Shatabdi Express

Not to be confused with Jan Shatabdi Express.

Shatabdi Express
New-Delhi Amritsar Shatabdi Express Arrived At Ambala cantt junction
Overview
Service type	Superfast
Status	Active
First service	10 July 1988 (1988-07-10)
Successor	Vande Bharat Express
Current operator(s)	Indian Railways
Website	http://indianrail.gov.in
On-board services
Class(es)	Executive Chair Car <br> AC Chair Car
Seating arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	Onboard catering
Baggage facilities	Overhead racks, baggage area near vestibule
Technical
Rolling stock	LHB coach
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Operating speed	150 km/h (93 mph) (maximum) where infrastructure is available
Track owner(s)	Indian Railways

Shatabdi Express (lit. 'Century Express') are a series of fast passenger trains operated by the Indian Railways. These are day trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains run at a maximum permissible speed of 110–150 km/h (68–93 mph) depending on the infrastructure on the corresponding route, with the Rani Kamalapati–New Delhi Shatabdi Express achieving the maximum permissible speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).<ref>"Shatabdi Express 2024: A list of operational Shatabdi routes, schedules, and more". The Indian Express. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024. Shatabdi Express Running Status: Among one of the fastest trains of Indian Railways, running at up to 130–150 km/h (81–93 mph), the Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect metro cities with other cities.</ref>

History

The name "Shatabdi" means century in Sanskrit and the first Shatabdi Express train was announced on 10 July 1988 by then railways minister Madhavrao Scindia to commemorate the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Indian prime minister and plied between New Delhi and Gwalior. The first Shatabdi, at that time the fastest train of the country, ran at a maximum speed of 140 km/h (87 mph). The maximum speed was increased to 150 km/h (93 mph) between Tughlakabad and Agra Cantonment on 15 February 2006, and it was the fastest train in India till the introduction of the Gatiman Express in 2016.<ref>"Fastest trains in India". The Indian Express. Retrieved 1 June 2025.</ref>

Facilities

Shatabdi Express trains offer fast connectivity between major cities with only a few intermediate stops and can run at a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).<ref>"'Shatabdi is the heart of Indian railways'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2014.</ref><ref>"No halts, new Shatabdi Express to fly to Delhi". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 May 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)</ref><ref>"Trains faster than Rajdhani, Shatabdi on the cards". The Economic Times. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref> Passengers are provided with on-board catering.<ref>"From Vande Bharat to Rajdhani Express: Check list of top 10 fastest trains in India". News9. 28 September 2022. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref> Onboard entertainment systems are available in select trains providing content via satellite.<ref>"Shatabdi Express is now 'Gold Standard'; Free movies on WiFi to clean toilets, 15 facts every rail passenger will love". Financial Express. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2021.</ref> Seats in Shatabdi Express have to be reserved in advance as there is no unreserved accommodation, unlike most of the other trains in India.<ref>"Railways to also run AC trains from June 1; Shatabadis, Durontos to be restored". Hindustan Times. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref> Reservation is allowed until up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time and the seats are auto allocated by the reservation system.<ref>"Good news for Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express travellers! Book tickets even after chart preparation soon". Zee Business. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref><ref>"Why IRCTC Does Not Allow Seat-Selection Option To Its Passengers". News18. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref> Dynamic pricing is applicable on the fares.<ref>"New-fare-scheme-for-Rajdhani-Shatabdi-from-15-March-2019-5.html". Mint. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2021.</ref>

Rolling stock

Interior of an AC chair car coach

As Shatabdi Express are day-trains and return to the station of origin the same day, coaches have only seats and not berths. They are fully air-conditioned and the trains have multiple AC Chair Car coaches and most of them have one or two coaches of Executive Class seating. Indian Railways offers Anubhuti class seating and Vistadome coaches offering large windows, transparent roofing, and rotatable seats in select trains.<ref>"Vistadome coach promises scenic journey". The Hindu. 27 August 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref> The trains used to operate on specialized coaches manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Chennai with the older coaches now been replaced with newer LHB rakes on all the trains.<ref>"Safe and smooth Indian Railways travel! These trains to run with LHB rakes". Financial Express. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref> The trains are hauled by various diesel or electric locomotives diesel locomotives like WDP-4 , WDG-4 , WDM-3A , WDM-3D and a new specialized high speed locomotive class WAP-7HS and WAP-5 with a maximum speed of 180 km/h (110 mph) for hauling Shatabdi express trains was introduced in 2019.<ref>"New Indian Railways locomotive runs at 180 kmph! Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains to get it soon". Financial Express. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2022.</ref>

Services

Active

As of September 04, there are 21 operational pairs of Shatabdi express trains.<ref>"India Rail timetable". Indian Railways. Retrieved 5 December 2023.</ref>

List of active services

Sr. no.	Route	Train no.	Originating Station	Terminal Station	Operator	Distance	Duration	Avg Speed (Km/h)	Year introduced	Stops
1	Rani Kamalapati – New Delhi	12001/12002	Rani Kamalapati	New Delhi	NR	709 km (441 mi)	8h 40m	82 km/h (51 mph)	1988	Bhopal Jn.,Bina Jn.,Lalitpur Jn., Jhansi Jn., Gwalior Jn., Morena, Dholpur Jn., Agra Cantt., Mathura Jn.
2	Lucknow–New Delhi	12003/12004	Lucknow Jn.	New Delhi	NR	512 km (318 mi)	6h 50m	75 km/h (47 mph)	1989	Kanpur Central, Phaphund, Etawah Jn., Tundla Jn., Aligarh Jn., Ghaziabad Jn.
3	New Delhi–Kalka	12005/12006	New Delhi	Kalka	NR	269 km (167 mi)	4h 0m	67 km/h (42 mph)	1989	Panipat Jn., Kurukshetra Jn., Ambala Cantt. Jn., Chandigarh Jn.
4	MGR Chennai Central–Mysuru	12007/12008	MGR Chennai Central	Mysuru Jn.	SR	497 km (309 mi)	7h 7m	69.5 km/h (43.2 mph)	1994	Katpadi Jn., KSR Bengaluru
5	Mumbai Central–Ahmedabad	12009/12010	Mumbai Central	Ahmedabad Jn.	WR	493 km (306 mi)	6h 27m	76.5 km/h (47.5 mph)	1994	Borivali, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch Jn., Vadodara Jn., Anand Jn., Nadiad Jn.
6	New Delhi–Kalka	12011/12012	New Delhi	Kalka	NR	269 km (167 mi)	4h 0m	66.5 km/h (41.3 mph)	1994	Sonipat Jn., Panipat Jn., Kurukshetra Jn., Ambala Cantt. Jn., Chandigarh Jn.
7	New Delhi–Amritsar	12013/12014	New Delhi	Amritsar Jn.	NR	448 km (278 mi)	6h 21m	70.5 km/h (43.8 mph)	1994	Ambala Cantt. Jn., Sirhind, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar City Jn., Beas Jn.
8	New Delhi–Daurai	12015/12016	New Delhi	Daurai	NR	444 km (276 mi)	7h 20m	61.5 km/h (38.2 mph)	1994	Delhi Cantt., Gurgaon, Rewari Jn., Alwar Jn., Bandikui Jn., Gandhinagar, Jaipur Jn., Kishangarh
9	New Delhi–Dehradun	12017/12018	New Delhi	Dehradun	NR	314 km (195 mi)	6h 3m	52 km/h (32 mph)	1995	Ghaziabad Jn., Meerut City Jn., Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur Jn., Roorkee, Haridwar
10	Howrah–Ranchi	12019/12020	Howrah Jn.	Ranchi Jn.	ER	423 km (263 mi)	7h 22m	57 km/h (35 mph)	1995	Durgapur, Raniganj, Asansol, Dhanbad, Chandrapura, Bokaro Steel City, Muri
11	Pune–Secunderabad	12025/12026	Pune Jn.	Secunderabad Jn.	CR	597 km (371 mi)	8h 22m	71 km/h (44 mph)	2011	Solapur, Kalaburagi Junction, Wadi Jn., Tandur, Vikarabad Jn., Begumpet
12	Chennai–Bengaluru	12027/12028	MGR Chennai Central	KSR Bengaluru	SWR	359 km (223 mi)	4h 57m	72.5 km/h (45.0 mph)	2005	Katpadi Jn., Jolarpettai Jn., Bengaluru Cantt.
13	New Delhi–Amritsar	12029/12030	New Delhi	Amritsar Jn.	NR	448 km (278 mi)	6h 5m	74 km/h (46 mph)	1998	Ambala Cantt. Jn., Rajpura Jn., Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar City Jn., Beas Jn.
14	New Delhi–Amritsar	12031/12032	New Delhi	Amritsar Jn.	NR	448 km (278 mi)	6h 5m	74 km/h (46 mph)	1997	Ambala Cantt. Jn., Rajpura Jn., Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar City Jn., Beas Jn.
15	Kanpur Central–New Delhi	12033/12034	Kanpur Central	New Delhi	NCR	440 km (270 mi)	5h 15m	84 km/h (52 mph)	2010	Etawah, Aligarh, Ghaziabad Jn.
16	Kathgodam–New Delhi	12039/12040	Kathgodam	New Delhi	NR	282 km (175 mi)	5h 42m	49.5 km/h (30.8 mph)	2012	Haldwani, Lalkuan Jn., Rudrapur, Rampur, Moradabad, Ghaziabad Jn.
17	Howrah–New Jalpaiguri	12041/12042	Howrah Jn.	New Jalpaiguri Jn.	NFR	566 km (352 mi)	8h 20m	68 km/h (42 mph)	2012	Bardhaman Jn., Bolpur Shantiniketan, New Farakka Jn., Malda Town, Kishanganj
18	New Delhi–Chandigarh	12045/12046	New Delhi	Chandigarh Jn.	NR	244 km (152 mi)	3h 20m	74 km/h (46 mph)	2013	Ambala Cantt. Jn., Karnal
19	Naharlagun–Guwahati	12087/12088	Naharlagun	Guwahati	NFR	332 km (206 mi)	5h 47m	57.5 km/h (35.7 mph)	2017	Harmuti Jn., Viswanath Charali, Rangapara North Jn., Udalguri, Rangiya Jn. etc..
20	MGR Chennai Central–Coimbatore	12243/12244	MGR Chennai Central	Coimbatore Jn.	SR	493 km (306 mi)	6h 52m	72 km/h (45 mph)	2013	Katpadi Jn., Jolarpettai Jn., Salem Jn., Erode Jn., Tiruppur
21	Howrah – Puri	12277/12278	Howrah Jn.	Puri	ECoR	500 km (310 mi)	7h 50m	63.5 km/h (39.5 mph)	2013	Kharagpur Jn., Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar

Defunct

List of defunct services

Route #	Train no.	Originating Station	Terminal Station	Year of Introduction	Year of Termination	Reference
Bangalore City – Hubli Jn.	2025/2026	Bangalore City	Hubli Jn.	1995	1996	<ref name="RB">Railway budget 1995-96 (PDF) (Report). Government of India. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref><ref name="RB1">Railway budget 1996-97 (PDF) (Report). Government of India. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref>
Chennai Central – Coimbatore Jn.	2023/2024	Chennai Central	Coimbatore Jn.	1995	2000	<ref name="LS"/><ref name="RB"/>
Rajahmundry – Secunderabad Jn.		Rajahmundry	Secunderabad Jn.	1999	2000	<ref>"CAG pulls up Railways over Shatabdis". Rediff. 5 August 2002. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref>
New Delhi - Patiala – Bathinda #		New Delhi	Bathinda		2003	<ref>"Amid suspense over train route, Shatabdi flag off cancelled". Hindustan Times. 28 October 2014.</ref><ref name="T1">"Cancellation of Shatabdi" (Press release). Indian Railways. 4 March 2003. Retrieved 17 August 2023.</ref><ref name="T2">"Three Shatabdi Expresses to be discontinued". The Times of India. 4 March 2003. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 17 August 2023.</ref>
New Delhi – Bareilly		New Delhi	Bareilly		2003	<ref name="T1"/><ref name="T2"/>
Howrah – Rourkela (Later short terminated at Tatanagar)	2021/2022	Howrah	Rourkela (Later short terminated at Tatanagar)	1995	2003	<ref name="RB"/><ref name="LS"/><ref name="T1"/><ref name="T2"/>
Howrah – Patna	2023/2024	Howrah	Patna Jn.	2001	2003	<ref name="T3">"Withdrawal of Shatabdi" (Press release). Indian Railways. 12 December 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2023.</ref>
Mumbai – Pune	2027/2028	Mumbai CSMT	Pune Jn.	1995	2004	<ref>"Good news for Shatabdi commuters". The Times of India. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref><ref name="LS">Lok Sabha debates (PDF) (Report). Government of India. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref>
Jaipur – Agra Fort	12035/12036	Jaipur	Agra Fort	2012	2018	<ref>"No Jaipur to Agra Shatabadi train from May 1 onwards". The Times of India. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref>
New Delhi – Rhotak - Ludhiana #	12037/12038	New Delhi	Ludhiana Jn.	2011	2019	<ref>"New Delhi–Ludhiana Shatabdi Express to be introduced on Nov 4". The Times of India. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.</ref><ref>"Ludhiana Shatabdi set to be history". The Times of India. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2023.</ref>
New Delhi – Rhotak - Moga #	12043/12044	New Delhi	Moga	2012	2019	<ref>"Shatabdi extended to Moga, twice a week". Hindustan Times. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.</ref><ref>"New Delhi–Moga Shatabdi Express". Indiarailinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref>
New Delhi – Firozpur, up to Bathinda during introduction	12047/12048	New Delhi	Firozpur Cantt.	2014	2021	<ref>"New Delhi-Bathinda Shatabdi extended to Firozpur". The Hindu. 6 October 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 February 2023.</ref><ref>"Eight trains cancelled". Tribune India. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref>
Guwahati – Dibrugarh	12085/12086	Guwahati	Dibrugarh	2017	2020	<ref>"Guwahati–Dibrugarh Shatabdi Express". Indiarailinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2023.</ref>

# Name of an intermediate station may be written if the route is not the shortest or to distinguish between more than one Shatabdi route irrespective of present and past routes.

Trivia

• For many years, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express (now Rani Kamalapati - New Delhi Shatabdi Express) held the record for the fastest train in India, reaching speeds of up to 150&nbsp;km/h on certain stretches, particularly between Tughlakabad and Agra.
• Unlike most long-distance Indian trains, Shatabdi Express trains are designed exclusively for day travel. This means they only have seating arrangements (Chair Car and Executive Chair Car) and no sleeping berths.
• The MGR Chennai Central–Mysuru Shatabdi Express (launched in 1994) holds the distinction of being the first Shatabdi Express to operate in South India.
• Gatiman Express is also such type of a train but faster than Shatabdi Train where infrastructure is available that had a difference of yellow stripes in all its coaches, and has fare slightly higher than that of Shatabdi Express.
• Howrah–Digha Super AC Express, completely a Shatabdi Express type train having other name instead of "Shatabdi Express" after conversion from a Duronto Express of year 2010 to 2015 was suspended during COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was withdrawn later without making any journey since that suspension period.

See also

• Howrah–Digha Super AC Express
• Rajdhani Express
• Duronto Express
• Tejas Express
• Gatimaan Express
• Humsafar Express
• Jan Shatabdi Express
• Vande Bharat Express
• Amrit Bharat Express