Kalka Mail

Kalka Mail
	;
Train type:	Long-distance train
Countries:	India
Predecessor:	East Indian Railway Mail
First drive:	1891
Today's operator:	Indian Railways , Eastern Railway regional company
	route
Departure station:	Howrah
Intermediate stops:	38 stops, including Bardhaman , Asansol , Dhanbad , Gomoh , Gaya , Mughalsarai , Prayagraj , Kanpur , Etawah , Firozabad , Tundla , Aligarh , Old Delhi , Ambala Cantonment , Chandigarh
Destination station:	Kalka
Railway line:	Howrah-Gaya-Delhi; Delhi – Kalka;
Route length:	1714 km
Travel time:	33 hours
Cycle:	Every day
Train numbers:	Howrah – Kalka: 12311 ; Kalka – Howrah: 12312
	Furnishing
Class (es):	First Class AC (1A); AC 2-tiers sleeper (2A); AC 3-tiers sleeper (3A); Sleeper Class (SL); Second Sitting (2S); Unreserved (UR);
Seat car:	1 trolley (2S); 2 cars (UR);
Couchette:	3 ½ carriages (A2); 3 cars (A3); 11 cars (SL);
Sleeping car:	½ car (A1);
Catering:	1 kitchen trolley;
Others:	Baggage car with a women's compartment ; Mail car;
	Technical specifications
Rolling stock:	Utkrisht car (modernized ICF car ) with WAP-7
Gauge (s) :	1676 mm
Power system (s):	25 kV 50 Hz alternating current
Cruising speed:	52 km / h
	Train run
	;

Kalka Mail , now also Howrah-Delhi-Kalka-Express , is one of the oldest long-distance trains in India . It connects Howrah station near Kolkata with Kalka , the starting point of the narrow-gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway, over 1714 kilometers .

history

East Indian Railway Mail exiting Kalka Station, ca.1906

The connection was opened in 1866 as East Indian Railway Mail between Delhi and Kolkata, in 1891 the route was extended to Kalka. The train is thus also one of the oldest train connections still in operation in the world. At the time of British India , this train used to travel government officials from the Colonial Administration's headquarters in Kolkata to the summer residence in Shimla .

On July 10, 2011, the Kalka Mail, which had about 1000 passengers, derailed near Malwan about ten kilometers northwest of Fatehpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh . The accident left 70 dead and 153 injured. A broken rail is suspected to be the cause of the derailment .

Offer in the 2020 timetable

Utkrisht wagon

In the 2020 timetable, the train consisted of 24 modernized ICF cars of various classes. In 2018, the cars went through the उत्कृष्ट Utkrisht , German 'excellent' modernization program, in which new toilets and LED lighting were installed. The paint of the car provided by the regional company Eastern Railway is light beige with a maroon stripe. The train was hauled by a WAP-7 from the Howrah depot and left Kolkata every evening. The distance to Kalka was covered in 33 hours - Kanpur was reached after one night at noon, Delhi in the evening and Kalka after another night in the early morning. In the opposite direction, the train left Kalka in the evening, arrived in Delhi early in the morning, reached Kanpur in the late afternoon and ended in Howrah after another night.

The Kalka Mail carried the following car classes :

First Class AC (1A): Sleeping cars with 2 or 4-bed compartments
AC 2-tier sleeper (2A): couchette coaches with 4-seater compartments, two couchettes one above the other
AC 3-tier sleeper (3A): couchette car with 6-person compartments, two couchettes one above the other along the side aisle, three couchettes one above the other in the compartments

Sleeper Class (SL): couchette coaches with 6-person compartments without air conditioning

Second Seating (2S): Non-air-conditioned seating car

Unreserved (UR): Seating car with no reserved seats

A women's compartment in the Unreserved (UR) class was offered in the baggage car . The more comfortable car classes were to be found towards the middle of the train, where passengers are better protected from collisions.

Formation of the Kalka Mail in 2020

Web links

Commons : Kalka Mail - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Ajay Banerjee: Train tales from a bygone era. In: The Tribune. Retrieved on August 15, 2020 .
12311 / Kalka Mail. Train composition and timetable. In: indiarailinfo.com. Retrieved on August 15, 2020 .
Upgraded Utkrisht Rake of Kalka Mail jolts past Kanchausi (from 0:00:14) on YouTube , December 4th, 2018 (Kalka Mail with Utkrisht-Wagen drives through Kanchausi).

Individual evidence

^ Train Name Index . In: Indian Railways (Ed.): Trains at a Glance . Edition 2019-2020, p. 69 ( gov.in [PDF]).
^ Fractured rail caused Howrah-Kalka Mail accident: Report | India News - Times of India. In: Times of India. Retrieved on August 14, 2020 .
↑ Project Utkrisht: Indian Railways gives mail / express trains swanky revamp. In: The Economics Times. October 4, 2018, accessed on August 15, 2020 .
↑ 12311 / Kalka Mail (PT). In: India Rail Info. Retrieved August 13, 2020 .

[1] Train Name Index . In: Indian Railways (Ed.): Trains at a Glance . Edition 2019-2020, p. 69 ( gov.in [PDF]).

[2] Fractured rail caused Howrah-Kalka Mail accident: Report | India News - Times of India. In: Times of India. Retrieved on August 14, 2020 .

[3] Project Utkrisht: Indian Railways gives mail / express trains swanky revamp. In: The Economics Times. October 4, 2018, accessed on August 15, 2020 .

[4] 12311 / Kalka Mail (PT). In: India Rail Info. Retrieved August 13, 2020 .