Howrah–Porbandar Express

Howrah–Porbandar (Aradhana) Express
	Howrah–Porbandar Superfast Express
Overview
Service type	Express
Locale	West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra & Gujarat
First service	13 December 2000
Current operator(s)	Western Railways
Route
Start	Howrah (HWH)
Stops	28
End	Porbandar (PBR)
Distance travelled	2,558 km (1,589 mi)
Average journey time	44 hrs 20 mins
Service frequency	Tri-weekly
Train number(s)	12905 / 12906
On-board services
Class(es)	AC 2 tier-1, AC 3 tier-3, Sleeper-13, Pantry-1, General-3, SLR-2, Luggage/Milk Van-1
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	Available
Baggage facilities	No
Technical
Rolling stock	ICF coaches
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	avg. speed 58 km/h
Route map
Route map

The 12905 / 12906 Howrah–Porbandar (Aradhana) Express is a tri-weekly train of Indian Railways, running between Howrah in West Bengal and Porbandar in Gujarat. The train is named Aradhana Express by Indian Railway. It is a Superfast category train. It takes 44 hours to reach Porbandar from Howrah. The train is very much important and popular train in the route and connects eastern India to extreme west part of country. The train is as important as Jnaneshwari Express.

Routeing[edit]

It passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra & Gujarat. It is major and important train in this route, due to major industrial, commercial & economical reasons. It halts at 28 stations. The major cities it touches are

The train passes through South Eastern Railway, South East Central Railway, Central Railway and Western Railway. With covering 2 numbers of railway zonal headquarter cities Kolkata & Bilaspur, and 10 numbers of railway divisional office cities Howrah, Kharagpur, Chakradharpur, Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur, Bhusawal, Baroda, Ahmedabad & Rajkot. It connects two numbers of state capital cities including Kolkata & Raipur.

Traction[edit]

On its journey from Howrah to Porbandar, the train is hauled by a WAP-4E locomotive of Vadodara Loco Shed from Howrah to Ahmedabad. From Ahmedabad to Porbandar, the train is hauled by WDM-3A locomotive of Vatva Loco Shed. Nowadays it is also hauled by a WDP-4D locomotive of Sabarmati Loco Shed.

There is also slip route of the train, which goes to Okha via Dwarka, Mithapur & Khambhalia.

Arrival & departure[edit]

12905 Porbandar–Howrah (Aradhana) Express leaves Porbandar (PBR) at 07:15 AM and reaches Howrah (HWH) at 03:35 AM on third day.^[1]
12906 Howrah- Porbandar (Aradhana) Express leaves the source station Howrah (HWH) at 10:50 PM and reaches Porbandar (PBR) at 06:30 PM on third day.^[2]