The 12311 / 12312 Netaji Express (formerly known as Kalka Mail) is one of the oldest running trains in India. This train connects

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, capital of the State of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Kalka Kalka is a town in the Panchkula district of Haryana, India. It is near Panchkula city. The name of the town is derived from the Hindu goddess Kali. Kalka is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and is a gateway to the neighbouring st ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

. Kalka is the railhead for the Kalka-Shimla Railway which runs till

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

, the once summer capital of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. This train connects with the Shivalik Deluxe Express that runs between Kalka and Shimla.

Timings

* 12311 departs

at 21:55 IST and reaches

at 03:00 IST on the third day. * 12312 departs

at 23:55 IST and reaches

at 08:05 IST on the third day.

Coach Composition

This train has 24 Utkrisht ICF coaches. Howrah to Kalka Kalka to Howrah At Chandigarh Junction; coaches S1 to S5 , PC, B1 and A1 are detached from 12311 bound to

. These coaches are re-attached with 12312 bound to

. This is done as the platforms of Kalka are too short to fully fit the 24 coach rake.

Traction

This train is hauled end to end by a

WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic ...

or a

WAP-4 The Indian locomotive class WAP-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1993 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic (P) l ...

electric locomotive based in

Electric Loco Shed, Howrah Electric Loco Shed, Howrah is a motive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for electric locomotives of the Indian Railways, located at Howrah of the Eastern Railway zone in West Bengal, India. It is one of the tw ...

History

In the late 1850s, the British Government in India decided to relocate their capital from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

during the summer months to protect the European population from the intense heat of the Bengal plains. To facilitate the annual migration of British officials, their families, and accompanying staff between the imperial capital at Calcutta and the summer capital in Shimla, the

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

inaugurated a train service on July 1, 1866. Departing from Howrah Railway Station, the service was designated as 1 UP (Up Line) / 2 DN (Down Line), known as the East Indian Railway Mail. Initially, this service operated exclusively between

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. The extension of the

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...

–

railway line in 1891 enabled the East Indian Railway Mail to extend its route to Kalka. The subsequent opening of the Kalka – Shimla route on November 7, 1903, facilitated the further extension of the train service to Shimla, involving a gauge change at Kalka. Passengers traveling to Shimla from Kalka transitioned from a broad gauge train to a narrow gauge East Indian Railway Mail for the final leg of the journey. Notably, both Howrah and Kalka stations featured internal carriageways along the platforms to allow the Viceroy and other dignitaries to access their rail coaches directly. The carriageway at Howrah remains in use between Platforms 8 and 9, while the carriageway at Kalka has been repurposed into a platform. The revered freedom fighter

Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Fascist Japan left a le ...

boarded this train from

Gomoh Gomoh (better known as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Junction Gomoh) is a census town in Topchanchi CD Block Dhanbad Sadar subdivision of Dhanbad district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It has a major railway junction, which was renamed Netaj ...

on the night of 17 January, 1941 while escaping the

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

. With the rationalisation of train numbering system in the 1990s, the iconic designation 01 UP / 02 DN was discontinued. On July 10, 2011 this train was involved in a derailment at Malwan station in

Fatehpur district Fatehpur District is one of the 75 districts of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district has a population of 2,632,733 (2011 Census). Fatehpur city is its administrative headquarters. Etymology Fatehpur district is named after its hea ...

that killed 70 and injured 300. On 2 October, 2018 the train started running with Utkrisht rakes, becoming the first train in

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

to do so.

In popular culture

This train is featured in a short story by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

, the Indian film director and writer. In the story, '' The Mystery of the Kalka Mail (Baksho Rahasya)'', the three main characters travel from Calcutta to Delhi and on to Kalka on the train. The plot involves a stolen diamond and an unpublished manuscript. The story was also made into a radio play and a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Renaming

This train was renamed to Netaji Express in honour of

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Fascist Japan left a le ...

to commemorate his 124th Birth Anniversary on 23 January 2021.

Accidents

Fatehpur derailment, 2011

15 coaches of the Kalka Mail derailed on the Kanpur-Fatehpur line near the

Fatehpur railway station Fatehpur railway station is on the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction – Kanpur section of the Howrah–Delhi main line under Prayagraj railway division. It is located in Fatehpur district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It serves F ...

on the afternoon of 10 July 2011. Causation is unsolved though poor maintenance of the locomotive is suspected because the engine had begun swaying sideways just before the accident. More than 70 persons died and 300 were injured. The injured were taken to hospitals in Kanpur, Lucknow and Allahabad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalka Mail Transport in Kalka Rail transport in Howrah Rail transport in Jharkhand Rail transport in Bihar Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh Rail transport in Delhi Rail transport in Haryana Railway services introduced in 1866 Mail trains in India