The Pragati Superfast Express is a daily

Intercity Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...

train plying between

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

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- ...

via . It is operated by the

Central Railways Central Railway (abbreviated CR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. Its headquarters is in Mumbai at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. It has the distinction of operating the first passenger railway line in India, which opened from ...

, a zonal railway under the larger

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 ...

. Currently, it plies the distance of 187 km in 3 hours and 25 minutes.

Coaches

The Pragati Express currently has 2 AC Chair Car, 5 General Second Class, 5 General Second Class coaches reserved for Pass Holders, 1 Ladies coach and 2 Sleeper coaches. As is customary with Indian Railways, coaches are added/removed as per the demand. Starting November 2018, the Pragati Express has received major upgrades in terms of Uttakristha interiors and a new color scheme. Soon it will be attached

LHB coach Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach is a passenger coach of Indian Railways that is developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the takeover by Alstom and now known as Alstom Transport Deutschland) and mostly ...

. Currently running with upgraded Utkrisht coaches.

Service

It was inaugurated on 27 December 1991 as an alternative to the most popular train on this sector the

Deccan Queen The 12123 / 12124 Deccan Queen is a daily Indian passenger train service operated by the Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways connecting the cities of Mumbai and Pune. Introduced on June 1, 1930, the Deccan Queen was India's "first sup ...

. It is one of the six point-to-point express trains meant for intercity travel between Mumbai and Pune that carry thousands of regular commuters. The other five being the

Sinhagad Express The Sinhagad Express is an Intercity Express train which plies daily between the cities of Pune and Mumbai in India. It is operated by the Indian Railways and comes under the Central Railway zone and is one of the six point-to-point express tr ...

Deccan Express The Deccan Express is an express train that leaves daily at 3:15pm, plying between the cities of Pune and Mumbai in India, a distance of 192 km and at 7:00am from Mumbai to Pune. Services The Deccan Express was launched much earlier i ...

Indrayani Express The 22105/22106 Indrayani Superfast Express is a superfast express train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between Mumbai CSMT and Pune Junction in India. It is a daily service and is named after the river Indrayani flowing near Pune. T ...

and the

. Although all trains have the same livery, the Pragati Express takes a different route. It takes the single line electrified route between

Karjat Karjat (Pronunciation: əɾd͡zət̪ is a city administered under a Municipal Council in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is served by Karjat railway station. Karjat forms a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Karja ...

and and continues towards from where it continues the rest of journey towards Mumbai CSMT. Thus it completely bypasses the

–– section of the Central Line.

Timing

The Pune–Mumbai Pragati Express Express is the 3rd of 6 dedicated trains to leave Pune Junction for Mumbai CST & is the 2nd-last train to return. 12126 Pune–Mumbai Pragati Express leaves Pune Junction every day at 07:50 hrs IST and reaches Mumbai CST at 11:15 hrs IST. On return, the 12125 Mumbai–Pune Pragati Express leaves Mumbai CST every day at 16:25 hrs IST and reaches Pune Junction at 19:50 hrs IST.

Traction

When the train was introduced, it was hauled by WCM 2/3/5 DC locomotives as the route between Mumbai and Pune was under 1500 V DC. Post 2014, after conversion of DC to AC on Central Line, it has been hauled occasionally by

Bhusawal Bhusawal is the largest municipal council (established in 1882) in the Jalgaon district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated along the banks of the river Tapi. The city emerged as a major railway junction during the British Raj, and s ...

-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) ...

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 ( ...

Ajni Ajni railway station (station code:- AJNI) is a railway station in vicinity of Nagpur in Maharashtra on Delhi–Chennai line. It is situated at a distance of about 2.8 km from Nagpur railway station. There are plans to develop it as a t ...

-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 ...

. At , it gets two or three

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 ...

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 ...

bankers of Kalyan shed to push the train on the ghat section between Karjat railway station and

Lonavala railway station Lonavala railway station is a railway station in Lonavala, a hill station in the state of Maharashtra in India. Lonavala station is the origin of Lonavala– Suburban Trains. 17 suburban trains operate on the Pune–Lonavala route. Lonavla is a ...

, where the gradient is 1 in 40.

Gallery

File:Pragati Express.jpg, Old Pragati Express with beautiful coach File:Pragati Express - Utkrist coaches.jpg, Pragati Express – with the new Utakristha coaches File:Pragati Express - 2nd Class seating - Utkrist coach.jpg, Pragati Express – 2nd Class seating – Utakristha coach

Sister trains

* Dedicated Mumbai–Pune Intercity trains:

References

External links

Website of the Indian Railways

Pragati Express route map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pragati Express Transport in Pune Transport in Mumbai Mumbai–Pune trains Express trains in India Rail transport in Maharashtra Railway services introduced in 1991 Named passenger trains of India