1995 Timetable Archive

2423 Guwahati New Delhi Rajdhani Express (Wednesday)
GHY SRC 6:00
NBQ 8:21 8:23
NJP...
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12:30 12:40
KIR 15:50 16:00
BJU 18:30 19:00
PNBE 20:50 21:00
MGS 00:40 01:00
CNB 5:00 5:05
NDLS 10:00 DSTN

2424 New Delhi Guwahati Rajdhani Express (Monday)
NDLS SRC 17:00
CNB 21:50 21:54
MGS 02:07 02:27
PNBE 5:07 5:17
BJU 7:30 8:00
KIR 10:30 10:40
NJP 13:50 14:00
NBQ 18:00 18:02
GHY 20:30 DSTN

The TT is nearly the same even after 28 years all thanks to railways and particularly some zones and divisions.

Hatia Kalka Express... A train forgotten

Yet again, I'm back with the 4th Issue of analysis on train schedules, to which I give the name 'Itihas Darpan' meaning Reflection of the Past. (Itihas Darpan - Issue 4)

This...
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time, I'll talk about a train less known. Initially, this service was introduced in 1980 with train number 183/184. It ran between Hatia and Chandigarh in its initial days on a tri-weekly basis (Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays) and covered 1585 km in 35h 15m with an average of about 45 kmph. The route was via Muri-Chopan-Allahabad-New Delhi-Ambala.

It is considered as the precursor to the current 18309/18310 Sambalpur Jammu Tawi Express (which in that era, ran between Hatia and Amritsar) but it doesn't seem the case. Why? Let me tell you, they are contemporaries. In 1981 Bradshaw, a train 161A/162A is seen, which ran between Hatia and Muri on corresponding days of run of 161/162 Tatanagar Amritsar Express (currently 18101/18102 Tatanagar Jammu Tawi Express) i.e. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Moreover, both 183/184 and 162A/161A appear in the same table, respectively, with different time slots.

In 1981, the next year after its introduction, the train got extended to Kalka. Subsequently, the railway realised its popularity, and in 1983, the frequency was increased to 4 days, with Wednesday being an additional day of run. In 1985, the train also ran on Saturdays, the frequency being increased to 5 days a week.

I've presented 1986 Timetable from Trains at a Glance, and this was the last year the train ran independently. Covering 1610 km with a decent speed of around 43 kmph, this penta-weekly train started its journey of decline from 1987.

In 1987, there was no connection from Hatia to Kalka. The nearest point was Ambala Cantt as the rakes of Hatia Kalka Express and Hatia Muri Amritsar Express were merged. The trains got new numbers. 801A used to depart from Hatia in the morning, get combined with 801 Tatanagar Amritsar Express (current 18101/18102 Tatanagar Jammu Tawi Express) at Muri and run till Amritsar via Ludhiana.

In 1988, again, a connection between Hatia and Kalka was established. This time, by means of tedious workload on railways. 801A ran from Hatia, got combined to 801 TATA ASR at Muri, ran till Ambala Cantt, and again got bifurcated to proceed to Kalka. This time, a new number 803 was given to this slip portion running between Ambala Cantt and Kalka. The same happened for return.

Year 1989 gave trains a four-digit numbering system. Tatanagar Amritsar Tatanagar Express became 8101/8102, Hatia Ambala Hatia Slip Express became 8601/8602 and Ambala Kalka Ambala Slip Express became 8603/8604.

The last evidence of this train comes from the year 1991. The train was discontinued from 1992 onwards. The slip portion that used to attach/detach at Ambala went till Amritsar. Both Tata and Hatia portions were extended to Jammu Tawi in 2002 as announced by the then Railway Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar in his Rail Budget. In 2011, Hatia Jammu Tawi Hatia Express (18601/18602) got extended to Rourkela with a new number 18109/18110, which again got extended to Sambalpur in 2017 as we know today's 18309/18310.

From 1992 to 2019, Ranchi lacked connectivity to Chandigarh. In 2020, Sambalpur Jammu Tawi Express was diverted via Chandigarh, giving direct connection between these places after nearly 3 decades.

Even though this train faded in the pages of history, this can be a very popular train if reintroduced. With this remark, I conclude this issue of 'Itihas Darpan'. Thank you for reading.

NOTE:
1. 1980 Timetable has been fetched from Abstract, so it is bound to show least stoppages.
2. The years where timetable source is TAAG, has many ***. This is due to the fact that TAAG shows only important stops.
3. Some minor halts have not been shown, like Shikohabad, Fatehpur, Duddhinagar, Lusa, etc.
4. Human Error may be present from the TT source or even from my end. Please bear.

Corrigendum: Train no. 88 Read Patna Saheb 21:15/21:16 instead of Patna Saheb 21:1/21:16 in 1975 schedule.

The distraught tale of South Bihar...

Presenting the 2nd edition of my analysis on trains and schedules...
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South Bihar Express, as the name says, was introduced to cater the needs of Southern Bihar, to connect them to the capital of their state. The date of introduction is not clear, although it may be presumed that it may have been introduced during late 1950s or early 1960s as I saw it in the 1966 timetable.

The train 87/88 was introduced to cater the areas of Jamshedpur, Ranchi and adjoining regions like Chaibasa, Chandil etc and connect them to their state capital Patna. With a comfortable 11 hr overnight ride, this train was, and perhaps is a very famous train among travellers. The timings of both sides were convenient as well. Even today the train gets most of the passengers between Patna and Tata.

Sometimes this train was sped up, sometimes slowed down during subsequent years. It was slowed down by nearly an hour during the early 1980s as compared to the previous schedule. Halts started getting added during mid 1970s, where the first halts added were Patna Saheb (then Patna City) and Bakhtiyarpur, hampering the non-stop run between Patna and Mokama. Eventually Fatuha, Barh, Luckeesarai, Jamtara, etc. got added.

A major change took place during 1995 when this was extended to Rourkela, in Odisha (then Orissa), thereby losing the meaning of its identity 'South Bihar'.

In the schedules till 1999, it is mentioned that a slip train used to get detached at Tatanagar and then the slip continued its journey to Rourkela.

The Rake reaching Rourkela used to return the same day after a lie over of 3-4 hours. In 1999, the train was slowed down by 1 hr. Between 1999 and 2006, more major changes took place where the train got extended to both sides, one side to Durg and other side to Danapur, which may be termed as a terminal change.

1 rake had to be increased due to its extension. Now the train had 3 rakes which continues even today.

The train was sped up by more than an hour during the 5 years (2006-2011). Prior to 2012, it used to run via Adra, and involved 3 reversals if we consider the run from Patna to Durg, and 2, if we consider the run from Patna to Tatanagar. In 2012, it was diverted via Joychandi Pahar, saving a reversal and some minimal time.

2015 brought a change yet again to this train, now the train didn't get to touch its inaugural station, Patna. The run was restricted to/from Rajendra Nagar Terminal (which was originally Rajendrapuri Bihar, hence the code RJPB).

Yet in 2023, the railways is still obsessed with a schedule made 50+ years back (for Patna Tata). The train needs a speed up badly, speeding up the journey by atleast 4-5 hours. It can be made to depart Rajendra Nagar (Patna) by 9 pm, reaching Tata by 6:30 am and Durg by 6:30 pm. The return can be made to depart Durg by 9 am in the morning, reaching Tata at 8 pm and Patna by 6 am morning.

Note:
1. *** may mean data unavailable or no stop
2. 2006 TAAG shows only major stops hence so many ***
3. All stops from 2011 onwards have not been mentioned as it would make the image and analysis very long.