The Ranchi Rajdhani and the history behind India’s first super fast train service, the Rajdhani Express Train Service.

The Rajdhani Passenger Express enjoys an iconic reputation among the trains that transport 25 million passengers each day across the country of India.  

In 1969 when the first one, rolled out of the New Delhi railway station and made its historic run for Howrah in West Bengal, a station built by the British and the oldest in the sub-continent, it heralded in a new era of super-fast trains and gained a fan following that till date hasn’t diminished a bit.

Kids who once hopped on board with glee tethered to the arms of anxious parents afraid to lose them in the crowd, many now in their early forties, take their children on long distant journeys without thinking twice about a hike in its fares. While others who have grown up on stories of the express stand wide-eyed on platforms waiting for the trains to roll into the station – and all because of one particular train that proved speedy travel was a possibility on Indian tracks.

The Howrah Rajdhani.

The Howrah Rajdhani, was the first of all the Rajdhani trains to appear on India railway tracks. This train had chugged into service after the Railway Budget of 1969 which had proposed the introduction of a new train service capable of reducing travel time to 18 hours between important destinations – mainly the capital cities of India.

The proposal for the project was put forward by Dr. Ram Subhag Singh, an Indian politician and a member of the Indian Parliament. Subhag Singh had served as Minister for Indian Railways from the 14th of February to the 4th of November, 1969.

He had floated the proposal on the 19th of February in 1969 – and a month later, on the 1st of March, 1969, the Howrah Rajdhani had made its debut as a biweekly train service.

The locomotive of the Howrah Rajdhani in 1969.

Unlike the current trains of the express service, the coaches of the Howrah Rajdhani in 1969 was pulled by a WDM-4 class of locomotive engine produced by the U.S. locomotive manufacturer, Electro-Motive Diesel Corporation – a company that was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1922.

The U.S. Company had specifically produced the WDM-4 class of engines in the 1960s to help the Indian Railways replace its ageing steam locomotives – after a 224 page report had been submitted by the Expert Committee on coal consumption by the Indian Railways in 1958.

The Expert Committee report, 1958.

Headed by Karnail Singh, a member of the Indian Railway’s engineering section, the Expert Committee was formed in 1957 at the request of Indian politician Jagjivan Ram, who had then held the post of the Minister of Railways. Its mission was to ascertain how dependency on high-grade coal was responsible for the high fuel costs incurred by the Indian Railways.

According to the report of this committee, trains of the Indian Railways at the time were utilizing a third of the entire coal supply in the country – which was not only putting an enormous strain on the low availability of high-grade coals but also constituted the single-item factor responsible for the Railway’s exorbitant spending.

Although this committee had initially proposed setting up of washeries for refining an inferior variety of coal for use by the Indian Railways, diesel-powered locomotives had later emerged as a viable option – and thus had come about the WDM-4 type of locomotive engines.

Route of the Howrah Rajdhani.

Flagged off by Ram Subhag Singh at 5:30 PM, the Howrah Rajdhani had made its maiden journey, on the 1,441 km stretch that had connected Delhi to Kolkatta.

Known as the Howrah-Delhi main line, this stretch was originally built by the East Indian Railway Company – a British firm that had worked in collaboration with the East India Company, before the latter’s dissolution in 1858.

The survey was originally carried out in 1846 and development had taken place in stages between 1851 and 1866. The colossal undertaking had seen the laying out of miles of railway tracks, and the construction of wayside stations and bridges over rivers and other large water bodies to connect the two distant cities.

In 1961, the Indian Railways had deliberately opted to test the Howrah Rajdhani on this extensive stretch of laid-out railway lines for the reason that the Howrah-Delhi mainline had boasted of robust and superior infrastructure, that was nowhere else to be found in India at the time.

Furthermore, between the 1950s and 60s, several sections of this massive stretch had already been electrified, and the railway lines were primarily of the broad gauge type.

Time taken by the Howrah Rajdhani to cover the distance.

The Howrah Rajdhani had covered the distance in 17hrs and 20 mins, traveling at a speed of 120 kmph. En route, the train had made technical halts at the stations of Kanpur, Mughalsarai and Gomah. It had left New Delhi at 5:30 pm, on a Saturday and arrived at Kolkatta at precisely 10:50 am, on the following day that was a Sunday.

Upon reaching its destination in the estimated time the train had not only lived up to expectations but also proved that distances could be covered in less time than what other trains of the era were capable of accomplishing in twenty-four hours or more.

On its maiden journey, the train’s WDM-4-powered locomotive engine had pulled nine carriages which had included a dining carriage, five chair carriages, a first-class carriage and two generator carriages.

These carriages were specially developed for the Rajdhani by the Integral Coach factory located at Perambur, in Tamil Nadu – and had come with vacuum brakes and an under-slung air-conditioning system.

On the 3rd of March 1969, the train had made its return journey. It had departed Howrah at 5:00 pm on a Monday and arrived at New Delhi at 10:20 am on a Tuesday.

Shortly afterwards, the train service was made accessible to the public on a biweekly basis. It had operated on Mondays and Fridays – and charged passengers Rs. 280 for its first-class carriage and Rs. 90 for its chair carriages.

Later trains of the Rajdhani.

Almost three years after the Howrah Rajdhani made its debut, the Indian Railways introduced the New Delhi to Mumbai Central Rajdhani Service on the 17th of May in 1972.

This second train of the Rajdhani train service was followed by the ‘August Kranti’ connecting Mumbai Central to Hazrat Nizamuddin in New Delhi, and was inaugurated on the 1st of January in 1992.

The fourth to rollout was the KSR Bengaluru to Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani train, inaugurated on 1st of November in 1992.

A year later, on the 3rd of July in 1993, the Indian railways simultaneously launched on the same day, the Thiruvananthapuram to Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani, the MGR Chennai Central to Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani and a second train of the Howrah to New Delhi Rajdhani to ferry passengers via Patna.

On the 1st of April in 1994, debuted the Bhubaneswar to New Delhi Rajdhani and a month later was launched the Dibrugarh to New Delhi Rajdhani, on the 6th of July in 1994. Followed by the Jammu Tawi to New Delhi Rajdhani on the 10th of July in 1994.

Two years later, on the 1st of September in 1996 was launched the Rajendra Nagar (Patna) to New Delhi Rajdhani, and on 1st of January in 1998, debuted the Ahmedabad (Sabarmati) to New Delhi (Swarna Jayanti) Rajdhani.

On the 17th of October in 2001 was introduced the Ranchi-Rajdhani train service, and on the 13th of September in 2005, the Sairang (Mizoram) to Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi) Rajdhani.

Presently, the Rajdhani Express train service operates around 52-54 individual trains with 26-27 operational pairs.

Debut of the Ranchi Rajdhani.

The Ranchi Rajdhani, a part of the Rajdhani Express Service, was initiated on the 17th of October in 2001- some ten months after the formation of the state of Jharkhand with Ranchi as its capital city – and which officially took place on the 15th of November in 2000.

The train service was inducted to connect Delhi to the newly designated state capital of Ranchi- and was inaugurated by Indian politician Nitish Kumar, a former minister of Indian Railways.

On its inception, it had operated on a weekly basis – and connected Delhi to Ranchi via the stations of Bokaro and Hatia.

In 2004, it had begun to operate on a bi-weekly basis and from 2006 onwards, it had extended its reach to cover the destinations of Prayagraj, Mughalsarai, Daltongang, Barkakana and Muri.

In 2016, the train service had further extended its range to include the stations of Lohardaga and Tori – and which was made possible by the construction of the Ranchi-Lohardaga and the Lohardaga-Tori broad gauge railway lines.

The Rajdhani Express: A forerunner of change.

The Rajdhani Express including the Ranchi-Rajdhani was also the first in India to provide passengers with Wi-Fi connectivity. In addition to this it was also the first to use a locally built variant of the German LBH type coach – fitted with advanced safety features and an early fire warning system.

Since 2017, the express service has been in the process of gradually upgrading all its trains with the home-built Tejas variant of coaches – which upon completion will effectively transform it into the Tejas Rajdhani Passenger Express.

In its new and evolved avatar, it will provide passengers with enhanced features in comfort and other facilities.

Trains of the Northern Railways.

The Northern Railways, a division of the Indian Railways, currently manages six of these superfast trains that connect the capital cities of Delhi and Ranchi as well as several other stations that fall en route.

Among them, the Ndls Rnc Raj Exp (Train No. 20840) is one of the long-distance runners that operate on a biweekly basis and ferry over a thousand passengers to their destination in an eighteen-hour journey – barring aside unforeseen technical snags, traffic and low visibility in winter months.

The other five trains of the Ranchi Rajdhani: The Rnc Ndls Raj Exp (Train No. 20407), the Rnc Ndls Raj Exp (Train No. 12453), the Rnc Rajdhani (Train No. 20408), the Rnc Ndls Raj Exp (Train No: 20839), and the Rnc Rajdhani (Train No. 12454), all operate on a weekly basis.

Collectively, all six trains of the Ranchi Rajdhani, offer a very large population of Indian wayfarers with a much-preferred choice of long-distance transport.

Coaches of the Rajdhani Express.

On every Rajdhani train, including the Ranchi Rajdhani, coaches are segregated into three categories: The Ac 1 tier, the Ac 2 tier and the Ac 3 tier. The Ac, being an acronym for Air Conditioning.

Traditionally, the Ac 1 tier has been considered to be for a privileged class and continues to do so – and is made available to passengers at a slightly higher price, the Ac 1 tier provides more privacy and personal space.

The Ac 2 tier is next in line but accommodates more passengers. There are 4 berths on one side of the aisle and double berths on the other. The Ac 2 tier is a little less expensive than the Ac 1 tier.

The Ac 3 tier is the economy class and provides six berths on one side and double berths on the other.

Every berth is provided with a clean bed sheet, a single blanket and a pillow.

Rajdhani Personnel.

The staff of the Ranchi Rajdhani can usually be identified by their black and white attires, and maroon shirts and striped sleeveless jackets. The attendants on board serve meals as per the prescribed timetable and generally care for the passengers.

Besides the attendants, the train service also has a housekeeping staff that frequently cleans up spills and messes left behind by careless passengers and a security crew comprising of railway police members. Passengers are at liberty to call upon their assistance, should they feel the need – and many even do.

The staff who work these trains are on most occasions, friendly and extremely helpful.

Meals on board the Ranchi Rajdhani.

Meals provided on the Ranchi-Rajdhani are not prepared by the Indian Railways but are provided for by private caterers hired for the job on a contract basis. A pamphlet served alongside the meals comes with the name of the caterer.

Though the meals are included in the price of a ticket, the menu is limited and prefixed. However, passengers do have the option to choose between vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, and the culinary items do change from time to time.

Sometimes, the train also includes a special dish in its menu, which is charged separately and served between the appetizer and dinner.

Meals onboard are served an hour after departure. The first to be served is tea and light snacks. This is followed shortly afterwards, by soup, bread sticks and butter. Then comes dinner and finally desserts – which is usually Vanilla ice cream.

Tea with biscuits is served quite early in the morning. Which is followed by breakfast. For dinner and breakfast, one gets to choose between non-vegetarian and vegetarian items. The non-vegetarian menu includes chicken and eggs.

Passengers who find the meals too spicy or completely unpalatable usually bring along their own food – from home or restaurants. Soft drinks, wafers and peanuts are widely brought on board.

Popularity of the Rajdhani trains.

In the 21st century, all three tiers of Ranchi Rajdhani continue to be the preferred choice of India’s large population of middle and lower-middle income earners. Onboard one mostly finds men and women, families and businessmen, corporate and government employees, students and occasional wayfarers from very humble and ordinary backgrounds.

People for whom an eighteen-hour long journey inside an air-conditioned cabin with meals being served on schedule far outweighs the discomfort of traveling in a local train. Especially for what the train service offers, in terms of services, hospitality, and safety in comparison. Or for that matter travel ling in a luxurious environment at higher prices.

Despite occasional hikes in fares, most still find the tickets to be economical when compared to flights, or other modes of road transport that can be uncomfortable and more time-consuming.

The principal factor, however, that prompts wayfarers, hailing from this bracket of Indian society, is the train service’s record of getting people to their destinations in the shortest possible time, on Indian railway tracks.

Speed of the Rajdhani trains, today.

Though the current trains of the Howrah Rajdhani are far superior to the one that ushered in the era of superfast trains in India, in terms of speed, structural integrity and amenities. None ever accelerates to their maximum speed of 140 kmph for safety reasons.

Furthermore, this express service that celebrates its birthday on the 1st of March each year and has been operational for over half a century, also does not qualify in the category of the ‘fastest in the world’.

Yet its reputation for punctuality and service, remains unmarred and unbeaten by any, except perhaps the later Shatabdi and the Duronto train service that matches it in both areas with some even superseding it.

Late, the trains can still get, over technical delays – and especially during winter months with dense fog hampering visibility.