इस मंज़िल पर मिलने वाले, उस मंज़िल पर दोस्त बन जाते हैं

Britisher's Compatriot Chariot salutes India's 65th Independence Day!!!
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Running for the last 146 years, this train has seen both India, the pre- Independent era and the post- Independent era. The train began operation in 1866 between Calcutta and Delhi with numbering 1 Up/ 2 Down EAST INDIAN RAILWAY MAIL. It was further extended from Delhi to Kalka in 1891. The train was...
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the principal mechanism for British civil servants to move from the capital, Calcutta, to the summer capital in Shimla. As the capital used to be shifted twice every year, the entire government machinery used to travel on Kalka Mail. Both the stations had internal carriageway for the cars of Viceroy and other high ranking officers to reach next to their Rail Coach, The carriageway at Howrah is still used and runs between Platforms 8 and 9, but the carriageway at Kalka has been converted into platform.
Now that times have changed, and the steam engine has given way to the three-phase WAP- 7 locomotive, 30281 GZB (Ghaziabad) shed WAP- 7 honks proudly to welcome the freedom of our country while blasting past Balarambati station on HB Chord enroute with the Legend.
There are two unique kind of info related to this train:
1) This train runs as a normal Mail (Super Crawler) between Kalka and Old Delhi (with 12 halts in 267 kms), and as a Superfast between Old Delhi and Howrah (with 27 halts in 1446 kms). Thus this is India's only composite Mail-cum-Superfast Mail, and ticket prices are calculated accordingly.
2) This is the only train in India to have the pantry car attached for half of the journey. Neither the terminating nor the originating station sees this train with a Pantry Car. The Pantry Car gets attached at Chandigarh (with 10 other coaches) and gets detached at Mughal Sarai, where a sectional A.C. 3 Tier coach (seen just after the loco) replaces the Pantry.
Btw, wishing all my fellow friends a very Happy Independence Day.