Rajdhani Express

Rajdhani Express
	Rajdhani Express with LHB Coaches
Overview
Main Operation(s)	India
Fleet size	24
Parent company	Indian Railways

The Rajdhani Express is a series of express passenger train services in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capital and/or largest cities of various states. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in many Indian languages. The Rajdhanis are among the fastest trains in India along with Tejas Express, Gatimaan Express, Shatabdi Express and Duronto Express and get the highest priority on the Indian railway a network.

History

The first Rajdhani Express was introduced in 1969, for providing fast connections (up to 140 km/h or 87 mph, speed variation depending upon the particular track section) from New Delhi to the capital cities of various states in India. The first Rajdhani Express left New Delhi station for Howrah station to cover a distance of 1,445 km in 17 hours 20 mins.

The Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, one of the most important trains in India, was introduced on 17 May 1972.

Until 1988, with the introduction of the Bhopal Shatabdi Express at 140 km/hr, the Rajdhani was the fastest train in India reaching speeds of 115-120 km/hr.

About

Rajdhani express gets the highest priority on the Indian railway network. They are fully air-conditioned. Passengers are served meals (food price included in the train fare) during the journey. Depending on the duration and timings of the journey, these could include morning tea, breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner. All Rajdhani Express trains offer three classes of accommodation: AC First Class with 2-berth and 4-berth lockable bedrooms, AC 2-tier with open berths (bays of 4 berths + 2 berths on the other side of the corridor) with curtains for privacy, and AC 3-tier (bays of 6 berths + 2 berths on the side) without curtains. Currently there are 24 pairs of trains, connecting New Delhi to important cities across the country. These trains have fewer stops than other express trains and halt only at prominent stations. Recently Dynamic pricing has been introduced on all Rajdhani express trains.

Routes

There are currently 24 pairs of Rajdhani Express operational:^[3]^[4]^[5]

State(s)	Train Name	Train Number(s)	Distance	Average Speed
Assam	Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express	12423/12424	2434 km	65 km/h
	Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express (via Hajipur)	12435/12436	2458 km	58 km/h
	Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express (via Muzzafarpur)	12235/12236	2452 km	56 km/h
Bihar	Patna Rajdhani Express	12309/12310	1003 km	80 km/h
Chhattisgarh	Bilaspur Rajdhani	12441/12442	1501 km	74 km/h
Goa	Madgaon Rajdhani	22413/22414	2094 km	81 km/h
Gujarat	Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani	12957/12958	934 km	68 km/h
Jammu and Kashmir	Jammu Rajdhani	12425/12426	582 km	64 km/h
Jharkhand	Ranchi Rajdhani (via Bokaro)	12439/12440	1305 km	74 km/h
Jharkhand	Ranchi Rajdhani (via Daltonganj)	12453/12454	1341 km	76 km/h
Karnataka	Bangalore Rajdhani	22691/22692	2365 km	70 km/h
Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani	12431/12432	3149 km	76 km/h
Maharashtra	Mumbai Rajdhani	12951/12952	1384 km	88 km/h
	August Kranti Rajdhani	12953/12954	1377 km	79 km/h
	Bandra Rajdhani	09003/09004	1367 km	98 km/h
Odisha	Bhubaneswar Rajdhani (via Adra)	22811/22812	1723 km	74 km/h
	Bhubaneswar Rajdhani (via Bokaro)	22823/22824	1800 km	76 km/h
	Bhubaneswar Rajdhani (via Sambalpur)	20817/20818	1914 km	70 km/h
Tamil Nadu	Chennai Rajdhani	12433/12434	2175 km	77 km/h
Telangana	Secunderabad Rajdhani	12437/12438	1661 km	76 km/h
Tripura	Agartala Rajdhani	20501/20502	2421 km	59 km/h
West Bengal	Howrah Rajdhani (via Gaya)	12301/12302	1447 km	85 km/h
	Howrah Rajdhani (via Patna)	12305/12306	1530 km	76 km/h
	Sealdah Rajdhani	12313/12314	1479 km	82 km/h

Gallery

Mumbai Rajdhani
Mumbai Rajdhani
Interior First Class compartment
Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani
Bhubaneswar Rajdhani
August Kranti Rajdhani
Sealdah Rajdhani
Bhubaneswar Rajdhani express
Chennai Rajdhani in old ICF rake
First Class AC Coach of Bangalore Rajdhani Express
Food in Rajdhani Express
Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express

Incidents

On 25 June 2014, at least four passengers were killed and eight injured when the New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed at Goldin Ganj station near Chapra in suspected sabotage by Maoists. The train was heading towards Dibrugarh .^[6]

On the morning on 14th Sept, 2017, at around 6.00 a.m. IST, a coach of the New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express derailed at the New Delhi station. According to a railway spokesperson, no one was injured in the incident.^[7]