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Darjeeling Mail

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Darjeeling Mail
Overview
Service typeSuperfast
First service1 January 1878; 146 years ago (1878-01-01)
Current operator(s)Eastern Railways
Route
TerminiSealdah (SDAH)
Haldibari (HDB)
Stops6
Distance travelled573 km (356 mi)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)12343 / 12344
On-board services
Class(es)AC 1st, AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, Sleeper class, General Unreserved, Military coach
Seating arrangementsYes
Sleeping arrangementsYes
Catering facilitiesNo pantry car
Observation facilitiesLarge windows
Technical
Rolling stockLHB coach
Track gauge1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed130 km/h (81 mph) maximum,
57 km/h (35 mph) average with halts
Route map
Darjeeling Mail (Sealdah–New Jalpaiguri) route map

The 12343 / 12344 Sealdah-Haldibari-Sealdah Darjeeling Mail is one of the oldest running legendary trains in India which connects Kolkata With Haldibari via Barddhaman, Malda Town, New Jalpaiguri, and Jalpaiguri. This is a major train for Kolkata–Siliguri route. It is also the first train to run with AC electric loco WAP-7 in Sealdah to Haldibari stretch.[1]

History

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Run via East Bengal

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During the British period all connections to North Bengal were through East Bengal.

From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps. The first lap was a 184.9 kilometres (114.9 mi) long journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River. The passengers would then avail a ferry across the river. The second lap of the journey was a 363.1 kilometres (225.6 mi) metre-gauge line of the North Bengal Railway that linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.[2]

Later the 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) long Hardinge Bridge across the Padma came up in 1912.[3] In 1916 the metre-gauge section north of the bridge was converted to broad gauge, and so the entire Calcutta – Siliguri route became broad-gauge.[2] The route thus roughly ran: Sealdah–Ranaghat–Bheramara–Hardinge Bridge–Iswardi–Santahar–Hili–Parbatipur–Nilphamari–Haldibari–Jalpaiguri–Siliguri.

The Darjeeling Mail ran on this route in pre-partition days. Even after the partition of India it ran on this route for some years.[4][5]

Ferry across Ganges (Post-partition)

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With the partition of India in 1947, the major hurdle in connecting Kolkata and Siliguri was that there was no bridge across the Ganges in West Bengal or Bihar. A generally acceptable route to Siliguri was via Sahibganj loop to Rajmahal, then across the Ganges by ferry to Manihari Ghat on the other side, then to Kishanganj via Manihari, Katihar and Barsoi and finally through narrow gauge to Siliguri.[6] In 1949 Kishanganj–Siliguri section too was converted to metre gauge, thus making the entire route a uni-gauge one.[2]

Run via Farakka Barrage

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In the early 1965s, when Farakka Barrage was being constructed, a more radical change was made. Indian Railways created a new broad-gauge rail link from Kolkata, and on a greenfield site south of Siliguri Town built an entirely new broad-gauge junction, New Jalpaiguri.[2]

The 2,256.25 metres (7,402.4 ft) long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges. The rail bridge was thrown open to the public in 1971, thereby linking the Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop to Malda Town, Barsoi, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri and other railway stations in North Bengal.[7][8] Since then Darjeeling Mail has been using the Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line.

In 2022, the train was extended till Haldibari station. However this extension was met with apprehension as it was thought that this extension will reduce the importance of the New Jalpaiguri station.

Coach composition

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This train has 22 LHB coach[9]

Legends
EOG/SLR PC MIL H A HA B AB G K E C S D GEN/UR
Generator cum luggage van Pantry car or Hot buffet car Military coach First AC (1A) Second AC (2A) First AC cum Second AC Third AC (3A) Third AC cum Second AC Third AC economy (3E) Anubhuti coach (K) Executive chair car (EC) AC Chair car (CC) Sleeper class (SL) Second seating (2S) General or Unreserved
  Loco and other service coach
  AC coach
  Non-AC coach

Sealdah to Haldibari

Loco 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
SLR GEN GEN GEN S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 A1 A2 H1 EOG

Haldibari to Sealdah

Loco 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
EOG H1 A2 A1 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 S7 S6 S5 S4 S3 S2 S1 GEN GEN GEN SLR

See also

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References

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  1. ^ PATRANABIS, SREERUP. "12343/Darjeeling Mail (PT) - Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri ER/Eastern Zone - Railway Enquiry". India Rail Info. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "India: the complex history of the junctions at Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri". IRFCA. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  3. ^ Chowdhury, Sifatul Quader (2012). "Hardinge Bridge". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  4. ^ Joydeep Dutta and Harsh Vardhan. "Trains of Fame and Locos with a Name, part 2". IRFCA. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Geography – International". IRFCA. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  6. ^ "my school i wish". Madhyamgram Re-visited after 15 years. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  7. ^ Salman, Salman M. A.; Uprety, Kishor (2002). Conflict and cooperation on South Asia's international rivers: a legal perspective. World Bank Publications. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-0-8213-5352-3. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  8. ^ Saxena, R. P. "Indian Railway History timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  9. ^ PATRANABIS, SREERUP. "12343/Darjeeling Mail (PT) - Sealdah to Haldibari ER/Eastern Zone - Railway Enquiry". India Rail Info. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
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External videos
video icon Darjeeling Mail-WDP4 magic with 8 AC coaches
video icon Darjeeling Mail at Kamarkundu Junction
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