Rajdhani Express Get Turned into 50, a Great Treat was Enjoyed by Passengers
- Admin
- 24 May 2023
On March 3rd, Rajdhani Express successfully completed its 50 years of service. On the account of the day, a great treat was given to the passengers by the Indian Railways.
Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) celebrated the 50th birthday of India's first Rajdhani Express grandly. On 3rd March 1969, Rajdhani Express (12301) started its journey to serve the people in connecting the capital of India, Delhi, to many places. In remembrance of its 50 years long service, Indian Railways celebrated its Golden Jubilee with grand celebrations and a special treat for the passengers.
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How was the day celebrated?
Howrah Junction in Kolkata was decorated attractively to greet the Rajdhani Express's 50th birthday. All the major officials of Eastern Railways were summoned to the station to flag off the train to start its journey. Passengers of the day were welcomed with brand new linen and special napkins stamped with a greeting wish for the 50th birthday of Rajdhani.
Later, General Manager of Eastern Railway Harindra Rao flagged off the train, to ahead its journey to Delhi. The whole day charge of the train was taken by Debashis Chandra. He is the son of Ratan Chandra, who was the first Rajdhani’s catering inspector. Now, Debashis Chandra is the Group General Manager of East.
Debashis Chandra said that “We shall serve fish fry or vegetable cutlets to AC-II and AC-III tier passengers. There will also be rosogollas for dessert, apart from the regular ice cream. First AC passengers will have a continental menu with fish fry or vegetable cutlet, and the special caramel custard will be used to be part of the menu at one time. We shall also welcome all passengers with chocolates and roses.”
Cake cake-cutting ceremony was also held at the station. Moreover, greeting messages were planned at five different train destinations in the video wall of the station. On the day, the railway staff got on duty with a special badge. The train was also decorated with special stickers indicating the train’s 50th birthday.
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What to know about the Rajdhani Express in detail?
In the moment of celebrating the Rajdhani Express' 50th birthday. Here included complete information of the train from its first day journey to of 50-year span.
In the 1960s, there was a deep discussion about the maximum speed of trains in India. In that time, some maximum speed limits were kept as targets by Indian Railways. According to the speed targets, Rajdhani Express was the first train got reach the speed limit of 120 km/h. Then in the year 1969, on March 3, Rajdhani Express started its services as the first luxury train in India.
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Rajdhani Express services are mainly meant to connect cities to reach Delhi easily. That’s why the train was named “Rajdhani Express”. It started its first journey from New Delhi to Howrah on 1st March 1969 to start its services. Finally, on 3rd March 1969, the Rajdhani Express was officially opened to the public at Howrah Junction in Kolkata. With the Rajdhani Express journey time to Delhi from Kolkata was cut down to 17 hours 20 minutes from 24 hours.
At that time, the Rajdhani Express was the only luxury train with a lounge car and air-conditioned chair cars. And also it was the first train that included food charges in the ticket fare. Overall, in the past days, Rajdhani Express is the fastest and the best train. But a small remark about Rajdhani Express is about its food. Many complaints were faced by the staff in food. That’s why many alternations and precautions were taken to the kitchens of Rajdhani.
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However, there is a lot of difference between the past Rajdhani Express and at present Rajdhani Express. At first, the train has 9 coaches only but now total 20 coaches. The diesel locomotive of the train was changed to an electrical engine. Also in the year, 2017 “Swarna” scheme was implemented to the train to facilitate the best facilities to the passengers. Right now Rajdhani Express is one of the Super Fast Express in India.
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Here are the destinations where the Rajdhani Express stops.
Route
Howrah Jn - Asansol Jn - Dhanbad Jn - Gaya Jn - DD Upadhyaya Jn - Allahabad Jn - Kanpur Central - New Delhi.
It means the train stops at Asansol, Dhanbad, Parasnath, Gaya, Deen Dayal Upadhaya junction, Allahabad, and Kanpur. Service days of the train are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Sunday, it travels in travels the Patna route with service number 12305.
A piece of important news is that Rajdhani Expresses are going to pick more speed in the coming years.
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