The 12615 / 12616 Grand Trunk Express (commonly called G.T. or G.T. Express) is a daily Superfast Express train on

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 ...

, running between and

Chennai Central Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railway ...

. It is a historic train and is one of the oldest trains starting services in 1929. It originally ran between

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Undivided India Akhand Bharat (), also known as Akhand Hindustan, is a term for the concept of a unified Greater India. The idea of Akhand Bharat in it's most widely accepted form is that Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Myanmar, ...

(then capital of the North West Frontier Province) and

Mangalore Central Mangaluru Central railway station, formerly Mangalore Central railway station (Station code: MAQ) is the main railway terminus in the city of Mangalore. It is one of the major railway stations in Karnataka state and it is the biggest terminal ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

(then in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

).. From September 2021, it runs with modern new LHB coach with revised coach position.

History

For most of the 19th century, the main railway route from

Madras 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 ...

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 ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

was through

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- ...

. The Madras–Bombay mail train carried through carriages between Madras and

Manmad Manmad ( ənmaːɖ is one of the towns in Nashik district in the state of Maharashtra in India. It is the third largest city in Nashik district, with a population of approximately 80,000. Geographically it lies within Nandgaon Tehsil in Nash ...

which were detached at

Daund Daund is a city, municipal council and headquarters of the Daund tehsil in the Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. In ancient times a sage, 'Dhaumya Rishi' used to stay here, hence people started calling this place after him: 'Dha ...

. Passengers would then transfer to the

Great Indian Peninsular 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 ...

's Calcutta Mail at Manmad to proceed to the northern and the eastern parts of the country. The East Coast line between Madras and Calcutta opened in 1900, providing a shorter route for the passengers bound to Calcutta, but the passengers bound to Delhi,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and other major cities in the north, continued to rely on the Madras–Manmad mail service. A record in through-train running was set in 1921 by a military train conveying families of a regiment from Peshawar to

Cannanore Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

(now Kannur in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

). The journey represented a continuous run of over 2500 miles over the

North Western Railway (British India) The North Western State Railway (NWR) was formed in January 1886 from the merger of the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway, the Indus Valley State Railway, the Punjab Northern State Railway, the eastern section of the Sind–Sagar Railway and the ...

Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway. Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in Ma ...

and the

South Indian Railway The South Indian Railway Company operated a number of gauge lines in South India from 1874 to 1951. History The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established with its headquarters in England in 1853. The Carnatic Railway Company w ...

. Following this record journey, interest in a shorter through route between Madras and Delhi was rekindled and the

Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway (NGSR) was a railway company operating in India from 1879 to 1950. It was owned by the Nizams of Hyderabad State, and its full name was ''His Exalted Highness, The Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway''. The company ...

hastened the construction of the missing rail link between

Kazipet Kazipet is the major educational and transport hub in Hanumakonda district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is a city in Warangal Tri-City, and a mandal in Hanamakonda district. Kazipet falls under Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation. Ea ...

and . The link was opened throughout on 15 November 1928 with the commissioning of the Asifabad Road – section. This link reduced the distance between Madras and Delhi by over 200 miles. From 1 April 1929 the 'Grand Trunk' express commenced operating as two through carriages running between

in the

and

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

in the

. The two coaches, consisting of a composite First and Second class coach and a composite Third class and Luggage coach, made their way to

attached to the

's Mangalore–Madras mail train. Between Madras and

Itarsi Itarsi is a city and municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India in Narmadapuram District. Itarsi is a key hub for agricultural goods and is the biggest railway junction in Madhya Pradesh. Rail services from all 4 major metropolitan cities of India ...

sectional coaches to Itarsi, Bezwada (now

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

) and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

were operated. At Itarsi, the two through coaches from Mangalore were attached to the Great Indian Peninsular Railway's Bombay–Delhi service. In the final leg of the journey between Delhi and Peshawar, the two through carriages were attached to the

Frontier Mail The 12903 / 12904 Golden Temple Mail is a Mail train belonging to Indian Railways that runs daily between (MMCT) in Maharashtra and (ASR) in Punjab. It is named after the famous Golden Temple at Amritsar. The train is running with modern L ...

and reached Peshawar traveling through

Bathinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...

Ferozepore Firozpur, also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in Firozpur District, Punjab, India. After the partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan border with memorials to soldiers who di ...

and

. Thus the train covered a distance of 2497 miles in a little over 96 hours. This was not an independent train and the name 'Grand Trunk express' only referred to the 2 through carriages operating between Mangalore and Peshawar. Shortly after the inauguration of the service, from 15 October 1929, the two through carriages operating between Mangalore and Peshawar were restricted to run between

Mettupalayam Mettupalayam may refer to: * Mettupalayam, Coimbatore Mettupalayam is a municipality town and taluk of the Coimbatore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second largest town in the Coimbatore District. It's located to the North ...

and Delhi with Slip Coach to Peshawar/Landi Kotal . From 1 March 1930, the service was extended to Lahore. As the train consisted of only 2 through coaches, it proved insufficient to meet the traffic requirements. In addition, the train's schedule depended on the schedules of the trains carrying the through carriages, and was thus subject to regular delays. This led to a revision in the operation of the train and the revamped 'Grand Trunk express' commenced operating as a dedicated daily train between Madras and Delhi from 1 September 1930. The rakes used for the train were supplied by the

for the next few years. Until the mid-1960s, the Grand Trunk Express completed the 1356 mile journey between Madras and

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

in about 50 hours. After the introduction of the

Dakshin Express The 12721 / 12722 ''Dakshin Express'' is an Express train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between and in India. It is a daily service. It operates as train number 12721 from Hyderabad Deccan to Hazrat Nizamuddin and as train number 1 ...

in 1968, the Grand Trunk Express was moved to a faster schedule. For a few years after the change in schedule, the train operated as a fully air-conditioned service for two days every week and with a mixed consist on the remaining 5 days. In time, the air-conditioned service was discontinued. Today, the train covers the 2182.4 kilometer journey in 35 hours and 15 minutes, with 40 halts (exclusive of the terminals) at an average speed of 62kmph. From 10 December 2015, the train started terminating at instead of . From 12 May 2018, the terminal was reverted to .

Timings

12615

Grand Trunk Express leaves

at 18.50 and reaches

by 06.35 the third day. 12616

Grand Trunk Express leaves

by 16.10 and reaches

by 04.30 the third day.

Schedule and Service

The train passes through the states of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

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 ...

and

. As per the numbering of the Indian Railways, the train has been assigned the numbers 12615/12616, with 12615 being assigned for the

(MAS) –

(NDLS) run and 12616 for the

(NDLS) –

(MAS) run.

Coach Composition

It runs with LHB coach. It has a total of 22 coaches. * 1 AC First Class Cum AC Two Tier * 2 AC Two Tier * 6 AC Three Tier * 6 Sleeper class * 1 Pantry car * 4 General Unreserved * 1 Luggage Cum Disabled Coach (LHB) * 1 End On Generator Car

Route & Halts

The important halts of Grand Trunk Express are; * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Traction

It is hauled by a

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 ...

based

WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 Volt, kV Alternating current, AC Electric locomotive, electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for 5 ft 6 ...

locomotive on its entire journey.

Gallery

File:Grand Trunk Express - AC 2 tier coach.jpg , Grand Trunk Express – AC 2 tier coach File:Grand Trunk Express with Erode based WAP 4.jpg , Grand Trunk Express with

Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the E ...

-based

WAP-4 The Indian locomotive class WAP-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1993 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic (P) ...

File:Grand Trunk Express - Train board.jpg , Grand Trunk Express – Train board File:Grand Trunk Express - AC 2 tier coach - A3.jpg , Grand Trunk Express – AC 2 tier coach – A3 File:Grand Trunk Express - AC 3 tier coach.jpg , Grand Trunk Express – AC 3 tier coach

References

External links

Indian Railways Official Site

GT Express Route Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Trunk Expres Transport in Chennai Transport in Delhi Named passenger trains of India Express trains in India Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh Rail transport in Telangana Rail transport in Delhi Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh Rail transport in Rajasthan Rail transport in Haryana Railway services introduced in 1929