Absolute treat!! Colourful Jan Shatabdi and Shatabdi racing in small gap with powerful locomotives!!
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Watch out for the exciting high speed action between two high profile trains, that happens more or less on a daily basis in a small gap of a few minutes. Powered by 22215 WAP- 4 belonging to HWH shed, the heavy- weight of ECR, i.e. 12023 Howrah...
more... (HWH)- Patna (PNBE) JAN SHATABDI Express races towards Durgapur for its next scheduled halt 158 kms away. Interestingly, this JAN SHATABDI once used to be a SHATABDI Express, and the WAP- 4 is the oldest one belonging to HWH shed. And minutes after the JAN SHATABDI had passed comes the ultimate heavy-weight of NFR. Hauled by 40096 WDP- 4D of SGUJ shed, the 12041 Howrah (HWH)- New Jalpaiguri (NJP) SHATABDI Express races past through the same line, heading towards its next scheduled halt Bolpur Shantiniketan 146 kms away. Location is Dhaniakhali Halt station on ER's HB Chord enroute.
The JAN SHATABDI follows the Howrah- Burdwan- Asansol- Madhupur- Jasidih- Jha Jha- Patna route of ER/ ECR. At an average speed of 69 km/hr, it is the second fastest JAN SHATABDI of our country. And by covering a distance of 532 kms, it is also the second longest JAN SHATABDI of our country.
A few facts regarding the NJP Shatabdi are:
The first Shatabdi Express in India to be hauled by an EMD for the entire journey.
The first LHB train to use coaches manufactured by Rae Bareli Coach Factory.
The first LHB Shatabdi of ER and Eastern India.
The fastest diesel hauled Shatabdi in India (Along with Pune- Secunderabad Shatabdi), and one of the fastest diesel hauled train if IR.
This train is the fastest connecting train between North Bengal and South Bengal, and covers the 566 kms journey in 8 hours flat. The closest competitors for this train are the Darjeeling Mail, and Padatik Express, but those two trains take more than 10 hours. The train has been given an extremely aggressive schedule, where it have to maintain an average speed of 70 km/hr even after covering most of the journey through stretches where MPS varies between 90- 110 km/hr with numerous PSRs and TSRs.
