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| {{short description|One of the oldest train in India}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Netaji Express]] |
| {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
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| {{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
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| {{Infobox rail service
| | {{R from former name}} |
| | name = Kalka Mail
| | {{R from move}} |
| | type = [[Mail trains in India|Mail]]
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| | image = Kalka Mail.jpg
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| | caption = KALKA MAIL at Kalka Railway Station
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| | locale = [[West Bengal]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Bihar]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Delhi]], [[Punjab]] and [[Haryana]]
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| | first = 1866 as the "East Indian Railway Mail".
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| | last =
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| | operator = [[Eastern Railway Zone|Eastern Railways]]
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| | ridership =
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| | start = [[Howrah railway station|Howrah]]
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| | stops =
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| | end = [[Kalka railway station|Kalka]]
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| | distance = {{convert|1713|km}}
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| | journeytime =
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| | frequency = Daily
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| | class = Sleeper, General, First A/C, 3Tier A/C, 2Tier A/C
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| | seating = Yes
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| | sleeping = Yes
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| | autorack =
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| | catering = Pantry Car and Catering available
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| | observation = Large Windows
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| | entertainment =
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| | baggage = yes
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| | otherfacilities=
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| | stock =
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| | gauge = {{RailGauge|1676mm}}
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| | el =
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| | train number = 12311/12312
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| | speed = 120 km/h (71 mph) <br />maximum {{convert|57|km/h|abbr=on}} (average with halts)
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| | map = {{Kalka Mail}}
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| | map_state = collapsed
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| }} | | }} |
| '''Kalka Mail''' (Officially as '''Netaji Express''') is one of the oldest trains in India. This train connects [[Howrah station|Howrah]] in [[Kolkata]], capital of the State of [[West Bengal]] to [[Kalka railway station|Kalka]] in the North-Western state of [[Haryana]]. Kalka is the railhead for the [[Kalka-Shimla Railway]] which connects to [[Shimla]], the one time summer capital of the [[British Raj]].
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| ==Overview==
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| Kalka Mail at present is the one of the oldest trains running in the country, it has a total of 24 coaches (eleven Sleeper Class coaches, two SLR coaches, two General Class coaches, one First AC-cum-AC Two Tier coach, three AC Three Tier coaches , three AC Two Tier coaches , one Second class-seating and one Pantry Car) and has total 4 Rakes. This train is categorized as superfast-mail and runs at a maximum speed of 120 km/hrs. The train stops at 37 stations in its entire route, thus passengers boarding the train have to abide by distance restriction (the minimum travel distance is 160 km in all AC classes and 480 km in Sleeper and 2S). However, it carries all passengers on the [[Delhi–Kalka line|Delhi-Kalka route]].
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| Due to the passenger demand, one AC Two Tier Coach, one AC Three Tier Coach, five Sleeper Class coach, one General Class coach, the RMS coach, one SLR coach and the Pantry Car is separately reserved for the passengers boarding from [[Chandigarh Junction railway station|Chandigarh Junction]] only. Hence these eleven coaches are attached during the journey towards Howrah in Chandigarh and is detached during its journey towards Kalka in Chandigarh only.
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| ==History==
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| Run by the [[East Indian Railway Company]], the train (originally numbered 1 Up / 2 Dn) began operation between [[Howrah station|Calcutta]] and [[Old Delhi Railway Station|Delhi]] in 1866 as the "East Indian Railway Mail". Its run was extended from Delhi to Kalka in 1891. The train was the principal mechanism by which British civil servants moved to their summer capital in [[Shimla|Simla]] from Calcutta with the entire government machinery traveling on the train at the start of the summer months and returning by it at the end of summer. Both stations, Howrah as well as Kalka, had internal carriageways running along the platform so that the Viceroy and other high-ranking officers could drive right up to their rail coaches. The carriageway at Howrah is still used and runs between Platforms 8 and 9 but the carriageway at Kalka has been converted into platform.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020420/windows/main2.htm |title= Train tales from a bygone era |publisher= The Tribune, 20 April 2002 | access-date = 28 January 2014}}</ref> With the rationalization of train numbering in the 1990s, the Kalka Mail lost its 1 Up /2 Dn numbering and is now it run as 12311 from Howrah and 12312 from Kalka. The train was renamed Netaji Express in honor of the Indian leader [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]. Bose was thought to have escaped from Calcutta to Lahore on this train from [[Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Gomoh railway station|Gomoh railway station]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
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| ==In popular culture==
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| Kalka Mail is featured in a short story by [[Satyajit Ray]], the Indian film director and writer. In the story, ''[[Baksho Rahashya (novel)|The Mystery of the Kalka Mail]] (Baksho Rahasya)'', the three main characters travel from Calcutta to Delhi and on to Kalka on the train. The plot involves a stolen diamond and an unpublished manuscript.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A59706138 |title= The Feluda Films of Satyajit Ray |publisher= h2g2| access-date = 28 January 2014}}</ref> The story was also made into a radio play and a [[Baksho Rahashya (film)|film]].
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| ==Renaming==
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| Kalka Mail was renamed to '''Netaji Express''' in honour of [[Subhas Chandra Bose|Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose]] to commemorate his 124th Birth Anniversary on 23 January 2021.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/railways-renames-howrah-kalka-mail-as-netaji-express-7153534/ | title=Railways renames Howrah-Kalka Mail as Netaji Express | author=indianexpress.com | date=20 January 2021}}</ref>
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| ==Accidents==
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| ===Fatehpur derailment, 2011===
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| {{main|Fatehpur derailment}}
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| 15 coaches of the Kalka Mail [[Fatehpur derailment|derailed]] on the Kanpur-Fatehpur line near the [[Fatehpur railway station]] on the afternoon of 10 July 2011. Causation is unsolved though poor maintenance of the locomotive is suspected because the engine had begun swaying sideways just before the accident. More than 69 persons died and 200 were injured. The injured were taken to hospitals in Kanpur, Lucknow and Allahabad.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Toll-climbs-to-70--300-injured/816260/ | title=Toll climbs to 70, 300 injured | author=indianexpress.com | date=12 July 2011 | access-date= 28 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="Kalka Train Accident by OneIndia">{{cite news|title=Kalka Train Accident by OneIndia|url=http://news.oneindia.in/2011/07/10/kalka-mail-accident-derailed-near-kanpur-many-injured-aid0101.html|access-date= 28 January 2014|newspaper=OneIndia}}</ref>
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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| {{Historical trains in India}}
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| {{Railway lines in Eastern India}}
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| {{Railways in Northern India}}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalka Mail}}
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| [[Category:Transport in Kalka]]
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| [[Category:Rail transport in Howrah]]
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| [[Category:Rail transport in Jharkhand]]
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| [[Category:Rail transport in Bihar]]
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| [[Category:Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh]]
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| [[Category:Rail transport in Delhi]]
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| [[Category:Rail transport in Haryana]]
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| [[Category:Railway services introduced in 1866]]
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| [[Category:Rail transport in West Bengal]]
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| [[Category:Mail trains in India]]
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