla - Ahmedabad Exp. via Udaipur at 1036km was the next in this category. The Samastipur-Tezpur Exp. when introduced ran for 1022km, but this train's journey, too, was curtailed and it ran only between Katihar and Tezpur (837km). The Purna-Ajmer Fast Passenger used to have a run of 1016km. The Delhi Sarai Rohilla - Ahmedabad Exp. had a run of 975km. The Delhi Sarai Rohilla - Udaipur Chetak Exp. covered 728km. The Madras Egmore - Quilon Mail which used to cover 766km was recently discontinued. Other long runs included The Agra Fort - Gonda Gokul Exp. covering 666km, the Tambaram-Rameshwaram Exp. ran for 641km, and the Akola-Chittaurgarh Passenger (621km).

In the past, the Vaishali Express covered 1468km on MG from Agra Fort to Siliguri, and the Avadh-Tirhut Mail from Guwahati to Lucknow covered 1427km on the NFR (later shortened to stop at Siliguri). The Assam Mail from Barauni to Dibrugarh covered 1387km. When the Ahmedabad-Delhi main line was completely MG, there were several trains (Ashram Exp., Delhi Mail, Delhi Exp., Aravalli Exp.) which coverd more than 900km on MG. There also used to be a long MG route from Solapur to Bangalore via Hotgi Jn., Bijapur, and Gadag.

Among non-superfast / non-express passenger trains, the Ajmer-Khandwa Fast Passenger (9671 / 9672) used to be a contender for the top spot with a run of 633km.

Narrow Gauge

[5/99] On the 2' gauge, the Gwalior-Sheopur Kalan route is 198km. On the 2'6" gauge, the Nagpur-Gondia-Nainpur route was probably the longest in the past, but today the Jabalpur-Balaghat route of the Satpura Express at 187km is the longest run. [11/06] The Latur-Pandharpur Passenger was a close second at 216km, but the line has since been converted to BG. It would have been possible to have a Latur-Miraj run in the past, but as services originated at Kuruduwadi, no one train covered that stretch in a run.

Longest run - MEMU/EMU

A rule for IR (from a court judgement) is that any train running for more than 4 hours or 160km must have toilet facilities provided in the train. EMU/MEMU rakes don't have toilet facilities. But IR still runs trains for more than 160km, by splitting the run into, say, three or four nominally separate services, even though it is the same rake that goes end to end.

MEMU: Asansol-Patna (245km), Sanjan-Baroda (245km), Ongole-Rajahmundry(289km), Burdwan-Kiul (195km), Burdwan-Puruliya (163km), Hazrat Nizamuddin-Kurukshetra (162km), New Delhi-Kurukshetra (156km), and the record-holder, the New Delhi-Tundla-Etawah-Kanpur (435km).

EMU: Ghaziabad-Mathura (176km) (NR), Sealdah-Katwa (151km), Howrah-Katwa (145km) (ER), Howrah-Haldia (141km) (SER), Howrah-Midnapore (129km) (SER).

Longest run for daily train

The Kerala Express has daily service and covers 3037km in its run (in 52.2 hours). In second place is the Mangala Exp. covering 2750km in 50.5 hours. (The significance of long runs for daily trains is that multiple rakes need to be maintained for the trains, and/or shared with other trains.)

Longest non-stop run (distance)

This refers to longest possible non-stop runs; of course a train may have to stop at a a signal, there may be track work, loco or rake failures, etc.

[08/08] The current record holder is the 2431/2432 Trivandrum - H. Nizamuddin Rajdhani. It travels the 528km stretch between Vadodara and Kota non-stop, covering the stretch in about about 6.5 hours (Vadodara-Kota: 6h 20m, Kota-Vadodara: 6h 55m). The 2951/2952 New Delhi - Mumbai Rajdhani express also covers a large distance without a stop - 469km between New Delhi and Kota.

The 2641/2642 Thirukkural Express is the current record holder for the longest non-stop run by a non-Rajdhani/non-Shatabdi train. This train runs without any stops on the 453km Vijaywada-Ballarshah leg of its journey.

[11/07] Many trains on the New Delhi - Patna route travel the intial leg of 435 km from Delhi to Kanpur non stop (See table below for details). The Tamilnadu Exp. and the Coromandel Exp. (Up direction), as well as some other express trains between Guwahati/Howrah/Patna and Bangalore/Ernakulam/Trivandrum run non-stop for 431km between Chennai Central and Vijayawada.

The Tamilnadu Exp. also has an impressive 270km average distance between passenger halts and a commercial speed above 65km/h. In the late 1970s it had a commercial speed of 73km/h and an average distance of 360km between passenger halts. It also used to have a 453km non-stop run between Balharshah and Vijayawada.

Historical Notes: The Coromandel Exp. had a 462km non-stop run between Howrah and Bhubaneshwar via Narajmarthipur. The Gitanjali used to have (1970s) a 453km non-stop run betweeen Raurkela and Durg. A possible 445km non-stop run between CSTM (Bombay VT) and Bhusaval for this same train was broken by a technical halt at Igatpuri to change locos; CR had no AC-DC locos, and WR's AC-DC locos could not be used on the Thull Ghats. The Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala-Karnataka Expresses had non-stop runs of 414km between New Delhi and Jhansi. Before Independence the longest non-stop run was by the Punjab Mail: Khandwa to Itarsi.

[08/08] The table below shows the current long (over 350km) non-stop runs on IR. (Compiled by V. Srinivasa Prasad and Vijay Mani)

Distance (km)	Section	Trains
528	Kota - Vadodara	Trivandrum Rajdhani
469	New Delhi - Kota	Mumbai Rajdhani
461	H. Nizamuddin - Kota	Trivandrum Rajdhani, Maharashtra and Kerala Sampark Kranti Exps.
453	Balharshah - Vijayawada	Thirukkural Express
435	New Delhi - Kanpur Central	Kolkata/Sealdah/Bhubhaneswar/Patna/Guwahati/Hatia Rajdhanis, Purshottam Exp., Jharkhand S.J. Exp., Gorakhdham Exp., Sampoorna Kranti Exp., Mahabodhi Exp., Vikramshila Exp., Patna Jan Sadharan Exp., Shramshakti Exp. and the New Delhi-Howrah Superfast Exp. Also Bihar SK (between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Kanpur).
431	Chennai Central - Vijayawada	Chennai Rajdhani, Tamilnadu Exp., Thirukkural Exp., Coromandel Exp. (2841), Guwahati/Howrah/Patna - Bangalore/Ernakulam/Trivandrum Exps. (6310, 6324, 5628), Yeshwantpur-Muzaffarpur Exp.
414	New Delhi - Jhansi	Bilaspur Rajdhani
406	H. Nizamuddin - Jhansi	Chennai/Bangalore/Secunderabad Rajdhanis and the Andhra Pradesh/Karnataka/Tamil Nadu Sampark Krantis
402	Mughalsarai - Dhanbad	West Bengal Sampark Kranti Exp.
398	Bhusaval - Bhopal	LTT-Lucknow SF Exp., Udyog Nagari Exp. Karnataka Sampark Kranti Exp.
372	Mughalsarai - Gomoh	Orissa Sampark Kranti Exp.
362	Borivali - Vadodara	Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Exp.
351	Secunderabad - Vijaywada	Secunderabad - Guwahati Exp.
350	Vijaywada - Vishakapatnam	Secunderabad - Guwahati Exp.

Longest distance between consecutive passenger halts

The 2393/2394 Sampoorna Kranti Exp and 2367/2368 Vikramshila Express run for 992km without commercial halts between New Delhi and Patna. Coming in second place is the 2819/2820 Orissa Sampark Kranti Express with a run of 900km between Kanpur and Tatanagar. The 2629/2630 Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express has no comercial halt on its 895km Pune-Bhopal run. Another train with a large distance between consecutive passenger halts is the 2387/2388 New Delhi – Patna Jan Sadharan Express - 875km between New Delhi and Buxar.

The 2651/2652 TN Sampark Kranti Exp and 2611/2612 NZM-MAS Garib Rath Exp run for 667km between Nagpur and Vijaywada without commercial halts.

Until July 1999, the Trivandrum Rajdhani had no intermediate passenger halts in its 986km run between Vadodara and Hazrat Nizamuddin, which it covered in about 12 hours. It had two intermediate technical halts at Ratlam and Kota; now the stop at Kota is a passenger halt.

The Bombay - Jammu Tawi superfast used to do the 469km stretch between New Delhi and Kota with just one technical halt at Mathura. Mathura was probably not a halt at the time of introduction of this train, which would have made this the longest non-stop run at that time. This train was one of the few non-Rajdhani, non-Shatabdi trains to have a 70+ km/h commercial speed - it had [1976] a 220km average distance between passenger halts (and a commercial speed of 71km/h), covering its 1975km route in 27h 50m.

The Coromandel Exp. had a 462km run between Howrah and Bhubaneshwar via Narajmarthipur, a 442km run between Bhubaneshwar and Waltair (technical halt at Khurda Rd.), and a 431km run between Vijayawada and Chennai Central. Before Independence, the Frontier Mail had the longest distance between passenger halts: Churchgate to Surat, with a technical halt in between to attach/detach a dining car.

[6/08] The table below shows the current long (over 350km) runs between consecutive passenger halts. (Originally compiled by Vijay Balasubramanian. Updated by V. Srinivasa Prasad)

Distance (km)	Section	Trains
992	New Delhi - Patna	Vikramshila Exp. and Sampoorna Kranti Exp.
900	Kanpur - Tatanagar	Orissa Sampark Kranti Exp.
895	Pune - Bhopal	Karnataka Sampark Kranti Exp.
875	New Delhi - Buxar	Patna Jan Sadharan Exp.
667	Nagpur - Vijaywada	Tamil Nadu Sampark Kranti Exp. and Nizamuddin - Chennai Garib Rath Exp.
661	Allahabad - Katihar	Purovattar Sampark Kranti Exp.
528	Vadodara - Kota	Trivandrum Rajdhani
469	New Delhi - Kota	Mumbai Rajdhani
461	H. Nizamuddin - Kota	Trivandrum Rajdhani, Maharashtra and Kerala Sampark Kranti Exps.
453	Balharshah - Vijaywada	Thirukkural Exp.
435	New Delhi - Kanpur Central.	Kolkata/Sealdah/Bhubhaneswar/Patna/Guwahati/Hatia Rajdhanis, Purshottam Exp., Jharkhand S.J. Exps., Gorakhdham Exps., Sampoorna Kranti Exps., Mahabodhi Exps., Vikramshila Exps., Patna Jan Sadharan Exps., Shramshakti Exps. and the New Delhi-Howrah Superfast Exp., Bihar Sampark Exp.
431	Chennai Central. - Vijayawada	Chennai Rajdhani, Tamilnadu Exp., Thirukkural Exp., Coromandel Exp. (2841), Guwahati/Howrah/ Patna - Bangalore/Ernakulam/Trivandrum Exps. (6310, 6324, 5628), Yeshwantpur-Muzaffarpur Exp.
414	New Delhi - Jhansi	Bilaspur Rajdhani
406	H. Nizamuddin - Jhansi	Chennai/Bangalore/Secunderabad Rajdhanis and the Andhra Pradesh/Karnataka/Tamil Nadu Sampark Krantis
402	Mughalsarai - Dhanbad	West Bengal Sampark Kranti Exp.
398	Bhusaval - Bhopal	LTT-Lucknow SF Exp., Udyog Nagari Exp. Karnataka Sampark Kranti Exp.
372	Mughalsarai - Gomoh	Orissa Sampark Kranti Exp.
362	Borivali - Vadodara	Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Exp.
351	Secunderabad - Vijaywada	Secunderabad - Guwahati Exp.
350	Vijaywada - Vishakapatnam	Secunderabad - Guwahati Exp.

Trains with no commercial halts en route

[6/08] The Sampoorna Kranti Exp. between New Delhi and Patna has no commercial halts. The Shramshakti Exp. between New Delhi and Kanpur has no commercial (or technical) halt in its 435km journey. Some other trains that had no commercial halts when introduced are - Howrah Rajdhani, Bombay Rajdhani, Pragati Exp. (Dn. only), Pune Shatabdi.

Longest non-stop run (time)

[11/07] The 2642 Thirukkural Express takes 7 hours 20 min to travel from Ballarshah to Vijaywada. In second place are the 6310 Patna - Cochin express / 6324 Howrah - Tiruvananthapuram express that take 7 hours and 5 min. to travel from Vijayawada to Chennai Central (431 km) with no intermediate halts. Rounding up the third place is the 2641 Thirukkural Express, which takes 6 hours and 55 min for its Vijaywada – Ballarshah run.

Non-stop express trains (historical)

There were very few non-stop scheduled express trains (i.e., no technical or other halts, and not short-distance ordinary passenger trains). The Chandigarh Shatabdi used to travel non-stop from New Delhi to Chandigarh, but now has halts at Panipat, Kurukshetra, and Ambala Cant. The New Delhi - Kanpur Shatabdi used to travel non-stop but it has since been extended till Lucknow and halts at Aligarh.

The Tipu Express ran non-stop between Bangalore and Mysore, but now has a commercial halt at Mandya and another technical halt as well. The MG version of this train, before gauge conversion of the route, also ran non-stop until the 1970s. Among ordinary passenger and local trains, there are a couple of Kurla - Dadar fast locals in the evening that leave Kurla car shed and run non-stop till Dadar; they usually have a few passengers in each coach. Short-distance shuttles such as Badnera-Amravati run non-stop between their end-points; there are several such examples.

Shortest runs

Nagpur - Ajni has scheduled services that are just 3km in distance. This is mainly a service for crew to travel from Nagpur station to the workshop at Ajni. Similar other services exist that are just 4km or 5km long.

EMU/MEMU/Suburban trains: Liluah-Howrah (5km), Dum Dum Junction – Sealdah (7km), Howrah-Belurmath (7km), Naihati – Bandel (9km), Sonarpur – Baruipur (8km), BBD Bag – Dum Dum Jn (10km) (All ER). Santragachi – Shalimar (6km) (SER). Borivali – Bhayander (10km), Churchgate – Mumbai Central (5km) (Both WR). New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin (8km) (NR). Secunderabd - Falaknuma (7km) and Secunderabad - Hyderabad (10km) (Both SCR).

Express trains: The expresses with the shortest runs are the expresses and mails between Kalka and Shimla (96km), the Amritsar - Pathankot Ravi Exp. (107km), the Danapur - Rajgir Exp. (108km) and the Firozpur Cantt. - Ludhiana Exp. (124km); and ER's Shalimar - Haldia Azad Exp. (143km) and Howrah - Shantiniketan Exp. (147km). SR ran the Bangarpet-Bangalore Exp. (68km) until recently [2003] but it now runs until Jolarpettai, a total run of 141km. Until recently [11/06] the 7665/7666 Parbhani-Purna Express would have qualified as the express with the shortest run as its total journey is only 44km, however, it was not an independent train by itself, but is in fact part of the Secunderabad Manmad Exp.; a portion of the latter train was detached at Parbhani and ran with its own name and number to Purna. Another contender, until gauage conversion of the section, was NR's Sarai Rohilla - Rewari Exp. (83km)

Shortest line

There are some very short spurs on IR's network; the shortest among them are Duraundha to Maharajganj (6km), Jasidih Jn. to Baidyanathdham (7km), Rajula to Rajula City (8km), Jamalpur Jn. to Monghyr (9km), Hathras to Hathras Quilah (10km) and Badnera to Amravati (10km).

Shortest distance between stations

The closest pair of stations on a line may be Safilguda and Dayanand Nagar stations on the Secunderabad - Bolarum section in Hyderabad division. The stations are about 170m apart. Lake Gardens and Tollygunge on the Sealdah South - Budge Budge section are about 200m apart. Other close pairs include Chintadripet and Chepauk Stadium, and Chepauk and Light House on the Chennai MRTS; Perambur and Perambur Carriage Works on the Chennai - Arakkonam line.

Fastest long-distance train

[11/07] The Bhopal Shatabdi Exp. is the fastest train in India today. It has a maximum speed of 150km/h on the Faridabad-Agra section, and 130km/h between Agra and Jhansi. It has the highest commercial speed for any train in IR - 89.87 km/h, and covers the 704 km New Delhi - Bhopal stretch in 7 hours 50 minutes

Another close contender for the title of the fastest train in India is the 2951 Bombay Rajdhani. It has the highest commercial speed for any long-distance overnight train in IR, at 87.41 km/h. It takes 15 hours 50 minutes from Bombay to New Delhi (1385 km).

[06/08] Below is a table listing the fastest trains in India (avg. speeds of 75kmph+) (Compiled by V. Srinivasa Prasad)

Train No. and Name	Between	Avg. Speed (in kmph)
2001/2002 Bhopal Shatabdi	New Delhi - Bhopal - New Delhi	89.87
2951 Bombay Rajdhani	Bombay Central - New Delhi	87.41
2952 Bombay Rajdhani	New Delhi - Bombay Central	86.05
2302 Howrah Rajdhani	New Delhi - Howrah	85.18
2313 Sealdah Rajdhani	Sealdah - New Delhi	84.70
2910 Garib Rath Express	H. Nizamuddin - Bandra Terminus	84.06
2301 Howrah Rajdhani	Howrah - New Delhi	83.13
2314 Sealdah Rajdhani	New Delhi - Sealdah	82.74
2909 Garib Rath Express	Bandra Terminus - H. Nizamuddin	81.55
2953 August Kranti Rajdhani	Bombay Central - H. Nizamuddin	80.15
2954 August Kranti Rajdhani	H. Nizamuddin - Bombay Central	79.30
2433 Chennai Rajdhani and 2611 Garib Rath Express	Chennai - H. Nizamuddin	77.51
2434 Chennai Rajdhani and 2612 Garib Rath Express	H. Nizamuddin - Chennai	77.28
2438 Secunderabad Rajdhani	H. Nizamuddin - Secunderabad	76.36
2422 Bubhaneshwar Rajdhani	New Delhi - Bubhaneshwar	75.56

Diesel locomotives today are generally limited to a maximum speed of about 110km/h to 120km/h, so the fastest train services are usually electric. In the past, however, the Howrah Rajdhani was regularly hauled at speeds up to 130km/h by a WDM-4 loco. The Bangalore Rajdhani runs at 120km/h on the Wadi-Guntakal-Bangalore stretch (WDM-3A, short hood leading). Similarly, the Trivandrum Rajdhani, diesel hauled part of the way, runs at 120km/h on the Konkan Railway and some stretches of Western Railway; The Konkan Railway line is not electrified, and is rated for 160km/h, although no trains run that fast on it. The Dadar-Madgaon Jan Shatabdi touches 115km/h with a WDM-3A with its short hood leading, and 110km/h with its long hood leading. The WDP-1 and WDP-2 loco classes are restricted to about 105-110km/h; the WDP-4, although capable of 160km/h, is generally restricted to 110km/h as well.

[5/02] The Dadar-Madgaon Jan Shatabdi is the first non-airconditiioned express that crosses the 110km/h bar -- it actually touches 115km/h on its run. It has a commercial speed of about 70km/h (73km/h down).

Fastest MG train (Historical)

The Ashram Express regularly ran at speeds touching 105km/h and may have been the fastest MG train. (It is now a BG train.) Other fast MG trains that ran at comparable speeds were the Pink City Express (Delhi-Jaipur), Gharib Nawaz Exp., the Mandore Express, the Vaigai Express, and the Pallavan Express. These had booked speeds of 95-100km/h on sections such as Madurai - Madras Egmore as late as the mid-1980s (Vaigai Express observed in 1983).

Many were run double-headed by YDM-4 locos. Reliable maximum speed figures are unfortunately not available. Some sources suggest that the Pink City Exp. may have been the fastest MG train touching speeds above 105km/h. The Pandian and Kudal Expresses touched speeds of around 75km/h. MG test runs have been conducted at up to 120km/h, and there was talk of running MG trains even faster, at 135km/h, but none of this materialized once the push to gauge conversion was in full swing and MG began to lose its importance. [9/03] The Bolarum-Nizamabad Exp. was also among the fast MG express, covering 151km in 3h 35min for a commercial speed of 42km/h. The Cholan Express was another fast MG train, at about 38km/h. Other fast MG trains include the Tirupati-Tiruchirapalli and Madras-Rameswaram (formerly Boat Mail) trains.

Fastest NG train (Historical)

The Satpura Express from Gondia to Jabalpur was the fastest NG train. Its overall average speed was 29.4km/h one way and 28.8km/h the other way. It used to be hauled by a ZE 2-8-2 earlier, and later by a ZDM-4 diesel. The Gondia to Balaghat section was regularly done at an average speed of 41km/h (top speeds probably touching 50km/h or more). The Shivalik Express (Kalka-Shimla) has an overall average speed of 20.2km/h in both directions. IR classifies it as a "superfast" train for the purposes of computing ticket fares.

The Rupsa-Baripada NG section on SER also used to see top speeds above 50km/h. ZDM-5 diesels can quite easily reach 45km/h under normal conditions but the condition of the track on most NG routes prevents higher speeds. For comparison, note that the 2' gauge Apple Express in South Africa, hauled by a steam locomotive (NG15 2-8-2), is claimed to reach 80km/h on a good day!

Fastest train ever

The highest speed ever touched by a train in India is 184km/h in 2000, when the LHB Alstom passenger coaches were undergoing speed trials (on the Delhi-Ghaziabad route). The locomotive used was a WAP-5. The previous record was set in 1988, when a WAP-5 was tested at speeds around 160km/h. In late 2002, NR ran some trials with a WDP-4 hauling a rake at 180km/h on the Ghaziabad-Tundla section. On Dec. 29, 2002, Konkan Railway ran a trial run of the Madgaon-Roha Express at a sustained speed of 150km/h; the train is said to have briefly touched 165km/h at times.

In 1963, some experiments were carried out on the feasibility of running passenger trains at 140km/h and even 160km/h. Locos used were of 19t axle load, and the running was on 45kg/m rails on wooden or concrete sleepers. IR concluded that even 160km/h running was feasible on mixed-use track; however, such speeds never materialized in those days, and the speed limit remained then at 100km/h, not even being raised to 120km/h for many years afterwards.

Details of the track conditions considered essential then for high-speed running: a modest 150mm cant (2 degrees) 100 mm cant deficiency, 55mm / second transitioning (or cant gradient of 1:720), and track irregularities less than 3mm on straights and 1mm on curves. The Calcutta Rajdhani was introduced in 1969 with a maximum allowed speed of 120km/h, which was then the new speed limit for trains in India.

Fastest steam speeds

The Taj Express hauled by a WP loco regularly attained speeds of 105km/h. The prototype WP/P locomotives were recorded at at a little over 118km/h (74mph) in trials. The inquiries into the Bihta accident (1937) led to some experiments with XB and XC locos where they were run at 128km/h (80mph). For a very long time the speed limit on BG track was fixed at 60mph / 100km/h. Despite this, there were many trains in British India that regularly achieved average speeds (start to stop) of 50mph and more. On MG, YP locos often attained 75km/h.

Fastest non-stop run (between consecutive halts)

[11/07] The most impressive run on IR is by the 2954 August Kranti Rajdhani express from Mathura to Sawai Madhopur, a distance of 216 km. It takes 1 hour 55 minutes to cover this stretch with an average speed of 112.7 km/h.

Highest-speed sections of track

[11/07] There are several route sections that are allowed speeds of over 120km/h.Note: The speeds here are the max. permissible speeds. The potential speed permitted by the permanent way structures may be even higher. See the section on track classification for more details on the potential speeds.

Section	Max. perm. speed
Faridabad - Agra Cantt	150 km/h.
Maripat - Tundla	140 km/h.
Etawah - Panki	140 km/h.
Mathura - Ratlam	130 km/h.
Agra Cantt. - Lalitpur	130 km/h.
Ghaziabad - Maripat	130 km/h.
Tundla - Etawah	130 km/h.
Kanpur - Howrah	130 km/h.
Virar - Godhra	120 km/h.
Lalitpur - Bina	120 km/h.

Longest diesel-hauled stretch

[11/07] Now the longest diesel-hauled train is the 5933/5934 Dibrugarh-Amritsar Express that uses a single locomotive from the New Guwahati shed for its 2897km run. In second place is the 6311/6312 Trivandrum-Bikaner Express with a run of 2721km with the same loco. The next longest run with a single diesel is of the 5653/5654 Guwahati-Jammu Tawi Amarnath Express (2481km).

Other contenders for long diesel stretches are between Bangalore and Itarsi, for both the KK Express (through Manmad, Bhusaval), the Itarsi to Guwahati stretch by the Dadar-Guwahati Express. [confirmation??] The Kanyakumari Jayanti Janata when diesel hauled used to have a 1949km diesel stretch from Kanyakumari to Pune; it is now electric from Renigunta to Trivandrum. Pune-Renigunta is one of the longest diesel trunk routes at present. The Konkan Railway is unelectrified, so all trains running on that stretch are diesel-hauled.

Longest electric-hauled stretch

[06/08] A single WAP-4 locomotive hauls the Trivandrum � New Delhi Kerala Express between Ernakulam and New Delhi making it the longest continuous electric run on IR (2842km). This run would have been even longer (3037km) if not for a reversal (and locomotive change) at Ernakulam. If reversals and locomotive changes aren't considered, the 6309/6310 Ernakulam-Patna Express is hauled by electric locos for its entire 2789km run.

Most locomotive changes

Currently, the trains with the most locomotive changes are the 6381/6382 Mumbai CST-Kanniyakumari Express (CST-Pune is hauled by an electric loco, Pune-Renigunta by a diesel, Renigunta-Ernakulam by an electric again and Ernakulam-Kanniyakumari by a diesel) and the 2515/2516 Trivandrum-Guwahati Express. The later is hauled by an electric loco from Trivandrum to Chennai Central where it reverses and gets another locomotive for its run to Viskhapatnam. It once again reverses here (with a loco change) to head to Howrah. At Howrah, it reverses yet again and gets a diesel locomotive for its final run to Guwahati.

Until about a year ago [9/08], the 7229/7230 Hyderabad-Trivandrum Sabari Express used to have 5 locomotive changes. Hyderabad-Guntur was diesel. Guntur-Renigunta was electric. Renigunta-Jolarpettai (via Tirupati) was diesel. Jolarpettai-Ernakulam was electric and finally diesel for the Ernakulam-Trivandrum stretch.

Highest number of halts - Mail and Express trains

[11/07] The Howrah-Amritsar Exp. leads in this category with 115 halts. Here is a list of the top contenders:

Train	Number of Halts
3049/3050 Howrah - Amritsar Exp.	115
3039/3040 Delhi - Howrah Janata Exp.	109
3151/3152 Jammu Tawi - Sealdah Exp.	99
3008/3009 Udyan Abha Toofan Exp.	97
9019/9020 Mumbai - Dehra Dun Exp.	93
9023/9024 Mumbai - Firozpur Janata Exp.	87
3351/3352 Dhanbad - Alleppey Exp.	85

Superfast trains with most halts

If only "superfast" trains are considered, then the train with the highest no. of halts is the 2833/2834 Ahmedabad-Howrah Express. It has 60 stops in its 2089km journey. In second place, with 57 halts for its 2099km journey is the 2861/2862 Vishkapatnam-H.Nizamuddin Link Express. The table below lists some other superfast trains with a large no. of halts. (Compiled by V. Srinivasa Prasad)

Train	Km's Travelled	Number of Halts
2833/2834 Ahmedabad-Howrah Express	2089	60
2861/2861 Vishakapatnam-H.Nizamuddin Link	2099	57
2137/2138 Mumbai CST-Firozpur Punjab Mail	1930	54
2321/2322 Howrah-Mumbai CST Mail	2179	47
2721/2722 Hyderabad-H.Nizamuddin Dakshin Express	1670	45

 

Busiest stations

Outdated information. Needs to be updated. [4/00] Going by the number of mail, express, and passenger trains that halt or originate/terminate at a station (and ignoring suburban and freight traffic), the busiest stations are as shown below. (Compiled by Vijay Balasubramanian.)

Station	Trains / day
Lucknow	64
New Delhi	60
Ahmedabad	59
Delhi	58
Dadar	57
Howrah	57
Asansol	52
Vijayawada	51
Mathura	50
Kalyan	46
Kanpur Central	44
Surat	44
Gorakhpur	42
Vadodara	41
Itarsi	41
Varanasi	40
Allahabad	40
Bangalore City	39
Secunderabad	39
Chennai Central	39
Mughalsarai	38
Bhusaval	37
Jhansi	35
Hazrat Nizamuddin	35
Mumbai CST	33
Nagpur	30

If we count only mail/express/passenger trains that originate at a station during a day, the top few are as follows:

Station	Trains / day
Howrah	44
Chennai Central	34
New Delhi	34
Mumbai CST	33
Ahmedabad	24
Lucknow	19
Bangalore City	17

Counting suburban traffic, stations such as Dadar and Howrah are likely to be in the lead.

Longest passenger train (number of coaches)

[8/02] The normal length of a passenger train is 24 coaches, including pantry cars, luggage vans, etc. No train runs with more coaches as its standard rake, although 25 or 26 coaches are seen occasionally during rush times (holidays), or when additional coaches are attached for part of a train's run for railway staff or for VIPs.

The Charminar Exp., Godavari Exp., and the Andhra Pradesh Exp. were among the first to get 24-coach rakes, followed by the Grand Trunk Exp. and the Tamil Nadu Exp.

Of non mail/express passenger trains today, the Bishwabharati Passenger regularly runs with 19 coaches. It has been reported to run on occasion with 20, 21, or even 22 coaches. The Suvarna Fast Passenger (Bangalore - Marikuppam) has 17 coaches. No. 71 Sonepur - Allahabad Fast Passenger used to run with 18 coaches. The Mumbai-Valsad Fast Passenger also runs with 17 or 18 coaches.

On MG, trains such as the Pandian Exp. ran with 22 coaches hauled by a single YAM-1 or YDM-4. No. 208 Jodhpur-Agra Express ran in the 1980s with 23 coaches.

During World War II, 26-coach trains were double-headed by 2-8-2 (YD class) locos on the MG Assam Bengal Rly. For instance, the Assam Mail is recorded as having run in those days with 24 coaches and 2 vans.

Shortest train (number of coaches)

[7/08] WR runs a two-coach passenger train on its NG Kosamba-Umarpada section. This train, hauled by a ZDM-3 locomotive is IR's shortest, regularly time-tabled service.

Until a few years ago, SER used to have [5/01] a 2-coach train, the Shalimar-Santragachhi Light Passenger, hauled by two WDS-6 locos MU'd at the Shalimar end and a driving car at the other end of the train. In 1997, when the Konkan Railway line was just built between Udupi And Mangalore a 2-coach train was hauled on that section by a WDM-2. Before railbuses took over on Wankaner-Morvi, there were two-coach trains hauled by YG or YP steam locos (these were the last steam-hauled trains on those routes).

The Secunderabad-Rajahmundry Shatabdi Exp. during its short life ran with 3 coaches (two AC chair car coaches and a generator coach). [9/00] The Katni-Chopan Passenger worked about 324km overnight with just 3 coaches hauled by a Patratu shed WDM-2. The Villupuram-Pondicherry passenger trains also had just 3 coaches. On MG in the past there was an Alnavar-Dandeli Passenger (on the Miraj-Bangalore line) that had just 2 or 3 coaches hauled by a steam loco.

Least punctual train

The Guwahati Express from Guwahati to Trivandrum is reputed to be the most unreliable long-distance train in the country. The train is booked to make its journey in 65 hours and 5 minutes, but the average delay on a trip is about 10-12 hours, with the train often showing up more than a day late. In 1995 the Times of India carried an article on it, saying that the train had not run on time even once in its (then) ten-year existence!

Longest scheduled halt

The 362 Delhi - Agra passenger has a scheduled halt at Mathura for 4 hours (Arr. 11:45hrs and Dep. 15:45hrs). This is the longest halt for any passenger service in IR by a wide margin.

Trains halting at the same station twice

The 8005/8006 Howrah-Koraput Samaleshwari Express halts at Singapur Rd twice. Coming from Howrah via Sambalpur and Titlagarh, the train halts at Singapur Rd, and then proceeds to Rayagada where it reverses. It returns to Singapur Rd and then finally makes it way to Koraput.

The 6351/6352 Mumbai CST-Nagercoil Exp. halts at Renigunta, then proceeds to Tirupati where it has a 105-min halt, reverses direction and returns to Renigunta for another halt (20 minutes) and reverses direction yet again to proceed to Nagercoil via Arakkonam. This is one of the rare trains to have two halts at the same station on its run. Also the only train to have two direction reversals within a distance of about 10km!

In the past the 7089/7090 Varanasi- Cochin Express used to do the same thing. The history behind this strange route is that there used to be a biweekly Varanasi-Tirupati Exp. and a weekly Varanasi-Cochin Exp. that shared schedules between Varanasi and Renigunta; when the Varanasi-Tirupati Exp. was re-routed to Secunderabad, the other train was adjusted to preserve service to Tirupati.

Multiple traversals of a section

Any train route that involves a reversal at a "terminus" causes trains to repeat a bit of track, of course. Notable among trains that repeat sections of their route are those reversing at Madras Central and Vishakapatnam. All trains heading towards Katni from the Mughalsarai side via Allahabad (touching Allahabad) actually repeat the Naini-Allahabad section twice (2321/22 Howrah-CSTM Superfast Mail, 3201/3202 Patna-LTT Exp., Mahanagari Exp., Durg-Gorakhpur Exp. etc.)

The Nilgiri Express traverses the Coimbatore - Coimbatore North sections twice, and 1013/1014 traverses Bangalore City - Bangalore East twice. The 5629/5630 Madras Egmore - Guwahati Exp., 5929/5930 Chennai - Dibrugarh Town Exp., the Jhajha - Guwahati Exp. and Ranchi - Alipurduar Exp. traverse the Andal-Durgapur section twice in both direction (reversing at DGR). The 8451/8452 Tapaswini Exp. has two reversals at Sambalpur and Talcher, making it cover the Sambalpur - Sambalpur Road between Talcher - Talcher Road twice in both directions of travel.

Most direction reversals

There are currently [6/06] two train that reverse directions 5 times on their journey: the 8473/8474 Puri-Jaipur Express reverses at Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Nagpur, Nagda, and Sawai Madhopur. The 8507/8508 Vishkapatnam-Amritsar Hirakud Express reverses at Talcher, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Katni and Bina. The 2975/2976 Jaipur � Mysore express has 4. Directions change at Sawai Madhopur, Nagda, Secunderabad and Guntakal.

The Amritha Express reverses at Palghat (the second station after it starts from Palghat Town) and then again at Shoranur, within 50km.

Longest distance without direction reversals

[8/08] The 2653/2654 Kerala Sampark Kranti Express has the distinction of running the longest distance without any reversals (3120km between Kochuveli and Chandigarh). The 5933/5934 Amritsar-Dibruarh Express runs without any reversal for its entire run of 2897 Kms. And bringing up third place is the Trivandrum Rajdhani (2854kms).

Trains that have different routes in different directions

The 3112 Lal Quila Exp. bound for Sealdah uses the route Barddhaman-Bandel-Naihati-Sealdah, whereas the 3111 for the reverse journey uses Sealdah-Dakshineswar-Barddhaman. The Mumbai-Howrah Mail goes via Barddhaman-Bandel-Howrah to avoid having to wait for the Rajdhani Exp. on the same route to pass it; the Howrah-Mumbai Mail in the reverse direction uses the Howrah-Barddhaman chord via Kamarkundu.

Trains with different halts in different directions (with the same route)

On the Howrah-Belurmath suburban service, the Down train (from Belurmath to Howrah) stops at Liluah (joining the Barddhaman-Howrah Down main line just before entering Liluah station). The Up train, however, does not stop at Liluah; coming up the Howrah-Barddhaman Up main line from Howrah, it crosses over both Down lines just before entering Liluah, and bypassing that station, goes directly to Belurmath.

On SER's Kharagpur – Howrah suburban service, the Down Mecheda – Shalimar EMU local skips Mourigram station en route between Andul and Santragachi; After Andul the train moves via the ACC chord lines and takes the flyover route bypassing Mourigram towards Santragachi. However on th return journey, the Up train run through Mourigram on the mailine.

Trains with different compositions in different directions

[6/08] The Hussainsagar Exp. 2701/2702, and the 7031/7032 Express share rakes in an interesting way. The 2701 (CSTM - Hyderabad) train has a composite First/Second AC coach, but on the return journey it does not have 1AC accommodation, using the rake from the other train. Similarly the 7032 (Hyderabad - CSTM) carrries a First/Second AC coach, but the 7031 does not because it gets the rake from the 7002.

Trains with different routes on different gauges

Wth the numerous gauge conversion projects going on, there have been a few trains that used different routes between their end-points on MG and BG. The Venkatadri Exp. to Tirupati existed in both MG and BG incarnations for quite a while [2/01]; the MG train used to go on the Guntakal - Dharmavaram - Pakala route while the BG version took the Guntakal - Gooty - Renigunta route.

Trains with more than one gauge change

With the many sections undergoing gauge conversions, it is not unusual to find a service that runs in two portions, a part on BG and the rest of the route being on MG. However, there was a train, the Secunderabad-Jaipur Express [1/01] which ran in *3* portions: as an MG train from Secunderabad to Mudkhed, as a BG train from Mudkhed to Purna, and finally again as an MG train from Purna onwards.

Trains that run combined in only one direction

The Rupasi Bangla Express (Howrah-Purulia) and the Dhauli Express have the same schedule between Howrah and Kharagpur. The two trains actually run combined on this section, with the Dhauli Exp. forming the front of the rake. The trains are separated at Kharagpur where the Dhauli Exp. leaves after a 2-minute halt while the Rupasi Bangla continues on to Purulia after nearly a half-hour halt. The trains do not combine and split in this manner in the reverse direction, probably the only such case in IR. Until a few years ago, curiously, Dhauli was classified as a superfast while the Rupasi Bangla was not, so that the fare payable was different for different parts of the same rake, for the section of route on which the trains run combined (the rake is through vestibuled, so one can move from one train to the other on the run). Now both the trains are classified as a superfast.

Splitting trains

There are some trains that start out with one rake which splits into two trains going to different destinations. (This is not just the case of one or two sectional carriages being detached from a train.) Trains 4041/4042 and 4041A/4042A start at Delhi and go to Dehradun and Kotdwar, respectively, splitting at Najifabad. 5013/5014 and 5013A/5014A start at Delhi and go to Kathgodam and Ramnagar, respectively, splitting at Moradabad. 6688/6687, 6788/6787 leave from Jammu Tawi for Mangalore and Madurai, splitting at Erode. 6318/6317 and 6788/6787 leave Jammu Tawi for Kanyakumari and Madurai, splitting at Erode. Note that this pair overlaps one set of train numbers with the previous pair.

There used to be two trains, the Ranchi-Kalka Exp. and the Tatanagar-Amritsar Golden Exp. which in around 1985 were combined into one service Ranchi/Tatanagar - Kalka/Amritsar. The rakes were combined at Muri, and split again at Ambala Cantt.

An interesting train is the Haripriya Exp. from Kolhapur which splits at Guntakal. Half of it is attached to the Up Rayalaseema Exp. to Hyderabad, while the other half is attached to the Down Rayalaseem Exp. to Tirupati. In the reverse direction the train is constituted from portions from the Up and Down Rayalaseema Expresses again.

Oldest trains still running

Trains keep getting their schedules changed, their routes changed, and their names changed over time, so the answers to these questions are a bit fluid. The Bangalore Mail has been running in various guises since 1864 (1862?). The Deccan Queen and the Howrah-Madras Mail have been in operation since the 1930s. So has the Howrah-Kalka Mail. The Punjab Mail, the Frontier Mail, and the Grand Trunk Express are other trains that have been running for a long time, however, their names have changed and/or their routes / termini have changed too. The 2 Up / 1 Dn Mail between Calcutta and Delhi, started in 1866, is the direct forebear of today's Howrah-Kalka Mail. The Poona Mail (Bombay-Poona) introduced in the 1860s was discontinued in the 1970s. The Flying Ranee started under that name in 1950, but it had its predecessors (Flying Queen, Weekend Special) in 1937 and 1906.

Air-conditioned Passengers

There are few passenger (i.e., not express or mail) trains that provide air-conditioned accommodation, without counting those trains that run as expresses for parts of their routes and as passengers for other parts. There are four such trains - ER's Viswabharati Passenger, WR's 241/242 Mumbai-Ahmedabad Passenger, SER's 315/316 Howrah-Chakradharpur Passenger and NWR's 1761/1762 Kota-Jaipur Passenger. The 241/242 had First Class AC coaches between Surat and Mumbai; later [1/02] it had composite FC and AC Chair Car coaches. Now [12/04] it is reported to have only AC 2-tier coaches.

Trains with the same name

Not counting trains whose name refers to a class of trains (Rajdhani, Janata, Matribhumi, etc.), and also not counting trains that share most of the route but run to different terminal points on different days, etc. (Gondwana Exp. running from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Bilaspur and Jabalpur), there aren't many trains that share names. There are two Godavari Expresses, one running between Vishakhapatnam and Hyderabad, and another running between Kurla and Manmad. The current Mandovi Express running on KR between Mumbai (CSTM) and Madgaon shares its name with the former MG train between Miraj and Vasco da Gama. The Bhagirathi Exp. between Sealdah and Lalgola takes the name of a former MG train on NER. Some years ago there were two Mahalaxmi Expresses running, the BG one between Mumbai and Kolhapur, and the MG one between Miraj and Mangalore. The officially named Punjab Mail that runs between Mumbai and Firozpur shares its name with the Howrah-Amritsar Mail which is popularly known as the Punjab Mail. There are some close matches, such as Gujarat Exp., Gujarat Mail, Gujarat Queen; Saurashtra Exp., Saurashtra Mail, Saurashtra Janata Exp.; etc.

Trains with more than one name

The 2395/2396 train between Rajendra Nagar and Ajmer was called the Ibadat Express (Ibadat = 'worship', from the Ajmer Sharif shrine). However, from some time in 2003, the IR official site has been showing the name Ziyarat Express (Ziyarat = 'pilgrimage') for the Ajmer - Rajendra Nagar direction of the train, and the old name Ibadat Express for the opposite direction. This may be the only instance of a train with different names in each direction. It's not clear whether the name Ibadat Express was intended to be retired and only continues to show up because of a clerical error.

Trains sharing the same number

Numbers for trains were of course often shared by several trains before the introduction of the 4-digit universal numbers. Now, apart from cases of splitting trains, sectional carriages and so on where train numbers may be shared by portions of a rake that go to different destinations, train numbers are not shared by different trains. An odd case of two trains sharing the same number existed in the year 2000, when the Howrah-Jodhpur Exp. via Patna was numbered 2313/2314 for its runs on Mondays when it was supposed to share timings with the Himgiri Exp. This scheduled train never actually materialised although it was in official timetables. Within the same railway budget year, the Sealdah Rajdhani was introduced with the 2313/2314 numbers, without official notification of the withdrawal of the first train.

Trains with many classes of accommodation

[8/03] At least five trains appear to run regularly with six classes of accommodation: 1AC, 2AC, 3AC, FC, SL, and GS: Pandian Exp., Chennai - Tiruchchirapalli Exp., Chennai - Kanyakumari Exp., Nilgiri Exp., and the Brahmaputra Mail.

Same train in opposite directions at the same time

[7/06] There are a few cases of the same train service running in opposite directions being at the same station at the same time. E.g., during the monsoon schedule [7/06], the 6345 LTT-TVC Netravati Express and the 6346 TVC-LTT Netravati Express met each other at Bhatkal (BTKL). Both trains arrived and departed at identical times, 0255 and 0257 respectively!

Northernmost railway station

Udhampur. However, the line is being extended through the Kashmir valley to Srinagar and beyond to Baramulla. The northernmost station in the Indian subcontinent is Dargai in NWFP, on a branch line from Nowshera (Pakistan).

Westernmost station

Naliya, on the branch line from Bhuj (Traffic is currently suspended due to gauge conversion [8/08]). The westernmost BG station is Varvala, slightly to the west of its more well-known neighbour Dwarka, on the Okha line.

The westernmost station on the subcontinent is Mirjawa on the Iran-Pakistan border, on the Quetta-Zahidan line. However this does not seem to have a passenger service now [3/99], as trains terminate at Kuh-i-Taftan, the next station towards Quetta. This is the only rail link between the subcontinent and neighbouring countries.

Southernmost station

Kanyakumari. (Are there, or were there, any passenger railways in the Nicobar islands?)

Easternmost station

Ledo. This is on a branch line from Tinsukia. Some years ago, when the network here was entirely MG, the terminus was Lekhapani, a few km to the east. The BG line to Ledo actually continues up to Tirap today [2005]. There is, however, no passenger station at Tirap, only a few coal sidings. The disused MG line to Lekhapani is still visible from Tirap. Ledo is also the terminus of the famous Burma Road.

Highest railway station

Ghoom on the DHR (2' gauge), at 2258m (7407'). This is probably the highest 2' gauge railway station in the world. The highest BG station is now Qazigund, at 1730m (5675'), on the Anantnag-Qazigund section (Kashmir valley). Other stations on the Kashmir valley line are also in the top list for highest stations: Anantnag (1599m - 5246'), Srinagar (1592m - 5223'), Baramulla (1583m - 5194'). Prior to the construction of the Kashmir valley line, Shimliguda at 998m (3272') was the highest station. This station is on the Visakhapatnam - Kirandul line (SER). (For comparison, Bangalore City station is at 908m (921m?) above MSL.)

The Fernhill train station just before Ootacamund on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway was the highest on MG at 2218m (7275'). This station was decommissioned in 1994. The highest point on MG actually occurs just before Fernhill, and is at 2226m (7300'); about 2km before the terminus. On the 2'6" gauge Simla at 2075m (6803') is the highest station. (Note: Darjeeling is lower in height than both Ooty and Simla.)

Note: Other high BG stations: Pattipola in Sri Lanka (on the main Colombo-Badulla line) is at 1898m, Shelabagh near the Khojak tunnel on the Chaman-Bostan line in Pakistan is at 1945m, and Kolpore in Pakistan is at 1790m. Kach Kotal in Pakistan on the Khanai-Harnai line near the spectacular Chappar Rift was at 1992m; it was closed because of mudslides in 1942 (this section also had 3 miles filled by dried mud to a depth of 518m (1700')).

Note 2: For comparison, the highest railway stations in the world are currently [12/10] Tanggula (Dangla) on the Qingzang railway in China (5068m - 16,627'), Ticlio (Peru) (4829m - 15,843'), Condor (Bolivia) (4786m - 15,702'), and La Galera (Peru) (4783m - 15,693'). The famed Jungfraujoch railway station in Switzerland is at 3455m (11,333').

Station straddling state lines

Navapur is a station that is half in Maharashtra and half in Gujarat (the boundary between the states is marked next to the tracks within the station). Bhawani Mandi station, on the Shamgarh-Kota section of the Bombay-Delhi line is half in Madhya Pradesh and half in Rajasthan. Jaraikela (straddling Jharkand and Orissa) and Alyuabari Road (half in Bihar and half in West Bengal).

Longest tunnel

This is the Karbude tunnel on the Konkan Railway and is 6.5km long. It is between Bhoke and Ukshi. The next longest is probably the Nathuwadi tunnel (4.389km) between Diwan Khauti and Karanjadi. There are other long tunnels on KR: the Tike tunnel, which is 4.07km long between Ratnagiri and Nivasar, the Berdewadi tunnel between Talawade and Vilawade (Adavli) (length? 4km?), Sawarde tunnel (3.4km) between Kamathe and Sawarde, Barcem tunnel (3.3km) between Balli and Cancona, Karwar tunnel (3km) between Karwar and Harwada, Parchuri tunnel (2.6km) between Sangameshwar and Ukshi, and Chiplun tunnel (2km) between Chiplun and Kamathe. Outside the KR stretch, the longest tunnel is on the Khandala/Pune line at One Tree Hill, over 2km long, followed by Parsik (between Thane and Kalyan), just under 2km and then the Barog tunnel, about 1.5km long on the Kalka-Simla line. When it is built, the Pir Panjal tunnel ("T-80") of the Kashmir Valley Railway line will be the longest transport tunnel in the country at 11km.

Longest bridge

A bridge linking the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam with Edapally in the Kochi backwaters is the longest railway bridge in India at 4.62km (33 spans of 20m, 99 spans of 40m). It is exclusively for container freight traffic, and was opened in April 2010. The Nehru Setu bridge near Dehri on the river Sone (3.065km, 93 spans, each 30.5m), and the bridge over the Ganga near Patna (~2km) are other long bridges. The Narnarayan Setu bridge over the Brahmaputra at Jogighopa linking it to Pancharatna (in Assam) has 18 spans, each about 120m, with 2 spans of 30.5m, for a total length of 2.3km. Rail traffic has recently [2002] begun moving on this bridge. The dual deck road/rail bridge over the river Godavari at Rajahmudry is about 2.1km.

Tallest bridge

The Ghambir Khad bridge between Jammu Tawi and Udhampur is 77m tall. Until about 2006, the bridge on the Panval river (Konkan Railway, Ratnagiri district) was the tallest. This 420m-long bridge was the first one built in India using the incremental launching technique and is 64m tall. When it is built, the bridge over the Chenab river for the Kashmir Valley Railway line will be the tallest, at 359m above the river bed.

Longest platform

This is to be found in Kharagpur, at 1072.5m. This platform originally had a length of 716m, and was extended twice, once to 833m and then to its current length (dates unknown). Excluding subway platforms (the Chicago subway has a longer one which is essentially one continuous platform connecting two consecutive stations), this is the longest railway platform in the world.

Steepest inclines

On BG routes, these are some of the ghat sections. The Bhore ghat on the Mumbai-Pune route has a ruling incline of 1:37. The Thull ghat also has a ruling gradient of 1:37.
Among short distance inclines, the Masjid - Sandhurst Road (upper level station) section in Mumbai has a gradient of 1:34 or so. The section, however, is only 0.5km long. On MG, Conoor-Kallar (Nilgiri Mountain Railway) has a ruling gradient of 1:12.28. This is not an adhesion track, but a rack system. On 2'6"NG, the Kangra Valley line is mostly at 1:40 and has some gradients of 1:25, while the Kalka-Shimla line is at 1:33. On 2' NG, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has gradients of 1:29, 1:26, and a few stretches of 1:23. Gradients of 1:20 used to exist earlier, but were eased. The Matheran Light Railway route has a ruling gradient of 1:20.

Elsewhere on the subcontinent, steep BG inclines included the 1:25 gradient of the Mushkaf-Bolan section, 1:25 and 1:33 sections on the Khyber Railways and 1:40 on the Sind-Peshin Railway. On MG, the Lashio branch of the Burma Railways included a 1:25 gradient, as did the Southern Shan States Railway. (Current status of all of these not known.)

Re-used loco numbers

Locomotive numbers have been widely re-used, especially the older steam numbers which are now being used for diesels and electrics. Among the diesels and electrics, too, there are some overlaps. The numbers of the NBM-1 locos (21951-21953) overlap with the WCAM-3 locos. The new WDP-4 locos (20000+) have numbers that overlap with those of the old WCP-1 locos (20002-20023). Some of the NDM-1 numbers (501-506) overlap with the numbers of ZDM-5 locos. This latter case is especially interesting as 500 was the start of the All-India numbering block for NG steam locomotives, and 504-506 were E and ES class 4-6-2 locos of the Southern Railway, built by Kerr Stuart in the 1920s. So these numbers (504-506) were used three times, once for steam and twice for different diesel classes.

Station oddities

A station inside a station On the Delhi-Kanpur route at the Hathras Junction station, one can observe the MG line crossing the main BG line at right angles in the same premises. However the MG station is called Hathras Road even though it is inside the yard of Hathras Junction, which is the BG station. To make things more complicated, the town of Hathras is nowhere near Hathras Junction. (Furthermore, there is also a Hathras City on MG 9km west of Hathras Rd, and a Hathras Qila on BG 10km south of Hathras Jn.)

Two stations across the lines Srirampur and Belapur are two different stations in Maharashtra (CR); however, the strange thing about them is that they are both at the same location on the railway route, with one station on one side of the tracks and the second on the other side. I.e., they face each other across the tracks.

Intersecting lines with no cross-overs The above example of Hathras has the BG line and the MG line crossing without any facilities for transshipment, sharing of station facilities, etc. The Mal Bazar to Changrabandha MG branch and the New Jalpaiguri - New Bongaigaon BG line cross without any station facilities nearby and no possibility of transshipment. At Kamarkundu station, trains can go on the Howrah - Bardhaman section, or Sheoraphuli - Tarakeshwar section, but cannot switch routes (the latter line goes above the former). At Bally station two lines from Howrah to Barddhaman (Main and Chord) enter but no cross-overs are possible here. The station has separate platforms for the two lines. Just metres from Bally is the Bally Halt station which has a third line, from Sealdah, which also does not have any cross-overs with either of the other two as it passes over them. At Vishwamitri, Akola, Khandwa, and Ratlam, the different routes that intersect do share some facilities for goods interchange, common station crew, etc.

Two gauges of track with a station for only one of them On the Delhi-Madras route until recently one could see the NG station of Chanda Fort adjacent to the main BG line. However, there was no BG station there. Therefore a passenger wishing to transfer between BG and NG had to use road transport between the stations of Chanda Fort and the nearest BG station, Chandrapur. Updated: [8/00] No longer the case... Gauge conversion has eliminated the NG line here and Chanda Fort is on BG now.
Today, such cases are very rare (examples are said to exist on suburban sections around Mumbai and Chennai (??)).

Two-level stations Sandhurst Road is a station in India which is built to serve trains on two levels. The upper level of the station abuts the (BG) tracks which are actually on a bridge at that point. Kamarkundu station in West Bengal also has two sections, with the lower level on the Howrah - Burdwan chord section, with the upper one on the Tarkakeshwar-Sheoraphuli suburban single-line section. Bally station also has two levels; the upper serving the Sealdah-Dake route and the lower serving the Howrah-Bandel-Burdwan line and the Howrah-Burdwan chord line. Vishwamitri (a suburb of Vadodara) has a station with the BG Mumbai-Vadodara line on the upper level, and the NG Jambusar-Dabhoi line on the lower level.

Non-terminal reversing stations Phulad on the Mawli-Marwar section is a non-terminating station but the tracks are arranged such that a reversal is required for all trains.

Stations where more than one train is at a platform Gondal is a station with one platform on a single-line section between Jetalsar and Rajkot. A small loop line (sufficient for about a 9-coach train) is parallel to the main line at the platform. Up and down trains cross by having one of them use the loop line, and often the up and down trains are then both on the main line back to back, waiting for their scheduled departures.

At Nagpur, the Kazipet Passenger and Amla Passenger wait back-to-back at the same platform for their departure. At New Delhi, the Dehradun Shatabdi and the Lucknow Shatabdi are routinely accommodated on the same platform. This sort of arrangement is also seen at some stations such as Delhi Jn., Kharagpur, etc., where different sections of the same platform structure are marked or numbered differently and count as distinct platforms.

At Kharagpur, platforms 1 and 3 are contiguous (these together form the world's longest platform, see above), as are 2 and 4. The only 24-coach train from Kharagpur, the 2841 Coromondel Express, stops at the starter of Platform 3 and its tail extends to some distance into Platform 1.

At Kanpur quite often two trains or sometimes three trains leave from the same platform. The three are shunted in together. The first one leaves for Rai Bareilly (PGR). Then the next one is the Kanpur-Fatehpur passenger (both of these leave in the same direction, incidentally). The third is sometimes the Banda Passenger, which however leaves in the opposite direction. Until recently (prior to gauge conversion), Tiruvavur Jn. of SR also had a station configuration where two trains could be at the same platform; trains to Nagore and Mayiladuthurai left from the northern end and trains to Thiruthuraipundi and Thanjavur left from the southern end.

Other stations where two or more trains routinely occupy the same platform are Secunderabad, Jhansi and Vijaywada.

Parallel Tracks In the Mumbai area, between Bandra Terminus (BAMY) and Andheri (about 10km), seven tracks run parallel to each other. This is thought to be the highest number of parallel tracks on the IR system. (Of course, we don't include parallel tracks in yards and station loops and the like!)

Gauges

Q. Does any station have all three gauges present?

Yes. Today Siliguri station (NFR) holds the distinction of having three different gauges present. New Jalpaiguri (NFR) had 3 gauges present at the same place: BG, MG, and NG (2'0"). As of 2000 or so it was the only such station on IR's network. The BG trunk route of NFR from Malda town to Guwahati and onwards to Dibrugarh runs through NJP. It has an MG section towards Siliguri. This station has a huge marshalling yard and also some special IndianOil and FCI sidings. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway originates from here.

Construction work began in 2000 on the New Jalpaiguri - New Bongaigaon MG to BG conversion. When this was completed [2003? 2004?], New Jalpaiguri was no longer a 3-gauge station, and Siliguri regained that status (which it will hold as long as the MG line from Katihar remains in place.

Until the 1950s Siliguri used to have all three gauges as well. But then the Siliguri-Haldibari section was converted from BG to MG and the NG section was extended to New Jalpaiguri, making the latter a 3-gauge station as noted above. Later Haldibari - New Jalpaiguri was reconverted to BG as part of the main line to New Bongaigaon.

Yelahanka (outside Bangalore) used to qualify as such a junction. The BG Bangalore-Gooty line passes through it. It was also the terminus for the NG Yelahanka-Bangarapet and the MG Yelahanka-Yesvanthpur-Bangalore lines (the latter was part of the original Guntakal-Bangalore MG line). Until fairly recently, diesel NG railcars were still plying the Yelahanka-Bangarapet line, which incidentally goes through the Kolar gold fields. It was the sole NG line in SR.

Miraj also had three gauges: BG line from Pune, MG line from Belgaum, and the NG line from Kurduwadi-Pandharpur.

A long time ago (until 1970 or so?), Bangalore City also had all three gauges. The Bangalore-Kolar-Yelahanka NG line reached Bangalore City. It had the BG line from Jolarpettai, MG lines from Dharmavaram, Arsikere (meeting at Yeshvantpur Jn.) and Mysore, and the NG line from Bangarapet. The NG line into Bangalore City fell into disuse nearly 20 years ago. In fact, the entire NG line from Yelahanka to Bangarapet was in danger of being ripped out some years ago, until someone came up with the idea of running diesel railcars on them. No trace of the NG line into Bangalore exists today. The portion to Yeshvanthpur has been converted to BG. Between Yeshvanthpur and Yelahanka, the NG was "embedded" in the MG line. The third rail for NG was later removed so that the NG railcars had to terminate at Yelahanka.

Ujjain in the past also had three gauges: MG line from Fatehabad Chandrawatiganj; the Bhopal--Nagda electrified BG main line and an unelectrified line to Ratlam; and an Ujjain--Agar 2'0" NG line that no longer exists (this was an outlying branch of the Gwalior light railways).

Junctions

Q. What's the highest number of routes originating at a single junction?

[3/99] Mathura is a junction with 7 routes originating from it:

• BG line to Agra Cantt. (double, electrified)
• BG line to Bharatpur (double, electrified)
• Three BG lines towards Delhi that meet at Mathura outer; of these two continue towards Delhi and may be considered to be one route...
• ...while the third turns east to Alwar at Bhuteshwar (single, unelectrified). Bhuteshwar lies within Mathura signalling territory and is not a junction.
• MG line to Achnera
• MG line to Vrindavan
• MG line to Hathras, Kasganj
  

If we considered parallel MG and BG lines to be separate routes, Sabarmati would count as a 7-route junction (see below).

Bathinda has 6 lines:

• BG route to Delhi (via Jakhal)
• BG route to Sri Ganganagar
• BG route to Ambala
• BG route to Rewari (via Hissar)
• BG route to Firozpur
• BG route to Hanumangarh

(Bathinda also has a bypass line.)

If we considered parallel MG and BG lines as separate lines, then Guntakal would count as a 6-line junction (see below).

5-route junctions

These include Guntakal, Katni, Varanasi, Kanpur Central, Lucknow, Villupuram, Dabhoi, and Nagpur among others.

• Guntakal has lines from Wadi, Renigunta, Bellary, Dharmavaram (MG), and Dronachellam.
  
  
• Rewari has lines from Delhi, Bhiwani, Loharu, Ringas and Alwar. A sixth route route to Rohtak via Jhajjar is under construction.
  
  
• Sabarmati has parallel BG and MG lines from Ahmedabad, parallel BG and MG lines from Mahesana via Kali Road, an MG line from Botad via Kali Road, a BG line from Viramgam via Chandlodiya, and a BG line from Gandhinagar Capital via Chandlodiya. (We count these as separate routes for Sabarmati since the stations at Kali Road and Chandlodiya are not junctions. Note that if parallel BG and MG lines are counted as separate routes, Sabarmati would count as a 7-route junction.)
  
  
• Katni has lines from Jabalpur, Satna, Bina, Singrauli and Bilaspur.
  
  
• Varanasi has lines from Janghai, Allahabad (via Madhosingh), Zafarabad, Mughalsarai, and Aunrihar.
  
  
• Kanpur Central has lines from Jhansi/Banda (meeting at Bhimsen), Etawah, Lucknow, Allahabad and Farrukhabad.
  
  
• Salem Jn. has lines to Erode, Jolarpettai, Vriddhachalam (under gauge conversion now [8/05]), Bangalore (via Hosur), and Mettur Dam.
  
  
• Lucknow has lines from Kanpur Central, Hardoi, Sitapur, Bara Banki and Pratapgarh/Sultanpur (meeting at Utrahtia just outside Lucknow). But two of these lines run parallel until Daliganj, so that LKO is strictly speaking not a 5-line junction.
  
  
• Delhi has 5 routes converging on it: From Saharanpur/Ghaziabad via Delhi Shahdara, from New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin via Sadar Bazar, from Panipat via Sabzi Mandi and from Rohtak via Delhi Kishenganj (note that these two lines do not actually touch Sadar Bazar (Sadar Bazar not being a junction) so we can count them as separate routes to Delhi for our purposes), and a BG line to Rewari (which parallels an MG line to Rewari from Delhi Sarai Rohilla). The tracks for Ghaziabad via Old Delhi and Ambala split beyond Sadar Bazar while the tracks for Ghaziabad via Anand Vihar and Mathura split at Tilak Bridge. The tracks for Rohtak and Jaipur split beyond Sabuzi Mandi. If we count the BG and MG routes separately, Delhi can be considered to have 6 routes radiating from it. Note that the route to Ghaziabad splits into two separate double lines after Sahibabad. There is also a loop line separating from the Rewari line near Shakurbasti and joining the southbound line between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Tughlakabad. New Delhi itself is not a junction.
  
  
• Stations such as Tiruchchirapalli and Bangalore City are not quite the same because some of the five lines actually meet at junctions which are independent stations themselves (Golden Rock, Yesvanthpur).
  
  
• Nagpur also has 5 routes converging if we count BG and NG lines separately.
  
  
• Dabhoi was the biggest junction on NG, with 5 routes.
  
  

Ahmedabad should not be considered a 5-route junction because Sabarmati is a a junction and the parallel BG and MG lines from Ahmedabad towards Viramgaon (BG), Mahesana (MG-BG), Botad (MG), and Gandhinagar Capital (BG) go via Sabarmati Jn.

Vijayawada may appear to be a 5-line junction at first glance, with routes to Vishakhapatnam, Gudivada, Warangal, Tenali, and Guntur, but the line to Guntur actually splits from Krishna Canal Jn. which is one station south of Vijayawada across the Krishna river, and so cannot be counted.

Mixed Traction

Today with widespread electrification, most long-distance trains run under electric traction throughout. There are many others that still run with diesel haulage, of course, and one can find a good many that change from electric to diesel en route. However, this section is concerned with the odder combinations that were found in the past when steam was on the wane but not yet dead, and electrification was just getting going.

There were many cases of 'triple traction', where a train ran with steam, diesel, and electric locomotives. The Toofan Express, for instance, ran with a WP from Delhi to Agra Cantt. and a CWD (to about 1982) or WG (1983) from Agra Cantt. to Tundla; an electric loco (a WAP or WAM class loco) from Tundla to Mughalsarai; and with a WDM-2 from Mughalsarai to Patna. After Patna, usually a WP hauled it until about 1980, when diesel traction continued beyond Patna. The Bombay - Madras Janata Express in the 1970s was hauled by a DC electric loco from Bombay to Poona, a diesel from Poona to Daund, and then by steam from Daund to Madras. A similar situation held with the Holiday Specials between Bombay and Poona. The diesel-steam change-over point was at different times Guntakal or Raichur as well. The 37 Up Howrah - Madras Janata Express until 1979 started with an electric loco from Howrah to Kharagpur; a diesel (WDM-1?) to Waltair, and steam locos further until Madras.

Other odd cases: The Kalka Mail in the late 1970s started from Kalka with a steam loco until Delhi, and an electric loco from Delhi to Kanpur. When diesel was being tried out on the Daund - Poona line, there were occasions when the Daund - Poona shuttle was double-headed with a steam loco and a diesel loco. The Upper India Express until about 1977 ran on electric traction from Delhi Jn. to Allahabad, and then to Sealdah on steam (with a steam change-over at Mughalsarai). And since the dieselization of portions of the Ooty line, the Nilgiri Express is a steam-diesel combination these days [12/04] -- steam from Ooty to Coonoor, and diesel from Coonoor to Mettupalaiyam.

Food

Some stations on IR are famous for the regional specialty food items available there. Below follows a list of some of them. Compiled by Sukrut Thipse.

• Pune - Tea, Misal, and Patties in the canteen
• Karjat - Batata vada / vada pav (Potato snack)
• Lonavala - Chocolate Fudge / Cashewnut Chikki (cashewnut brittle candy)
• Neral - Seasonal Jambhool fruit
• Khandala - Seasonal Jamoon fruit (plums)
• Solapur - Kunda (sweet barfi)
• Kolhapur - Sugarcane juice
• Miraj - Saar and Rice
• Hubli - Hubli rice (Curd rice (yogurt rice) with onions, chile peppers, and pickles)
• Mysore - Dosa
• Tiruchirapalli - Bondas in several variations
• Hyderabad - Chicken biryani
• Calicut (Kozhikode) - Dal vada
• Quilon - Rasam
• Mangalore - Egg Biryani
• Ernakulam - Fried yellow bananas
• Nagpur - Bhujia, and oranges
• Guntakal - Mango jelly
• Chennai Central - Samosas, idli, dosa
• Rameshwaram - Idiuppam (Rice Noodles)
• Agra - Petha (candied pumpkin)
• New Delhi - Aloo chat (tangy potato snack)
• Indore - Farsan
• Ahmedabad - Vadilal ice-cream
• Surat - Undhyo (mixed vegetables)
• Ranchi - Puri bhaji
• Howrah - Sandesh
• Amritsar - Lassi, Aloo paratha
• Bangalore - Vada sambar, fresh fruit juices
• Jaipur - Dal bati
• Gandhidham - dabeli
• Varanasi - Seasonal amrud fruit (guava)
• Gorakhpur - Rabdi (a sweet made of milk and sugar)
• Guwahati - Tea (Assam blend)
• Madurai - Uthappam (spicy lentil/rice pancake)
• Ajmer - Mewa (Mix fruit)
• Vasco-da-gama - Fish curry/cutlets
• Ratnagiri - Mangoes, dried jackfruit
• Vijayawada - Fruit juices
• Rajahmundry - Bananas
• Daund - Peanuts
• Tirupati - Ladoos, sevai
• Londa - Jackfruit
• Allahabad - Motichur ladoos
• Ambala - Aloo paratha
• Puri - Halwah
• Bhubaneshwar - Dal and rice
• Coimbatore - Sambar-rice, tamarind-rice, lemon-rice
• Dehradun - Salted cucumber
• Gwalior, Bhopal - Boiled chickpeas with chile peppers
• Surendranagar - Tea with camel's milk
• Anand - Gota (fenugreek fritters), and milk from the dairy farm there
• Khambalia Junction - Potato/onion/chili fritters
• Dwaraka - Milk pedhas
• Viramgam - Fafda (ganthiya), Poori + Alu-bhaji
• Pendra Road - Samosas
• Manikpur - Cream
• Thanjavur - Salted cashewnuts
• Bharuch - Peanuts
• Maddur - Maddur-vade
• Chinna Ganjam - Cashewnuts
• Gudur - Lemons
• Panruti - Jackfruit
• Virudunagar - Boli (a thick sweet flat bread)
• Sankarankoil - Chicken biryani
• Srivilliputtur - Paal kova (a soft milk-based sweet)
• Manapparai - Murukku
• Fatehabad-Chandrawatiganj - Gulab Jamun
• Mehmedabad - Samosa
• Shamli - Aloo tikki
• Gajraula - Tea
• Vadodara - Flavoured milk