Taj Express

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Taj Express

Taj Express standing on Agra Cantonment Railway station
Overview
Service type	Mail/Express
Locale	Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh
First service	1 October 1964 between New Delhi & Agra Extended in 1985 between New Delhi & Gwalior Extended in 1 July 2006 between New Delhi & Jhansi
Current operator	Northern Railway
Route
Termini	New Delhi Jhansi Junction
Stops	10
Distance travelled	410 km (250 mi)
Average journey time	7 hours
Service frequency	Daily
Train number	12279 / 12280
On-board services
Class	Executive Class Premium Class
Seating arrangements	2S & CC
Sleeping arrangements	No
Catering facilities	No
Technical
Rolling stock	LHB coach (started from 4 January 2016)
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	59 km/h (37 mph) average with halts

The Taj Express is a railway service started in 1964, initially serving tourists travelling from Delhi to Agra. It reduced the travelling time from over three hours to around two and a half hours. Taj Express was started along the lines of Deccan Queen, which ran as a high-speed commuter-special train between Pune Junction and CSMT Mumbai (ex Victoria Terminus Bombay), and provided a quick and comfortable journey between Agra and Delhi. It was a very popular train, especially among foreign tourists, before the Bhopal Shatabdi was introduced in 1988. The train was extended up to Gwalior in 1985 and then to Jhansi in 2006. It was named after Taj Mahal.

History

• In 1964 Taj Express was introduced from New Delhi to Agra. Running at 105 km/h, it brought down travel time on this route to 2h 35m. It was hauled by a WP-7003 steam engine. It was a train that was immensely popular with tourists, particularly foreigners, as it gave them ample time to visit the Taj Mahal and neighbouring monuments before returning to Delhi that evening. It was posted on Facebook page of Ministry of Railways, Government of India (Facebook confirmed that this is the authentic profile for this public figure.) on 1 October 2022: On this day in 1964, Taj Express, the then fastest train on the Indian Railways Network was introduced between New Delhi and Agra Cantt.
• Surprisingly, the train did not run on Wednesdays. The Taj Mahal monument was then closed to tourists on Mondays and the one day off on Wednesdays was a direct financial loss. The Archaeological Survey of India then decided that the Taj Mahal would remain closed on Fridays for the public except for Muslims who could pray in the mosque between 12 noon to 2 P.M. The Taj Express still did not operate on Wednesdays.
• In Oct, 1982 The Taj Express began using diesel locomotives (WDM-2).
• In 1985, then-Railway Minister Madhavrao Scindia extended the Taj Express to Gwalior Junction. Journey time was 5hrs 20 min, leaving Hazrat Nizamuddin at 0710 am and reaching Gwalior at 1230 pm. The return timings were 1710 pm departure Gwalior and 2230 pm arrival Hazrat Nizamuddin. In 1989, the Wednesdays off was discontinued. The train, however, remained idle for well over four hours at Gwalior.
• In 1986, the Taj Express began using electric locomotives.
• 1 July 2006, the train was extended to Jhansi.
• 4 January 2016, the train introduced LHB coach. And use the livery of Shatabdi Express train coaches
• 21 February 2018, the source for 12280 and destination station of 12279, changed from Hazrat Nizamuddin (NZM) to New Delhi (NDLS).
• 3 June 2024, three coaches of a train heading towards Jhansi were burnt after a fire broke out from one of its coaches. There are no injuries among the passengers.

Train information

As the whole route is electrified, the train is generally hauled by WAP-7 from Ghaziabad for its whole journey. But occasionally it is also hauled by WAP-5 from Ghaziabad.

Route

The train numbered 12279 goes from Gwalior Junction to New Delhi railway station, and train number is 12280 goes from New Delhi railway station to Jhansi.

See also

• Bhopal Shatabdi
• Bhopal Express
• Indian Railways coaching stock

References

External links

• https://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-history5.html
• http://www.nr.indianrail.gov.in/scripts/static/RecentReleasesDisplay_h.aspx?id=1389^{[permanent dead link]}
• History of Taj Express^{[link removed]}