Sunday, 3rd March, was a significant day in the history of Indian Railways, as its iconic Rajdhani Express turned 50 on this day. Considered as the epitome of speed and luxury at the time, the first Rajdhani Express of India began its journey from Howrah to New Delhi on March 3, 1969. On its maiden run, with a speed of 120km/hr, the train covered the distance of 1,445 km in just 17 hours 20 mins. Connecting the country’s capital with other cities, the train was perfectly termed as ‘Rajdhani Express’.
Around 5 p.m. on Sunday the flower-bedecked Rajdhani Express chugged out of Howrah station on its golden jubilee run. After a ceremonial cake cutting and release of a greeting stamp to celebrate the day, the train was flagged off by three former staffs of Rajdhani Express.
For the occasion, the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has planned something special for the passengers as well. At first the passengers were being welcomed on board with a chocolate and rose. Then they are treated with some of its old delicacies like fish fry or vegetable cutlets and ‘rosogollas’ apart from ice cream for dessert. For First AC passengers, a continental menu along with caramel custard for dessert was being planned. The celebration even continued upto the arrival point at New Delhi Railway station. Debasish Chandra, the general manager, IRCTC (East) was taking care of the ceremony.
To mark the day, brand new linen and disposable napkins printed with greetings of “50 Years of Rajdhani Express” were distributed among the passengers and while on duty, the staffs of the train also wore a badge with the message of celebration of 50 glorious years of Kolkata Rajdhani Express.
50 years back Rajdhani Express started its first journey with only nine vacuum braked coaches. Gradually the iconic train went through stages of evolutions and now it has 20 coaches and its disel run locomotive has also been turned to electric engine. The original Rajdhani coaches were built at Integral Coach Factory, Perambur but since February 2006, the coaches are manufactured under licence from LHB, Germany, at Kapurthala. Again the Howrah Rajdhani was upgraded to ‘Swarna’ standard in 2017, a scheme under which its passengers are conferred with better facilities.
To sum up, currently the train is composed of 20 LHB coaches including two AC First Class, five AC 2-tier, 10 AC 3-tier with one Pantry Car and 2 Power cars-cum-luggage vans.
Being India’s first luxury train, though Rajdhani Expresss is facing some competitors today, yet its stature will still remain as high as it was always.
