The Slow and fast passenger trains are passenger train services of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

which connect small towns and cities to metropolitan cities in India. The classification ''Passenger'' means it is an ordinary passenger train which halts at all or most of the stations on the railway routes. Currently, a total of 3572 passenger trains are running of all railway zones of Indian Railways.

History

The country's first passenger train ran in Western India between

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Bori Bunder Bori Bunder (also known as Bori Bandar) is an area along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India. Background This place was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. In the local language, 'Bori' mean sack and 'Bandar' ...

(now

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST (suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The terminus was d ...

) and

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...

on 16 April 1853. The 14-carriage train was hauled by three steam locomotives: the ''Sahib'', ''Sindh'', and ''Sultan''. Travelling , the train carried 400 people. The passenger line was built and operated by the

Great Indian Peninsula Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...

(GIPR). It was built in

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

, which became the country's standard for railways. First passenger train from Eastern India, ran from

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...

(near

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, now

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

) to Hoogly, a distance of , on 15 August 1854. The line was built and operated by the

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

(EIR). First passenger train from Southern India, ran from

Royapuram Royapuram is a locality in the northern part of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is best known for its beach, and for Royapuram Railway Station. The station is the first railway station of south India, opening in 1856, and is today ...

–Veyasarapady (Madras) (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) to Wallajah Road in

Arcot Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, between t ...

, a distance of , on 1 July 1856. It was built and operated by the Madras Railway. First electric passenger train in the country, ran from Victoria Terminus (now

) to Kurla on the Harbour Branch of

on 3 February 1925 using 1500 V DC overhead traction. In 1957, the first diesel passenger train ran in the country. In 1993, the

Integral Coach Factory Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of ICF coach, rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of ...

started production of DMU's and

MEMU On Indian Railways, the MEMUs are electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that serve short and medium-distance routes in India, as compared to normal EMU trains that connect urban and suburban areas. The acronym stands for Mainline Electric Multiple ...

s. After productions of both series, the first MEMU train started running between

Asansol Asansol is a (Tier-II) metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest and most populated city of West Bengal and the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Bar ...

and Burdwan (now

Barddhaman Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...

) on 11 July 1994. And later, the first DEMU train was started running between Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur on 23 October 1994. On 15 July 2017, a solar-powered DEMU train was launched on the route of and of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

for connecting capital of India to the small town with the aim reducing the usage of diesel and more usage of electricity for a better environment and economically.

Types

Trains are classified into four types: * Slow passenger train:

Locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

-hauled. Stop at every station on the route, except abandoned ones. * Fast passenger train: Locomotive-hauled. Skip some stops on the route, usually least-booked ones. * Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU):

Multiple Unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...

s. Stop at every station on the route. * Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU): Multiple Units. Stop at every station on the route. Will replace locomotive-hauled trains on electrified routes. In some cases, trains run as fast passengers on one section, while running as slow passengers on another section. Fast passenger trains generally run on longer routes as compared to slow passenger trains. These trains have unreserved coaches, for short-distance unreserved seating coaches are used and for long-distance both unreserved sleeper and seating coaches are used. The slow and fast passenger trains are usually hauled by

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s such as

WAM-4 The Indian locomotive class WAM-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1970 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), mixed traffic ( ...

WAG-5 The Indian locomotive class WAG-5 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1978 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), goods traffic ( ...

WAG-7 The Indian locomotive class WAG-7 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1990 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), goods traffic (G ...

, for electrified routes and

WDM-2 The Indian locomotive class WDM-2 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1962 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine, ...

for non-electrified/semi-electrified routes. On the other hand, the DEMUs and MEMUs are

multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...

s, have cabs at both ends, resulting in quicker turnaround times, reduced crewing costs, and enhanced safety. So, IR is progressively replacing all locomotive-hauled slow and fast passenger and intercity trains with DEMUs and MEMUs, starting from North Western Railway zone on 1 October 2015.

Trivia

;Longest-running Currently, the longest route of a slow passenger train running in India is Tatanagar–Itwari Passenger (numbered 58111/58112) with a record distance of with an average speed of . Whereas, the longest route of a fast passenger train running in India is

Howrah–Rajgir Fast Passenger Howrah–Rajgir Fast Passenger is a passenger train belonging to Eastern Railway zone that runs between and . It is currently being operated with 53043/53044 train numbers on a daily basis. Average speed and frequency The 53043/Howrah–R ...

(numbered 53043/53044) with a record distance of with an average speed of . Whereas after the second conversion of Slow Passenger train into DEMU, on 18 July 2018, the Guntur–Kacheguda DEMU via Dhone (with numbered 77281 / 77282) becomes the longest distance traveling DEMU train in India with a record distance of with an average speed of . Before that, the first conversion of Slow Passenger train into DEMU, was on 1 October 2015, the Jodhpur–Hisar DEMU (with numbered 74835/74836) becomes the second-longest DEMU train running in India with the recorded length of with an average speed of . And currently, the longest route running MEMU train in India is Asansol–Varanasi MEMU (numbered 63553/63554) with a record distance of with an average speed of . ;Shortest-running Currently, the shortest route of a slow passenger train in India is Barkakana–Sidhwar Passenger (numbered 53375 / 53376) with a record distance of with an average speed of . The shortest route of DEMU train in India is Garhi Harsaru–Farrukhnagar DEMU (numbered 74031/34 & 74035/38) with a record distance of with an average speed of . The shortest route of MEMU train in India is Jasidih–Baidyanathdham MEMU (numbered 63153/63154) with a record distance of with an average speed of .bhaskar.com
Retrieved 12 July 2020

Gallery

;Exteriors File:KCG - BDHN Pass. (34733812821).jpg, Kacheguda–

Bodhan Bodhan town in Nizamabad district of the Indian state Telangana. Bodhan is primarily known for the Nizam Sugar Factory founded by a Nizam of Hyderabad, and some historical places such as The Chakreshwara Shiva Temple, The Renuka Temple, Bheem ...

slow passenger train File:RAL - SC Pass. (26991053152).jpg,

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...

–

Repalle Repalle is a town in Bapatla district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town is one of the 12 municipalities in Bapatla district and the headquarters of Repalle mandal under the administration of Bapatla revenue division. It is situate ...

fast passenger train File:Jalandhar - Hoshiarpur DEMU at Jalandhar City Station.jpg, An old DEMU train File:(SC-Medchal) DHMU at Alwal 02.jpg, An old DHMU train File:DEMU Local at Sitaphalmandi railway station.jpg, An aerodynamic-designed DEMU train File:Bhongir-Falaknuma_MEMU_at_Malkajgiri_station_02.jpg, An old MEMU train File:Zn-fl train.jpg, An aerodynamic-designed MEMU train ;Interiors File:Interiors of Indian passenger train 08.JPG, Window, middle and aisle seats of inside unreserved passenger train File:Interiors of Indian passenger train 11.JPG, Side Window Seat of inside unreserved passenger train File:Interiors of Indian passenger train 05.JPG, Right side corridor way of inside unreserved passenger train File:Interiors of Indian passenger train 09.JPG, Left side corridor way of inside unreserved passenger train File:Interiors of Indian passenger train 06.JPG, Upper Rack of inside unreserved passenger train File:Interiors of Indian passenger train 12.JPG, Lights and fans of inside unreserved passenger train File:Indian Railways Second class seating compartment for journeys less than 200 KM.jpg, Seating unreserved coach of inside unreserved passenger train

References

External links