RaiPost Bureau
January 15, 2019
Indian Railways will soon introduce a third Rajdhani express between India’s financial capital Mumbai and the political capital New Delhi. However, this bi-weekly Rajdhani will run each Wednesday and Saturday between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Hazrat Nizamuddin (NZM).
In its return leg it will commence its journey each Thursday and Sunday to reach Mumbai, the next day.
Timings
The CSMT – NZM Rajdhani bearing the number 22221 will depart at 1420 hours and reach NZM the next morning at 1020 hours. While returning, train number 22222 NZM- CSMT Rajdhani will depart at 1545 hours to reach Mumbai the next day at 1155 hours.
Halt pattern / Rake formation
The Rajdhani will have commercial halts at Kalyan, Nasik Road, Jalgaon, Bhopal and Agra Cantt and will be maintained at the Mumbai’s Wadi Bunder / Mazgaon coaching depot. The train will consist of eight 3rd AC coaches, three 2nd AC coaches, one 1st AC coach, two generator cars and one pantry car. The Rajdhani is likely to be hauled by two locomotives end-to-end, one leading and another at the rear so as to ensure that the rake negotiates the steep gradient of the Thull Ghat between Kasara and Igatpuri.
Impact on other trains
To accommodate the Rajdhani, timings / days of run for three trains – the Jabalpur Mumbai Garib Rath, Secunderabad Nizamuddin Rajdhani and the Chennai Nizamuddin Garib Rath, have been altered.
The Jabalpur Mumbai Garib Rath, earlier leaving Jabalpur on Fridays, will now leave on Saturdays. On its return journey, the train will leave Mumbai on Sundays instead of Saturdays.
Similarly, the Secunderabad NZM Rajdhani and the Chennai NZM Garib Rath will now trail the Mumbai Rajdhani between Itarsi and Nizamuddin. This is because their time slots have been allotted to the new CSMT-NZM Rajdhani.
Both these trains will leave Itarsi at 0055 hours on Thursday and Sunday respectively and reach NZM the same day at 1030 hours.
