**** #Know ur train
+++ Independance Day Spl+++
~~~ Pratham Swatantrata Sangram Express ~~~
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#Name: The Pratham Swatantrata Sangram or First war of Independance 1857 founded the base for our Independance. Jhansi...
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n Barrackpore, both played a vital role in it, from Rani Lakshmi Bai n Mangal Pandey. Since train was started between these two places, it was named as Pratham Swatantrata Sangram Exp.
#Regions of state: Bundelkhand, Awadh, Purvanchal, Magadh, North Chota Nagpur, Burdwan
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#Zone and #division: 3 Zone. NCR:Jhansi, Allahabad. ECR: MGS, Danapur. ER: Asansol, Howrah divisions
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#Base: Jhansi.
#Rivers: 7 Major – Yamuna(2), Son, Barkar
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#Physical Regions: Bundelkhand plateau, Yamuna Ganga Plains, Son plains, Lower Damodar Plains.
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#Soils: Alluvial, Black, Red .
#States: 4 states: UP 8, BR 5, JH 3, WB 4 halts.
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#Zones : NCR 7, ECR 6, ER 7 halts.
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#Languages: Hindi Urdu Bengali speaking regions

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#SriJagannath Express
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~~~ Getting Kolkata closer to Lord Jagannath ~~~
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#Name: The word “Jagannath” means “The Lord of the Universe”. It is a combination of Sanskrit words “Jagat” (Universe) and Nath (Lord). Lord Jagannath is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and his form Krishna. Though worshipped everywhere, the Jagannath Temple at Puri is the nucleus of the Vaishnavites (people of the Vaishnav sect) and is considered one of the most sacred places for pilgrimage. It is a part of the Char-Dham Yatra. As the train connects Kolkata with Puri, it has been aptly named as Sri Jagannath Express as obeisance to Lord Jagannath.
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#Regions (Physical): Odisha Coastal Plains, Central Plateaus, Indo-Gangetic Plains
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#Regions of State: Districts of Puri, Khordha, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore in Odisha; Districts of Paschim Medinipur, Purva Medinipur and Howrah in West Bengal
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#Zone, #Division: The train belongs to #ECoR Zone, Khurda Road Division. #ECoR - Khurda Road; #SER - Kharagpur; #ER - Howrah
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#Route:
> Puri-Khurda Road Branch Line
> Khurda Road – Howrah by the Chennai-Howrah Main Line
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#Halts, #States: The train passes entirely through two states and halts at 19 intermediate stations in the UP Direction and 18 intermediate stations in the DOWN direction, excluding originating and destination stations. The statewise breakup of halts is as under: OR-14, WB-5 (4 in DOWN).
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#Soils: It crosses through region having fertile alluvial and black soil. Sand and Sand-mix soil found near Puri due to proximity with the Bay of Bengal.
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#Rivers: Kathajodi, Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani, Subarnarekha, Rupnarayan, Damodar, Hooghly
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#Languages: Odia, Bengali
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#Speed: Highest average speed: 90 kmph between Kapilas Road Jn and Jajpur Keonjhar Rd
Lowest average speed: 13 kmph between Santragachi Jn and Howrah Jn
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#RSA: 12859/60 HWH-CSTM-HWH Gitanjali SF Express
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#Base: Puri
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Photo Credits:
Pic-1: Train Board ( /blog/post/636193 )
Pic-2: Howrah Station ( click here )
Pic-3: Writers’ Building, (The secretariat of WB Govt.) Kolkata ( click here )
Pic-4: Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath sitting on a Golden throne. Lord Balabhadra is the eldest followed by Lord Jagannath and younger sister Subhadra. ( click here )
Pic-5: Puri Station ( click here )
Pic-6: Jagannath Temple, Puri (click here )
Pic-7: Route Map

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#Vaigai Express
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~~~ Madurai’s Own Train ~~~
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#Name: The city of Madurai in Southern Tamil Nadu is situated on the banks of the river Vaigai. Since the train connects Chennai with Madurai, it has been aptly named as Vaigai Express.
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#Inauguration: 15th August, 1977 from Madurai
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#Regions (Physical): Eastern Coastal Plain, Kalvarayan Hills, Plains of the Palani Hills, Kaveri Delta
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#Regions of State: The districts of Chennai, Kanchipuram, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Tiruchchirapalli, Dindigul and Madurai
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#Zone, #Division: The train belongs to #SR Zone, Madurai Division. The train passes through the following divisions: #SR – Chennai, Thiruchirapalli, Madurai
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#Route:
> Madurai – Chennai Egmore Line (via Chord Line)
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#Halts, #States: The train passes entirely through one state and halts at 7 intermediate stations, excluding originating and destination stations.
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#Soils: It crosses through region having Alluvial, Black and Red soil
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#Rivers: Cooum, Adyar, Palar, Gedilam, Pennar, Manimuthar, Kaveri, Vaigai
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#Languages: Tamil
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#Speed: Highest average speed: 95 kmph between Vridhhachalam Jn and Ariyalur
Lowest average speed: 47 kmph between Dindigul Jn and Madurai Jn
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#Trivia:
> The only train on IR (along with Pallavan Exp) to have a PS coach – Half of which is Pantry Car and half is Second Sitting.
> In the days of MG, it used to run with special green and yellow livery, with twin YDM-4 locos.
> MG Locos had Special double tone horn for easy identification
> The locos always ran in Short Hood Forward mode
> It was the only MG train of SR certified to run at 110 kmph
> For the first time on the MG, the ICF manufactured two 40-seat AC chair car coaches exclusively for the Vaigai and Pallavan express.
> The driver and the Guard had corded telephone system to communicate with each other.
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#RSA: 12605/06 MS-TPJ-MS Pallavan SF Express
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#Base: Madurai Jn
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Photo Credits:
Pic-1: Train Board (click here )
Pic-2: MG Vaigai Express of the yesteryears ( /blog/post/668092 )
Pic-3: Chennai Egmore Station (click here )
Pic-4: Kamrajar Salai, Marina Beach, Chennai (click here )
Pic-5: Vaigai River (click here )
Pic-6: Madurai Station (click here )
Pic-7: Meenakshi Temple, Madurai ( click here )

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#Vananchal Express
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~~~ Connecting Anga with Vananchal ~~~
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#Name: Vananchal is another / traditional name of Jharkhand. Since the train connects Bhagalpur with Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, it has been named as Vananchal Express.
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#Regions (Physical): Ganga River Basin, Rajmahal Hills (Damin-i-Koh), Indo-Gangetic Plains, Part of Chhota Nagpur Plateau, Parasnath Hills
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#Regions of State: Bhagalpur Division, Rajmahal, Burdwan Division, Santhal Pargana
#Zone, #Division: The train belongs to #ER Zone, Malda Town Division. The train passes through the following divisions: #ER-Malda Town, Howrah, Asansol; ECR-Dhanbad; SER-Adra, Ranchi;
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#Route:
> Bhagalpur – Sainthia via Sahibganj Loop
> Sainthia – Andal Branch Line
> Andal – Asansol via Barabani Line
> Asansol - Muri via Asansol-Gaya Section of Grand Chord
> Muri – Ranchi Line
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#Halts, #States: The train stops at 23 intermediate stations (excluding origin and destination) and the statewise breakup is as follows: BR-3, JH-11, WB-9
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#Soils: Red, Black, Sandy and Laterite soils
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#Rivers: Bansloi, Brahmani, Dwaraka, Mayurakshi, Bakreshwar, Hinglo, Ajay, Singaran, Jamunia, Barakar, Subarnarekha (2 times)
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#Languages: Bhojpuri, Maithili, Angika, Hindi, Bengali, Santhali, Mundari
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#Speed: Highest average speed: 81 kmph between Sahibganj Jn and Tinpahar Jn
Lowest average speed: 26kmph between Pandabeshwar and Andal Jn
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#Base: Bhagalpur Jn
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Photo Credits;
Pic-1: Train Pic ( /blog/post )
Pic-2: Bhagalpur Station ( /blog/post/557662 )
Pic-3: Vikramshila University, Bhagalpur ( click here )
Pic-4: Sahibganj Station, Jharkhand of the famous Sahibganj Loop ( click here )
Pic-5: Ranchi Station ( /blog/post/698664 )
Pic-6: Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Ranchi (click here )
Pic-7: Route Map

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#Ahimsa Express
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~~~ The Messenger of Peace and Non-Violence ~~~
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#Name: Ahimsa means non-violence. It means kindness and non-violence towards all living things including animals; it respects living beings as a unity, the belief that all living things are connected. Avoidance of verbal and physical violence is also a part of this principle. Hence it is said that “Ahimsa Paramo Dharma” meaning Non-Violence is the Supreme Religion. Gandhiji was a staunch follower of the principles of Ahimsa. Throughout his life, Gandhiji followed the principles of Ahimsa to fight injustice. Gandhiji lived in Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Since the train connects Ahmedabad to Pune, it has been aptly named as Ahimsa Express as a tribute to Gandhiji.
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#Regions (Physical): Western Ghats, Konkan Plains, Narmada Basin, Gujarat Plains
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#Regions of State: Paschim Maharashtra, Konkan, Lata (South), Anarta (North)
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#Zone, #Division: The train belongs to #CR Zone, Pune Division. The train passes through the following divisions: #CR- Pune, Mumbai; #WR –Mumbai, Vadodara, Ahmedabad
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#Route:
> Pune to Kalyan by PUNE-CSTM Trunk Route
> Kalyan – Vasai: Kalyan to Dombivali by PUNE-CSTM Line and after Dombivali, it takes the branch line (Panvel-Diva-Vasai) to connect to Vasai Road
> Vasai Road to Ahmedabad by the Mumbai-Central – Ahmedabad Main Line
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#Halts, #States: The train passes through 2 states, Maharashtra & Gujarat. The train halts at 14 intermediate stations (excluding origin and destination) and the statewise break-up is as under: MH-6; GJ-8
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#Soils: It crosses through region having black, alluvial and sandy soil.
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#Rivers: Mula, Ulhas, Daman Ganga, Ambika, Purna, Tapi, Narmada, Vishwamitri, Vatrak/Shedhi
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#Languages: Marathi & Gujarati
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#Speed: Highest average speed: 85 kmph between Dahanu Road and Vapi
Lowest average speed: 30 kmph between Bhiwandi Road and Vasai Road
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#Base: Pune Jn
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Photo Credits;:
Pic-1: Ahimsa Express on a Curve (/blog/post/602055 )
Pic-3: National War Memorial, Pune (click here )
Pic-4: Ahmedabad Station (/blog/post/711783/0 )
Pic-5: Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad ( click here )
Pic-6: IIM, Ahmedabad (click here )