The Kolkata Mail (via Chheoki) also known as Imperial Indian Mail during the pre-independence era, is a daily train running between two metro cities

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 ...

, (

Howrah station Howrah railway station, also known as Howrah Junction, is a railway station located in the city of Howrah, West Bengal, India. It is also the oldest and largest existing railway complex in India. It is one of the busiest train stations in the w ...

) in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

and

Mumbai 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- ...

, (

Mumbai CSMT 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 ...

) in

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 ...

. Numbered 12321/22, the train belongs to the

Mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

category and is operated by

Eastern Railways The Eastern Railway (abbreviated ER) is among the 19 zones of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Fairley Place, Kolkata and comprises four divisions: , , , and . Each division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). The name o ...

Route

This train travels through

Asansol Junction Asansol Junction railway station (station code: ASN) is a Division of Eastern Railway Zone in Asansol Sadar subdivision of Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The station is on the Howrah–Delhi main line. It is th ...

, Gaya,

Mughalsarai Junction Mughalsarai Junction, officially known as Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, (station code: DDU, formerly MGS) is a railway station in the town of Mughalsarai in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The station contains the largest railway mars ...

, Allahabad Chheoki Junction,

Katni Junction Katni Junction (Station Code: KTE) is a major rail junction in Katni, India. Rail links from the junction travel in five directions — Bina, Jabalpur, Satna, Bilaspur, Singrauli. Rail links from the junction travel to New Delhi, Mumbai, Vadoda ...

, Gadarwara Railway Station

Itarsi Junction 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 ...

, Bhusaval Junction, Manmad Junction, and

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) ...

to reach Mumbai CSMT, and vice versa.

Traction

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 ...

-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 ...

hauls the train end-to-end from Howrah to Mumbai CSMT and vice versa, via Gaya. Before 6 June 2015, this train was hauled by a

-based

WCAM-3 The Indian locomotive class WCAM–3 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives That was developed in 1997 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the third locomotives from the WCAM cla ...

locomotive from Mumbai CSMT to Igatpuri.

History

Kolkata Mail as it is known now is one of the oldest train 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 ...

with service of 150 years. This train was started by the British Indian Government on 7 March 1870 and was operated by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. At that time this train was known as the Imperial Indian Mail and use to carry British officers, civil servants, diplomats and their family members from the then Bombay to Calcutta. At that time it was one of the most luxurious train of British India and the world. Later on after independence the name was changed to Bombay Mail, which then subsequently changed to Mumbai Mail after rechristening Bombay to Mumbai. Being a very popular train, Indian Railways has to start another train by the same name but via Nagpur. Later on to avoid confusion, Indian Railways changed its name to Kolkata Mail.

External links

Timetable
Named passenger trains of India Rail transport in West Bengal Mail trains in India {{India-rail-transport-stub

Route

Traction

History

See also

External links