The 12779 / 12780 Goa Express is a daily superfast train run by

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

connecting

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

and Hazrat Nizamuddin in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

. It is one of the high priority superfast trains of Indian Railways and additionally, a very important train for

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad di ...

division of South Western Railway. This train is similar to trains like Karnataka Express,

Telangana Express The 12723 / 12724 ''Telangana Express'', (formerly New Delhi–Hyderabad AP Express), is a Superfast Express of South Central Railways that runs between Hyderabad, capital of Telangana and national capital of India, New Delhi. It starts from ...

and Andhra Pradesh Express amongst others in providing convenient link between respective state capitals and

. Vasco da Gama (IR Code: VSG) is the nearest railhead to the capital of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

Panjim Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

is not directly accessible by rail. 12779 Goa Express - AC 3 tier coach

History

The train was introduced around 1987. At the time of introduction, rail links into Goa were Meter Gauge. Hence the train ran with a

Broad Gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

and a Meter Gauge counterpart, the MG section between Vasco da Gama and Miraj, and the BG section between Miraj and Hazrat Nizamuddin. At the time of introduction the train was numbered 2479/2480, with maintenance in

Delhi Railway Division Delhi railway division is one of the five railway divisions under Northern Railway zone (NR) of Indian Railways. This railway division was formalised in 1952 and its headquarter is located at New Delhi in the UT of Delhi. The division is headed ...

of Northern Railway. Post gauge-conversion when the BG train ran the entire route, the train's maintenance was transferred to the

Hubli Railway Division Hubballi Railway Division is one of the three railway divisions under South Western Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 5 November 1951 and its headquarter is located at Hubballi in the state of Karnataka of Indi ...

of the present day South Western Railway, and renumbered as 12779/12780.

Route

Goa Express was introduced long before

Konkan Railways The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi ...

became operational. Thus the train routes via,

Margao Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population a ...

, Londa,

Belgaum Belgaum (ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi ...

Miraj Miraj (Pronunciation: iɾəd͡z ) is a city in Sangli District and also in Maharashtra, India, that was founded in the early 10th century. It was an important jagir of the Adil Shahi court of Bijapur. Shivaji Maharaj stayed in Miraj for ...

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks o ...

, Satara,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Daund Daund is a city, municipal council and headquarters of the Daund tehsil in the Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. In ancient times a sage, 'Dhaumya Rishi' used to stay here, hence people started calling this place after him: 'Dh ...

Manmad Manmad ( ənmaːɖ is one of the towns in Nashik district in the state of Maharashtra in India. It is the third largest city in Nashik district, with a population of approximately 80,000. Geographically it lies within Nandgaon Tehsil in Nas ...

Bhusawal Bhusawal is the largest municipal council (established in 1882) in the Jalgaon district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated along the banks of the river Tapi. The city emerged as a major railway junction during the British Raj, and sti ...

Khandwa Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District. Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line co ...

Itarsi Itarsi is a city and municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India in Narmadapuram District. Itarsi is a key hub for agricultural goods and is the biggest railway junction in Madhya Pradesh. Rail services from all 4 major metropolitan cities of India ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It ...

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the ...

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

and

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the to ...

. During its 39-hour-25-minute journey traversing a distance of about 2202 km, the train passes through

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

, Maharashtra,

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

and passes through a small portion of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

Dhaulpur Dholpur is a city in the Dholpur district in Rajasthan state of India. It is situated on the left bank of the famous Chambal river. The city is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur District and was formerly seat of the Dholpur princel ...

without stopping. The train is the only daily passenger express train to pass through the

Dudhsagar Falls Dudhsagar Falls () is a four-tiered waterfall located on the Mandovi River in the Indian state of Goa. It is 60 km from Panaji by road and is located on the Belgavi–Vasco Da Gama rail route about 46 km east of Madgaon and 80 ...

on the Braganza Ghat section. Also 12779 provides a good opportunity to passengers to enjoy the natural beauty of Goa en route and enjoy the scenic Vasco Da Gama to Londa Junction rail route.

Accommodations

This train comprises 2 AC 2-Tiers, 4 AC 3-Tiers, 11 Sleeper Class, 3 Unreserved General Compartment, 1 Pantry car, 2 Luggage/Parcel cum Brake van which is provided with the Guards' cabin & RMS ailway Mail Service Total coach composition is 23 coaches.

Loco Link

Both trains uses a Diesel and Electric Locomotives given below; 1.

Pune Junction Pune Junction railway station (station code: PUNE) is the main railway junction of the city of Pune, India. It is one of the major railway junctions in Maharashtra. Pune Junction consists of 6 platforms. It also has a suburban train network. ...

WDP-4D The EMD GT46PAC or WDP4 is a passenger-hauling diesel-electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and built by both GM-EMD and under license by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) of Varanas ...

diesel locomotive from Pune Loco Shed . 2.

to Hazrat Nizamuddin 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 ...

electric locomotive from Tughlakabad Loco Shed.

Time Table

Direction Reversal

Train Reverses its direction 2 times * Londa Junction *

Junction Train no longer reverses it's direction at Daund after completion of the new Chord line.

References

External links

Goa Express Forum at Indian Rail Info

Goa Express Route Map & Time-Table
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goa Express Transport in Vasco da Gama, Goa Transport in Delhi Named passenger trains of India Express trains in India Rail transport in Goa Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh Rail transport in Maharashtra Rail transport in Karnataka Rail transport in Delhi