Here it is:
TRAIN RALLY
Formula One has finally arrived in India. But how man of us are aware that there used to be a race amongst trains too in the days of old. I am quoting from a page of history in IRFCA relating to the Punjab Mail, presently numbered 12137/12138
"In those days, a sort of 'race' was held among the...
more... trains running to the Frontier region. Trains that took part in the race were the Quetta Mail, Grand Trunk Express, Frontier Mail, the Punjab Limited (Mail), and another Punjab Mail (loosely referred to as the 'duplicate Punjab Mail) which belonged to the East Indian Railway, and which ran between Calcutta and Delhi.The races were held for a few months each at Karachi, Bombay, Delhi and Madras. However, the only real race worth noting is that between two arch rivals: the GIP's Punjab Mail vis a vis the BB & CI's Frontier Mail.
In 1914, the GIP route from Bombay to Delhi was some 1,541 km. which the train used to cover in 29 hr. 30 min. In the early 1920s, this transit time was further reduced to 27 hr. 10 min., despite as many as eighteen intermediate stops. In 1972, the trainsit time was again pushed up to 29 hr. Today, the Punjab Mail has as many as 37 intermediate stops. The Central Railway however claims improvement in services due to the use of more modern modes of traction.
The train's destination station was changed from Peshawar to Ferozepore after partition of India in 1947."