From 1st April 1929 the 'Grand Trunk' express commenced operating as two through carriages running between Peshawar in the North Western Railway (British India) and Mangalore in the South Indian Railway. The two coaches made their way to Madras attached to the South Indian Railway's Mangalore-Madras mail train. At Itarsi, the two through coaches from Mangalore were attached to the Great Indian Peninsular Railway's Bombay-Delhi service. In the final leg of the journey between Delhi and Peshawar, the two through carriages were attached to the Frontier mail and reached Peshawar traveling through Bathinda, Ferozepur and Lahore. Thus the train covered a distance of 2497 miles in a little over 96 hours. This was not an independent train and the name 'Grand Trunk express' only referred to the 2 through carriages operating between Mangalore and Peshawar.
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Grand Trunk Train
As a prestigious train, it was one of the few to have the early methods of air cooling by ice blocks. It also carried a parcel van for urgent consignments. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the train used to run with a completely air-conditioned rake (First AC and AC Chair Car) on two days of the week, and with its usual rake on other days, and hence was sometimes known as the AC/GT Express.

The train had a 21-coach rake in the 1980s, later extended to 22 and finally 24 coaches.Its first-class coaches were of the corridor type with extra large windows. The trains coaches (along with those of other premier trains in the 1970s) also had noticeably better suspension as well. At that time people from Kerala had to first reach Madras and then board the GT to go North. It was said that all of South India travelled to Delhi in the GT which was the only consistent link between the capital of the nation and the deep South for exactly a century, right from when an unbroken direct railway line was built from the north to the south by the British. Click here to get schedule of Grand Trunk Express train.

Grand Trunk Old
Bombay Poona Mail
Bombay-Poona Mail was a luxurious train on Mumbai-Pune section by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. It started off it’s first journey in 1869. It was the first intercity train started between Mumbai and Pune. This train and the famous Deccan Queen Express used to serve Mumbai-Pune commuters for many years. This train was believed to carry Royal Mail and was one of the finest trains in British Empire.

Bombay Poona Express
In the year 1907 the train operated with seven coaches with a total weight of 240 seats for 50 first, 95 second and 320 third class passengers. The restaurant car had another 32 seats. The train crew of 8 man included guard, conductor, car attendant, refreshment manager and waiters. The livery of the train was dark red-brown on the low