The ''Sushasan Express'', an

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 ...

train service launched to mark former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

's 91st birthday, commenced operations on 25 December 2014. The train runs from

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

, the birthplace of Vajpayee, to Gonda, the workplace of Vajpayee Ji via and

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. On 11 November the extended to

Balrampur Balrampur is a city and a municipal board in Balrampur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is situated on the bank of river Rapti and is the district headquarters of Balrampur district. Demographics As of 2011 Indian Census, Ba ...

, where Vajpayee was elected for the first time to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

. It shares its rake with Gwalior–Pune Weekly Express.

History

The Express sported a special number, 01111, on its maiden run.

Narendra Singh Tomar Narendra Singh Tomar (born 12 June 1957) is an Indian politician and a member of the 17th Lok Sabha. He is the incumbent Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. He has been Minister of Rural Development, Minister of Panchayati Raj, Minis ...

, Minister for Steel and Mines and the MP from Gwalior, cleared the train to depart

from platform #4 at 1:20 pm, 10 minutes behind schedule. According to senior railway officials, regular operation of the Sushasan Express (11111/11112) started on 31 December 2014 from Gwalior, and on 1 January 2015 from Gonda.

Service

The Up train, Gwalior to Balrampur, has train number "22199". The Down train, Balrampur to Gwalior, has train number "22200". The weekly train leaves Gwalior on Wednesday, and departs Gonda in order to return to Gwalior on Thursday.

Coach composition

Earlier the train used to run with conventional ICF rake consisting of 17 coaches : * 1 AC II Tier * 2 AC III Tier * 6 Sleeper coaches * 6 General * 2 Second-class Luggage/parcel van From 18 September 2019, the conventional ICF rake was replaced by LHB rake. The present LHB rake comprises 14 coaches - * 1 AC II Tier * 2 AC III Tier * 6 Sleeper coaches * 3 General * 2 End-on-generators

Route and halts

Having 10 halts between Gwalior and Balrampur, it takes 20 hours and 5 minutes for this train to complete its entire journey of 953 kilometers. The Up train, 11111, leaves Gwalior at 13:10 hrs. and reaches Balrampur at 09:15 hrs. The Down train, 11112, Leaves Balrampur at 11:55 hrs. and reaches Gwalior at 06:30 hrs on Friday. The important halts of the train are: * * * * * * * * * * * *

Traction

Both trains are hauled by a Jhansi Loco Shed or Kanpur Loco Shed-based

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 ...

or electric locomotive from Gwalior to Gonda and from Gonda it is hauled by a Gonda Loco Shed-based

WDP-4 The EMD GT46PAC or WDP4 is a passenger-hauling diesel-electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by Electro-Motive Diesel, General Motors Electro-Motive Division and built by both GM-EMD and under license by Banaras Locomotive Wo ...

diesel locomotive up until Balrampur, and vice versa.

Rake sharing

The train shares its rake with Pune–Gwalior Weekly Express

Notes

References

Named passenger trains of India Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh Rail transport in Madhya Pradesh Transport in Gwalior Railway services introduced in 2014 Express trains in India Balrampur district, Uttar Pradesh {{India-express-train-stub