Shatabdi Express
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Shatabdi Express | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overview | |||||
Status | Active | ||||
First service | 14 November 1988 | ||||
Successor | Vande Bharat Express | ||||
Current operator(s) | Indian Railways | ||||
Website | http://indianrail.gov.in | ||||
Route | |||||
Line(s) used | 23 | ||||
On-board services | |||||
Class(es) | Executive Chair Car, AC Chair Car | ||||
Seating arrangements | Yes | ||||
Catering facilities | No pantry car attached but has onboard catering | ||||
Entertainment facilities | Electric outlets | ||||
Baggage facilities | Overhead racks, baggage area near vestibule | ||||
Technical | |||||
Rolling stock | LHB coaches | ||||
Track gauge | 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge | ||||
Track owner(s) | Indian Railways | ||||
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Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast (called Superfast in India) passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect Metro cities with other Major cities for tourism, pilgrimage & business purposes. Shatabdi Express are day-trains and they return to the station of origin the same day.
The Shatabdi along with the Rajdhani and the Duronto are among the major in India and Indian Railways considers Rajdhani and Shatabdi as prestigious. Shatabdi Expresses gets the second highest priority, after Rajdhani Expresses which gets highest priority and overall second highest until Train 18, Gatimaan, and Tejas Express came in existence. The Shatabdi Express trains run over short to medium distances while the Rajdhani Expresses and the Duronto Expresses are long-distance trains. Rajdhani Expresses connect the nation's capital New Delhi to capitals of states and other major cities while Duronto Expresses connect major cities to other major cities. All three series of trains have a maximum speed of about 130 km/h (81 mph). The 12001 Bhopal Shatabdi express, however, runs at a peak speed of 155 km/h (96 mph), which makes it the fourth fastest train in India after the Tejas Express, Gatimaan Express and Vande Bharat Express.
History[]
The name "Shatabdi" means centenary in Sanskrit. The first Shatabdi Express train was introduced on 10 July 1988, by then Railways Minister Madhavrao Scindia to commemorate the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India, between New Delhi and Gwalior Junction. It was later extended to Jhansi Junction and then to Bhopal Junction. Its terminal station in Bhopal was subsequently moved from Bhopal Junction to Habibganj.
Service[]
Shatabdi Express trains offer fast connectivity with only a few intermediate stops. They are fully air-conditioned and of a much higher standard than most Indian trains. Shatabdi travelers were provided with bottled water, juice, coffee or tea, and meals relevant to the time of day of the journey but now they don’t including the Rajdhani Express. Travelers have to pay for food at an extra cost. All these new changes happened after the COVID-19 situation in India.
Shatabdi trains are also further distinguished from other trains, in terms of convenience in boarding and disembarking. Most stations give them priority berthing at the better platforms, such as ones located close to the station building or waiting halls (generally platform number 1 at most of the stations).
Berths and seats in Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express and Rajdhani Express trains have to be reserved in advance before boarding the train. There is no unreserved accommodation in these trains, unlike most of the other trains in India. A few Shatabdis have a current booking system where tickets can be booked within a couple of hours before departure.
As Shatabdi Express are day-trains and return to the station of origin the same day, coaches (AC Chair Car) on the train have only seats and not berths. All the Shatabdi Express trains have, however, one or two coaches of Executive Class seating. Recently, Indian Railways have started offering Anubhuti Class seating also. These coaches have a wider legroom and offer better food compared to the normal air conditioned seating (CC).
New onboard entertainment systems have also been installed on some of these trains where the passengers can view movies and television serials directly via satellite. One of the first services to have this system is the Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express.[1]
List of Shatabdi trains[]
Indian Railways operates 23 pairs of Shatabdi Express as of October 2019. These trains are listed here.
Sr. no. | Train no. | Route | Stops | Distance | Year introduced |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12001 | Rani kamlapati–New Delhi | Bhopal, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Gwalior, Morena, Agra, Mathura | 705 km (438 mi) | 1988 |
12002 | New Delhi–Rani kamlapati | ||||
2 | 12003 | Lucknow–New Delhi | Kanpur, Etawah, Tundla, Aligarh, Ghaziabad | 513 km (319 mi) | 1989 |
12004 | New Delhi–Lucknow | ||||
3 | 12005 | New Delhi–Kalka | Panipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Chandigarh | 303 km (188 mi) | 1992 |
12006 | Kalka–New Delhi | ||||
4 | 12007 | MGR Chennai Central–Mysuru | Katpadi, Bangalore | 500 km (310 mi) | 1994 |
12008 | Mysuru–MGR Chennai Central | ||||
5 | 12009 | Mumbai Central–Ahmedabad | Borivali, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Nadiad | 491 km (305 mi) | 1994 |
12010 | Ahmedabad–Mumbai Central | ||||
6 | 12011 | New Delhi–Kalka | Panipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Chandigarh | 303 km (188 mi) | NA |
12012 | Kalka–New Delhi | ||||
7 | 12013 | New Delhi–Amritsar | Ambala Cantt, Sirhind, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas | 449 km (279 mi) | NA |
12014 | Amritsar - New Delhi | ||||
8 | 12015 | New Delhi–Daurai (Ajmer) | Delhi Cantt, Gurgaon, Rewari, Alwar, Jaipur, Ajmer | 451 km (280 mi) | NA |
12016 | Daurai (Ajmer)–New Delhi | ||||
9 | 12017 | New Delhi–Dehradun | Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Roorkee, Haridwar | 315 km (196 mi) | NA |
12018 | Dehradun–New Delhi | ||||
10 | 12019 | Howrah–Ranchi | Durgapur, Raniganj, Asansol, Dhanbad, Chandrapura, Bokaro Steel City, Muri | 421 km (262 mi) | 1995 |
12020 | Ranchi–Howrah | ||||
11 | 12025 | Pune–Secunderabad | Daund, Solapur, Gulbarga, Wadi, Tandur, Vikarabad, Begumpet | 597 km (371 mi) | 2011 |
12026 | Secunderabad–Pune | ||||
12 | 12027 | Chennai–Bengaluru | Katpadi, Bengaluru Cantt. | 362 km (225 mi) | 2005 |
12028 | KSR Bengaluru–MGR Chennai Central | ||||
13 | 12029 | New Delhi–Amritsar | Ambala, Rajpura, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas | 448 km (278 mi) | NA |
12030 | Amritsar–New Delhi | ||||
14 | 12031 | New Delhi–Amritsar | Ambala, Rajpura, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas | 448 km (278 mi) | NA |
12032 | Amritsar–New Delhi | ||||
15 | 12033 | Kanpur Central–New Delhi | Etawah, Aligarh, Ghaziabad | 440 km (270 mi) | 1994 |
12034 | New Delhi–Kanpur Central | ||||
16 | 12039 | Kathgodam–New Delhi | Haldwani, Lalkuan, Rudrapur, Rampur, Moradabad, Ghaziabad | 282 km (175 mi) | 2012 |
12040 | New Delhi–Kathgodam | ||||
17 | 12041 | Howrah–New Jalpaiguri | Bolpur Shantiniketan, New Farakka Junction, Malda Town, Kishanganj | 566 km (352 mi) | 2012 |
12042 | New Jalpaiguri–Howrah | ||||
18 | 12045 | New Delhi–Chandigarh | Ambala Cantt, Karnal | 244 km (152 mi) | 2013 |
12046 | Chandigarh–New Delhi | ||||
19 | 12047 | New Delhi–Firozpur | Rohtak, Jind, Jakhal, Mansa, Bathinda | 300 km (190 mi) | 2014 |
12048 | Firozpur–New Delhi | ||||
20 | 12085 | Guwahati–Dibrugarh | Lumding, Dimapur, Mariani | 506 km (314 mi) | 2017 |
12086 | Dibrugarh–Guwahati | ||||
21 | 12087 | Naharlagun–Guwahati | Rangiya, Rangapara | 332 km (206 mi) | 2017 |
12088 | Guwahati–Naharlagun | ||||
22 | 12243 | MGR Chennai Central–Coimbatore | Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur | 502 km (312 mi) | 2011 |
12244 | Coimbatore–Chennai | ||||
23 | 12277 | Howrah–Puri | Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar | 500 km (310 mi) | 2010 |
12278 | Puri–Howrah |
# | Train no. | Route | Distance | Operational years |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12027 | Mumbai–Pune | 192 km | 1995-2004 |
12028 | Pune–Mumbai | |||
2 | 12035 | Jaipur–Agra Fort | 241 km | 2012-2018 |
12036 | Agra Fort–Jaipur | |||
3 | 12037 | New Delhi–Ludhiana | 329 km | 2011-2019 |
12038 | Ludhiana–New Delhi | |||
4 | 12043 | New Delhi–Moga | 398 km | 2012-2019 |
12044 | Moga–New Delhi | |||
5 | Unknown | Howrah–Tatanagar | 250 km | Unknown-1995 |
Unknown | Tatanagar–Howrah |
Related trains[]
A variant of the Shatabdi Express, Swarna Shatabdi Express, is considered more luxurious by Indian Railway. Indian Railways later introduced a lower-priced version Jan Shatabdi Expresses, which are nearly all without air-conditioning and much more affordable.
A former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had also introduced Garib Rath (chariot of the poor) in 2005. These are fast trains (like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi), which are fully air-conditioned and with lower fares. These trains are quite successful and compete with low-cost airlines on some long-distance routes.
Gallery[]
Trainboard of 12027 Bangalore Shatabdi Express
Commonwealth Games livery coach of 12018 Dehradun Shatabdi Express
Electronic coachboard of 12017 Dehradun Shatabdi Express
ex 12007 Mysore Shatabdi coach E1 of 12026 Shatabdi Express
Coachboard of 12010 Shatabdi Express
Nameboard of 12010 Shatabdi Express
Interior view of the new Executive AC Chair Car coaches (EC) on the Chennai–Mysore line
Interior view of the new AC Chair Car coaches (CC) on the Chennai–Mysore line
Puri Shatabdi express at Balasore railway station
Chennai–Mysore Shatabdi at the Mysore Junction
12025 Shatabdi Express crossing Bharathnagar MMTS station, Hyderabad
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Shatabdi Express is now 'Gold Standard'; Free movies on WiFi to clean toilets, 15 facts every rail passenger will love". Financial express. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "India Rail timetable".
- "'Shatabdi is the heart of Indian railways'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
- "No halts, new Shatabdi Express to fly to Delhi". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 September 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shatabdi Express trains. |
- Railway services introduced in 1988
- Shatabdi Express trains
- Named passenger trains of India