From 'Punjab Limited' to Punjab Mail, fastest train of British-era completes 111 years of service

The Punjab Mail, the fastest train in India during the British-era which now runs between Mumbai and Firozpur Cantonment in Punjab, completed 111 years of operations on Wednesday, transforming from three passenger-carrying cars to more than 20 coaches over the years and becoming a prominent train of the Central Railway.Another prestigious train of the Central Railway, the Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen, will enter the 94th year of operations on June 1.


PTI | Mumbai | Updated: 31-05-2023 21:29 IST | Created: 31-05-2023 21:29 IST
From 'Punjab Limited' to Punjab Mail, fastest train of British-era completes 111 years of service
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The Punjab Mail, the fastest train in India during the British-era which now runs between Mumbai and Firozpur Cantonment in Punjab, completed 111 years of operations on Wednesday, transforming from three passenger-carrying cars to more than 20 coaches over the years and becoming a prominent train of the Central Railway.

Another prestigious train of the Central Railway, the Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen, will enter the 94th year of operations on June 1. The Punjab Mail, originally called 'Punjab Limited', made her maiden run out of Ballard Pier Mole station, which no longer exists, in Mumbai for Peshawar in the present-day Pakistan, on June 1, 1912, according to a CR release.

"Ballard Pier Mole station was actually a hub for GIPR services. The Punjab Mail, or Punjab Limited as she was then called, finally steamed out on 1st June 1912. To begin with, there were the P&O steamers bringing in the mail, and the officers of the Raj, along with their wives, on their first posting in colonial India," said the release.

The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway.

The Punjab Limited used to run on fixed mail days from Ballard Pier Mole station all the way to Peshawar via the GIP route, covering a distance of 2,496 km in about 47 hours. The train comprised six cars -- three for passengers and three for postal goods and mail.

"The three passenger-carrying cars had a capacity of just 96 passengers," the release stated.

During the pre-Partition period, the Punjab Limited was the fastest train in British India. Its route ran over GIP track for the large part and passed through Itarsi (in Madhya Pradesh), Agra, Delhi and Lahore before terminating at Peshawar Cantonment, it said.

The train started originating and terminating at Bombay VT (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus or Mumbai CSMT) from 1914. The train then loosely came to be known as the Punjab Mail, rather than Punjab Limited, and became a daily service, said the release.

Third class coaches started appearing on the Punjab Mail by the mid-1930s, while it got an air-conditioned car in 1945.

The electric hauled train currently takes 32.36 hours to cover the 1,930 km distance between Mumbai and Firozpur Cantonment with 52 intermediate stops. The Punjab Mail has one AC First Class-cum AC-2 Tier coach, two AC-2 compartments, six AC-3 Tier, 6 sleeper class, one pantry car, five general second class coaches and one generator van.

Another CR release said the introduction of ''Deccan Queen'' between Mumbai and Pune on June 1, 1930, was a major landmark in the history of then-Great Indian Peninsula Railway.

"This was the first deluxe train introduced on the railway to serve 2 important cities of the region and was aptly named after Pune, which is also known as ''Queen of Deccan'' (Dakkhan ki Rani)," the release said. According to the release, initially, the train was introduced with two rakes of seven coaches each, one of which was painted in silver with scarlet mouldings and the other with royal blue with gold lines.

"The under frames of the coaches of the original rakes were built in England while the coach bodies were built in the Matunga workshop (in Mumbai) of the GIP Railway," the release said. The Deccan Queen, initially, had only first class and second-class accommodations. The first class was abolished on January 1, 1949, and the second class was redesigned as first class, which continued up to June 1955 when third class was introduced for the first time.

The coaches of the original rakes were replaced in 1966 by anti-telescopic steel bodied integral coaches built by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur (Tamil Nadu). These coaches incorporated improved design of bogies for better riding comfort and also improvements in the interior furnishings and fittings, said the CR.

The number of coaches in the rake was also increased to 12 from the original 7 coaches, providing additional accommodation to passengers. Over the years, the number of coaches in the train has been increased to the present level of 16, the release said.

"With the ever-growing aspirations of the travelling public for better amenities, improved standards of comfort and better quality of service, it was considered necessary to give a complete facelift to the Deccan Queen," it stated.

The iconic Mumbai-Pune train is the only one in India to have a dining car that offers table service for 32 passengers and is equipped with modern pantry facilities such as microwave oven, deep freezer and toaster.

"Over the last 93 years of its colourful history, the train has grown from a mere medium of transportation between two cities into an institution binding generation of intensely loyal passengers," the Central railway said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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