Rajdhani Express
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Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India introduced in 1969 providing high-speed connections (up to 130 km/h / 81 mph) from various railway stations in the capital city of New Delhi to the capital cities of various states in India (or, in certain cases, prominent cities within the state the train serves). These trains have higher priorities on the Indian railway network, have fewer stops than other express trains and are fully air-conditioned. Currently there are 18 pairs of Rajdhani expresses, connecting New Delhi to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Bilaspur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi, Kolkata, Jammu, Mumbai, Patna, Secunderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. Some cities have more than one Rajdhani Express serving them.
- Ahmedabad Rajdhani - serves the western Indian state of Gujarat. This train starts from the New Delhi railway station and runs six days a week. This is one of the Rajdhanis that does not originate or terminate at the state capital.
- Bangalore Rajdhani - serves the southern Indian state of Karnataka. This train starts from the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station and runs four days a week. Since this train runs via Secunderabad, it can be considered to serve the state of Andhra Pradesh as well.
- Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani - serves the eastern Indian state of Orissa. There are two Rajdhanis serving Bhubaneshwar - one, running on two days a week via Tatanagar and the other, running via Dhanbad, on two other days of the week.
- Bilaspur Rajdhani - serves the central Indian state of Chattisgarh. It runs from New Delhi and on a twice-weekly schedule. It is yet another example of a Rajdhani that does not originate or terminate at the state capital.
- Chennai Rajdhani - serves the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It runs from Hazrat Nizamuddin, and is twice-weekly.
- Guwahati Rajdhani - serves the entire north-eastern part of India, though the city of Guwahati is in the state of Assam. There are two versions of the Guwahati Rajdhani, one running five days a week via Patna and Kanpur, and the other running the remaining two days via Hajipur and Lucknow. A portion of this train travels beyond Guwahati to Dibrugarh, which is almost at the eastern end of India.
- Ranchi Rajdhani - serves the north Indian state of Jharkhand. It runs twice a week, from New Delhi.
- Kolkata Rajdhani - there are three Rajdhanis serving the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. One of them is a daily affair, and connects New Delhi to the Sealdah railway terminus in Kolkata. The other one connects New Delhi to Howrah, and runs six days a week via Patna, and on the seventh day, via Dhanbad.
- Jammu Tawi Rajdhani - serves the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It runs once a week from New Delhi.
- Mumbai Rajdhani - There are two Rajdhanis serving the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Both of them are daily trains. One of them runs from New Delhi, while the other, named August Kranti (August Revolution) Rajdhani to commemorate the Quit India Movement (launched on August 8, 1942, at Mumbai by Mahatma Gandhi), from Hazrat Nizamuddin.
- Patna Rajdhani - serves the north Indian state of Bihar, and runs twice a week between New Delhi and Rajendra Nagar railway station of Patna.
- Secunderabad Rajdhani - serves the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, and runs once a week from Hazrat Nizamuddin.
- Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani - serves the southern Indian state of Kerala, and runs twice a week from Hazrat Nizamuddin.
External links
- Abstract timetables of Rajdhani Expresses. (http://203.197.214.122/railways/timetable/RajdhaniShatabdi.htm)