Taj Express
Train in India
The Taj Express is a railway service started in 1964, initially serving tourists travelling from Delhi to Agra. It reduced the travelling time from over three hours to around two and a half hours. Taj Express was started along the lines of Deccan Queen, which ran as a high-speed commuter-special train between Pune Junction and CSMT Mumbai (ex Victoria Terminus Bombay), and provided a quick and comfortable journey between Agra and Delhi. It was a very popular train, especially among foreign tourists, before the Bhopal Shatabdi was introduced in 1988. The train was extended up to Gwalior in 1985 and then to Jhansi in 2006. It was named after Taj Mahal.
01History
- In 1964 Taj Express was introduced from New Delhi to Agra. Running at 105 km/h, it brought down travel time on this route to 2h 35m. It was hauled by a WP-7003 steam engine. It was a train that was immensely popular with tourists, particularly foreigners, as it gave them ample time to visit the Taj Mahal and neighbouring monuments before returning to Delhi that evening. It was posted on Facebook page of Ministry of Railways, Government of India (Facebook confirmed that this is the authentic profile for this public figure.) on 1 October 2022: On this day in 1964, Taj Express, the then fastest train on the Indian Railways Network was introduced between New Delhi and Agra Cantt.
- Surprisingly, the train did not run on Wednesdays. The Taj Mahal monument was then closed to tourists on Mondays and the one day off on Wednesdays was a direct financial loss. The Archaeological Survey of India then decided that the Taj Mahal would remain closed on Fridays for the public except for Muslims who could pray in the mosque between 12 noon to 2 P.M. The Taj Express still did not operate on Wednesdays.
- In Oct, 1982 The Taj Express began using diesel locomotives (WDM-2).
- In 1985, then-Railway Minister Madhavrao Scindia extended the Taj Express to Gwalior Junction. Journey time was 5hrs 20 min, leaving Hazrat Nizamuddin at 0710 am and reaching Gwalior at 1230 pm. The return timings were 1710 pm departure Gwalior and 2230 pm arrival Hazrat Nizamuddin. In 1989, the Wednesdays off was discontinued. The train, however, remained idle for well over four hours at Gwalior.
- In 1986, the Taj Express began using electric locomotives.
- 1 July 2006, the train was extended to Jhansi.
- 4 January 2016, the train introduced LHB coach. And use the livery of Shatabdi Express train coaches
- 21 February 2018, the source for 12280 and destination station of 12279, changed from Hazrat Nizamuddin (NZM) to New Delhi (NDLS).
- 3 June 2024, three coaches of a train heading towards Jhansi were burnt after a fire broke out from one of its coaches. There are no injuries among the passengers.
02Train information
As the whole route is electrified, the train is generally hauled by WAP-7 from Ghaziabad for its whole journey. But occasionally it is also hauled by WAP-5 from Ghaziabad.
| Train coaches | LHB rakes |
|---|
| ENG | Luggage brake
& Generator car |
AC Chair Car
(1st Class) |
Chair Car
(2nd Class) |
General
(3rd Class) |
Luggage brake
& Generator car | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L | EOG | C1 | C2 | C3 | D1 | D2 | D3 | D4 | D5 | D6 | D7 | D8 | D9 | D10 | D11 | D12 | D13 | D14 | GS1 | GS2 | EOG |
03Route
The train numbered 12279 goes from Gwalior Junction to New Delhi railway station, and train number is 12280 goes from New Delhi railway station to Jhansi.
| Taj Express | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Station | Code | Average speed / hour | Zone | Address |
| 1 | New Delhi | NDLS | 40 | NR | Ajmeri Gate 110002, Delhi NCT |
| 2 | Nizamuddin, Delhi | NZM | 70 | NR | New Delhi 110013, Delhi NCT |
| 3 | Faridabad | FDB | 80 | NR | PIN 121003, Haryana |
| 4 | Mathura | MTJ | 90 | NCR | Mathura, Uttar Pradesh |
| 5 | Raja ki Mandi, Agra | RKM | 30 | NCR | Agra, Uttar Pradesh |
| 6 | Agra Cantt, Agra | AGC | 60 | NCR | Agra, Uttar Pradesh |
| 7 | Dhaulpur | DHO | 60 | NCR | Dhaulpur, Rajasthan |
| 8 | Morena | MRA | 60 | NCR | Morena, Madhya Pradesh |
| 9 | Gwalior Junction | GWL | 70 | NCR | Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh |
| 10 | Dabra | DBA | 73 | NCR | Dabra, Madhya Pradesh |
| 11 | Datia | DAA | 26 | NCR | Datia, Madhya Pradesh |
| 12 | Jhansi Junction | JHS | 43 | NCR | Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Taj Express”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- TajExpress.jpg by Rohittkarwal, CC BY-SA 4.0
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