Shatabdi Express

New livery of 12007-12008 Chennai-Mysore Shatabdi express

Interior view of the new AC Class Shatabdi

Shatabdi Express trains (Hindi: शताब्दी एक्सप्रेस) are a series of fast (called superfast in India) passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect Metro cities with other cities important for tourism, pilgrimage or business. Shatabdi Express are day-trains and they return to the station of origin the same day.

The Shatabdis are among the fastest trains in India and the Indian Railways considers them as prestigious. The Shatabdi Express trains run over short to medium distances while the Rajdhani Expresses are long-distance trains connecting the nation's capital New Delhi to capitals of states. Both series of trains have a regular speed of 130 to 140 km/h (81 to 87 mph). The 12001 Bhopal Shatabdi express, however, runs at a peak speed of 160 km/h (99 mph), which makes it the fastest train in India.

History

Passengers boarding the Ahmedabad Shatabdi (Old Livery) express train at Ahmedabad

Interior view of an old Shatabdi Express AC Chair Car

The word "Shatabdi" means centenary in Sanskrit, Hindi and several Indian languages. The first Shatabdi train was started in 1988 to commemorate the centenary of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru's Birthday (the First Prime Minister of India) by Madhav Rao Scindia, minister for railways. It operated from New Delhi to Jhansi, later extended to Bhopal. It is now known as the Bhopal Shatabdi Express.

Train

The Bhopal Shatabdi is the fastest train in India and it runs at an average speed of around 93.05 km/h (57.82 mph) (Please see : Fastest trains in India) between the origin and the destination though it runs at speeds at 160 km/h (99 mph) on some stretches between Agra and New Delhi stations.These trains are now using latest L.H.B. Rakes to provide extra comfort in the train.

The Shatabdi in certain circumstances, has advantages over the other trains when it comes to receiving priority and berthing at one of the best platforms at the stations it stops at (generally platform number 1 at most of the stations).

The Lucknow - Delhi Shatabdi has a recorded speed of 145 km/h (90 mph) although it lingers in the neighborhood of 130 km/h (81 mph) for most of the cruising distance.

Related trains

Route map of Shatabdi trains

A variant of the Shatabdi Express, Swarna Shatabdi Express, is considered more luxurious by Indian Railway.

Indian Railways later introduced a lower-priced version Jan Shatabdi Expresses, which are nearly all without air-conditioning and much more affordable.

The former railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav had also introduced Garib Rath (chariot of the poor). These are fast trains (like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi), are fully Air-Conditioned and with lower fares. These trains are quite successful and compete with low cost airlines on some long-distance routes.

Service

Shatabdi Express trains offer fast connectivity with only a few intermediate stops. They are fully air-conditioned and of a much higher standard than most Indian trains. Shatabdi Express travelers are provided with snacks, breakfast, meals, coffee or tea, a one-litre water bottle and a glass of canned juice. Travelers are also provided newspapers.

Berths and seats in Shatabdi Express and Rajdhani Express trains have to be reserved in advance before boarding the train. There is no unreserved accommodation in these trains, unlike most of the other trains in India. A few Shatabdis have a current booking system where tickets can be booked within a couple of hours before departure.

As Shatabdi Express are day-trains and return to the station of origin the same day, most of the coaches on the train have only airconditioned seats (called AC Chair Car or CC) and not berths. All the Shatabdi Express trains have, however, one coach of first class airconditioned seating. These coaches have wider leg room and offer better food compared to the normal Air conditioned seating(CC).

New on board entertainment systems have also been installed on some of these trains where the passengers can view movies and television serials directly via satellite. One of the first services to have this system is the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Shatabdi Express.

List of Shatabdi trains

Indian Railways operates 14 pairs of Shatabdi Express as on 1 July 2010. These trains are listed here.

Pair	Train No	Sector	Stoppages	Distance (km)	Frequency
1	12001 - 12002	Bhopal - New Delhi	Jhansi, Gwalior, Morena, Agra Cantt, Mathura	701	Daily
2	12003 - 12004	Lucknow - New Delhi	Kanpur, Etawah, Aligarh, Ghaziabad	511	Daily
3	12005 - 12006	New Delhi - Kalka	Kurukshetra, Ambala, Chandigarh	303	Daily
4	12007 - 12008	Chennai Central - Mysore	Bangalore City	500	except Wednesday
5	12009 - 12010	Mumbai - Ahmedabad	Borivali, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Nadiad	491	except Sunday
6	12011 - 12012	New Delhi - Kalka	Panipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Chandigarh	303	Daily
7	12013 - 12014	New Delhi - Amritsar	Sirhind, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas	448	Daily
8	12015 - 12016	New Delhi - Ajmer	Delhi Cantt, Gurgaon, Rewari, Alwar, Jaipur	443	except Wednesday
9	12017 - 12018	New Delhi - Dehradun	Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzzafarnagar, Saharanpur, Roorkee, Haridwar	315	Daily
10	12019 - 12020	Howrah - Ranchi	Durgapur, Raniganj, Asansol, Dhanbad, Chandrapura, Bokaro Steel City, Muri	423	except Sunday
11	12025-26	Pune-Secunderabad	Daund Jn,Solapur, gulbarga, Wadi, Tandur, Begumpet, Vikarabad	597	Except Tuesday
12	12027 - 12028	Chennai Central - Bangalore City	Katpadi, Bangalore Cantonment	362	except Tuesday
13	12029 - 12030	New Delhi - Amritsar	Ambala, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas	448	except Thursday
14	12031 - 12032	New Delhi - Amritsar	Ambala, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Beas	448	Thursday
15	12033 - 12034	Kanpur - New Delhi	Ghaziabad	440	Except Sundays
16	12037-12038	Ludhiana-New Delhi	Rohtak,Sangrur	329	Monday,Tuesday,Friday,Saturday (Soon 7 days)

Following three New Shatabdi Trains has been announced in 2011 Railway Budget by Mamata Banerjee (Minister of Railways).[1]

1. Jaipur-Agra

Trivial Information

• All Shatabdi trains cover the whole journey Up & Down on the same day.
• Average Journey Distance is between 300 to 700 km.
• Average Journey Time is between 4 to 8 hours.
• Bhopal Shatabdi is the first Shatabdi Train.
• Bhopal Shatabdi is the longest Shatabdi Train
• Bhopal Shatabdi is the fastest Shatabdi Train

• Kalka Shatabdi is the shortest Shatabdi Train.
• Kanpur Shatabdi was the only non-stop Shatabdi Train.
• Ambala, Amritsar, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Kalka, Kanpur, Ludhiana and New Delhi are served by more than one Shatabdi Express
• 12001/2 Bhopal Shatabdi is the best Shatabdi in terms of average speed 93 km/h followed by 12034 Kanpur Shatabdi with an average speed of 89 km/h.
• the newly introduced Pune-Secunderabad shatabdi is the second longest distant shatabdi and a shatabdi to run completely on diesel from start to end

See also

• Bhopal Shatabdi
• Jan Shatabdi Express
• Garib Rath
• Rajdhani Express
• Rajya Rani Express
• Superfast Mail/Express

External links

• Complete list of Shatabdi Express trains
• Complete list of Jan Shatabdi Express trains
• Complete list of Rajdhani Express trains
• Videos of Bhopal Shatabdi Express