Gour Express

Gour Express
	Gour Express at Gangarampur Railway Bridge
Overview
Service type	Express
Locale	West Bengal, Jharkhand
Current operator(s)	Eastern Railways
Route
Termini	Sealdah (SDAH); Malda Balurghat (BLGT)
Stops	12 up to Malda Town, 20 up to Balurghat
Distance travelled	459 km (285 mi)
Average journey time	10 hours 45 minutes in up direction, 12 hours 15 minutes in down direction.
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	13153/ 13154(Upto Malda Town). 23153/23154 (Upto Balurghat)
On-board services
Class(es)	First AC, Second AC, Third AC, Sleeper, Unreserved
Seating arrangements	Available
Sleeping arrangements	Available
Auto-rack arrangements	Available
Observation facilities	Large Windows
Baggage facilities	Available
Technical
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	44 km/h (27 mph) average with halts

Gour Express is an express train of the Indian Railways connecting Kolkata with the cities of Malda Town and Balurghat.The train covers a distance of 350 km (217 mi) up to Malda and an additional distance of 109 km (68 mi) up to Balurghat. The main portion of the train runs with the numbers 13153/54 between Sealdah and Malda Town. The train carries through coaches to Balurghat which run with the 55421/22 Malda Town-Balurghat passenger.

Timeline

The Gour express commenced operations as a triweekly express service between Sealdah and Malda Town from 20th April, 1980. The train proved successful and the then railway minister A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury played a key role in increasing the frequency of the service. On 2nd October, 1982, he flagged off the first run of the train as a daily service.

Through coaches to Balurghat were added to the train after the completion of the broad gauge rail link to Balurghat in 2004.

Important stoppages

Gour Link Express stoppage

Timings

13153 leaves Sealdah around 22:15 everyday and reaches Malda Town at 6:00 next day and then it arrives through a slip route towards Balurghat and reaches there at 09.00
13154 departs Balurghat around 17:05 every day and arrives Malda Town around 19.20 and from there it departs around 21:35 and reaches Sealdah at 5:20 next day.

Coach Composition

The train consists of 22 passenger coaches, including the through coaches to Balurghat. The train runs with the following coach composition -

1 Composite 1st A/C - A/C 2 tier coach
3 A/C 2-tier coaches
2 A/C 3-tier coaches
12 Non-A/C sleeper coaches
2 Unreserved sleeper coaches (UR)
2 Luggage-cum-Guard coaches with unreserved seating (SLR)

Of these, One Luggage-cum-Guard, one unreserved sleeper, three reserved Non-A/C sleeper, one A/C 3-tier and one A/C 2-tier coach are used for the through service between Sealdah and Balurghat.

Traction

As the route is not fully electrified, a Malda Town based WDM-3A/WDM-3B/WDM-3D powers the train from Balurghat to Malda and vice versa, handing over to a Howrah based WAP7/WAP4/WAP5 for the rest of the journey.

References