The 12049 / 12050 Gatimaan Express is India's first semi-high speed train that runs between

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 ...

and Jhansi. It takes 265 minutes (around 4.5 hours) to cover the journey from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Virangana Lakshmibai Junction railway stations with an average speed of . The top operating speed of the Gatimaan Express is up to 160 km/h between Tughlakabad railway station to

Bilochpura Bilochpura, also known as Balochpura, is a hamlet in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is home to approximately 8,000 people of the Balochi ethnic group. History Balochpura is home to approximately 8,000 people of the Balochi ethnic group ...

, which makes it the fastest regularly scheduled train service in India. Trial runs of other trains have been faster, and if the rail infrastructure on Vande Bharat Express routes were to be improved, it could also go as fast as the Gatiman Express.

History

In October 2014, the

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

applied for safety certificate from

Commission of Railway Safety The Commission of Railway Safety is a government commission of India. Subordinate to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the commission is the rail safety authority in India, as directed by The Railways Act, 1989. The agency investigates serio ...

to start the service. In June 2015, the train was officially announced. The train was launched on 5 April 2016 and completed its maiden journey between Nizamuddin and Agra Cantt within 100 minutes. But due to low occupancy, Indian Railways first extended this train from Agra to

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 ...

on 19 February 2018 and then to Virangana Lakshmibai junction on 1 April 2018.

Loco link

The Gatimaan Express is regularly hauled by a

WAP 5 The Indian locomotive class WAP-5 is the name of a class of "High Speed" electric locomotives produced and used by Indian Railways. The first 10 locomotives were imported from ABB in Switzerland in 1995. They are supposed to be a variant of the ...

electric locomotive from the Ghaziabad Loco Shed. WAP-5 locomotives 30007, 30140, 35020, 35008, 35007 & 30120 from the Ghaziabad (GZB) Electric locomotive Shed are used to haul this train in both directions. These locomotives are equipped with TPWS (Train Protection and Warning System).

Coach Composition

The 12050/12049 Gatimaan Express currently has 8 AC Chair Car and 2 Executive Chair Car coaches. The coaches in Light Blue indicates AC Chair Car and the coaches in Pink indicate AC Executive Chair Cars

Schedule

The schedule of this 12050/12049 Hazrat Nizamuddin - Jhansi Jn Gatimaan Express is given below:-

Speed

The maximum permissible speed is 160 kmph but not for the whole journey. The maximum permissible speed is 120 kmph between H. Nizamuddin and Tughlakabad. Railway is trying to increase the maximum permissible speed of H. Nizamuddin - Tughlakabad route up to 130 kmph from 120 kmph and for this reason, maximum permissible speed of this train will be increased to 130 kmph between H. Nizamuddin and Tughlakabad. The maximum permissible speed is 160 kmph between Tughlakabad and Agra Cant and speed of this part makes it the train having highest speed in the country, the maximum permissible speed is 130 kmph between Agra Cant and Virangna Lakshmibai. Railway is planning to increase its speed to 160 kmph beyond Agra Cant.

References