| Year | Milestone |
| 1969 – 70 | Railway Minister Dr Ram Subhag Singh announces the introduction of Rajdhani in his budget speech on February 19, 1969. It is introduced between New Delhi and Howrah on March 1, 1969, as a bi-weekly train to cover 1441 km in under 18 hours. |
| 1970 – 71 | IR does feasibility studies Rajdhanis to Bombay and Ahmedabad (on metre gauge) |
| 1971 – 72 | Rajdhani now has a commercial halt at Kanpur. Second fare hike in two years. |
| 1972 – 73 | New Delhi – Bombay Bi-weekly Rajdhani Express starts from 17th May 1972 |
| 1973 – 74 | Rail Minister L N Mishra proposes |
| 1974 – 75 | Rail Minister LN Mishra increases AC first fares again (4th hike) from Rs 379 to Rs 520 between New Delhi and Howrah and from Rs 349 to Rs 465 for Bombay Rajdhani. AC Chair car fare revision was higher than chair car of deluxe trains. Estimated revenue was Rs 4.44 crore a year. |
| 1980 – 81 | New Delhi – Howrah Rajdhani Express hauled by electric loco |
| 1981 – 82 | The scheduled time of Howrah Delhi Rajdhani Express was increased by about 1 hour to permit haulage of 12 coaches instead of 9. Similarly, New Delhi – Bombay Rajdhani Express was slowed down by about 45 minutes to increase carrying capacity by 73 seats. |
| 1982 – 83 | Bombay Rajdhani hauled by double-headed diesel to haul 18 coaches as against the earlier 10. A prototype electric locomotive for haulage of Rajdhani Express trains was developed (WAP 1). It hauled Howrah Rajdhani with 18 coaches. AC 2 tier introduced. Fares hiked |
| 1983 – 84 | Howrah Rajdhani frequency increased to 5 days a week; Bombay Rajdhani to 4 days a week. Fares hiked yet again |
| 1985 – 86 | Another fare hike for both Rajdhanis |
| 1986 – 87 | Reservation for Rajdhanis computerized. Fares hiked again |
| 1987 – 88 | Auxillary Warning System installed on some parts of Rajdhani routes. |
| 1991 – 92 | A second |
| 1992 – 93 | Weekly Rajdhani Express to Bangalore and Secunderabad introduced. |
| 1993 – 94 | A weekly Rajdhani Express between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Madras introduced. Frequency increased: New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express from five days a week to daily. New Delhi – Bombay Rajdhani Express from six days a week to daily. August Kranti Rajdhani Express from thrice a week to daily. Fares hiked |
| 1994 – 95 | Weekly Bhubaneswar, Jammu and Guwahati Rajdhanis introduced. Madras Rajdhani extended to Thiruvananthapuram. Fares hiked. |
| 1995 – 96 | AC 3 tier introduced in Rajdhanis. Bedrolls supplied in all AC 3Tier coaches. Guwahati Rajdhani made tri-weekly with an additional halt at New Bongaigaon. Trivandrum Rajdhani to halt at Palghat. A pilot project was done on mobile telephone communication through walkie talkie sets on Bombay Rajdhani. |
| 1996 – 97 | Rajdhani Express between New Delhi-Patna via Lucknow. MPs allowed |
| 1997 – 98 | Telephone on-board on all Rajdhanis. AC 3 Tier attached on all Rajdhanis. Pantry car on Patna and Madras Rajdhanis. Weekly Secunderabad and Ahmedabad Rajdhanis introduced. Madras Rajdhani becomes bi-weekly. Guwahati Rajdhani extended to Dimapur and then to Dibrugarh weekly. Trivandrum Rajdhani to be re-routed via Konkan Railway. Fares hiked |
| 1998 – 99 | Senior citizen concession extended to Rajdhani express. Fares hiked |
| 1999 – 2000 | Special emphasis on maintenance of Rajdhani rakes. President police medal recipients were given 30 per cent concession after they turn 60. Fares revised. |
| 2001 – 01 | Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (Bi-weekly) introduced. Mumbai Rajdhani Express goes from 6 days to daily. August Kranti Rajdhani Express from 6 days to daily. Freedom fighters given one-time free Rajdhani travel. |
| 2001 – 02 | Bilaspur and Ranchi Rajdhanis introduced. Sealdah – New Delhi Rajdhani Express from 2 days to 4 days a week. Dibrugarh Raj made bi-weekly. Weekly Rajdhani to Secunderabad after |
| 2002 – 03 | Free food to infants less than 5 years travelling on Rajdhani. Now Rajdhani to Guwahati daily. Bhubaneswar Rajdhani re-routed via Adra Kharagpur instead of Howrah |
| 2003 – 04 | Accredited media persons were given 30 per cent concession. Sealdah Rajdhani to run 5 days a week. Bhubaneswar, Bilaspur and Ranchi Rajdhanis made bi-weekly. Rajdhani fares pegged at 15 per cent above superfast/mail express fares, catering charges extra. 10 per cent fare reduction between July 15 and Sep 15 ( non-peak period). Rajdhani freight rate scale namely R is introduced for parcels. Rules applicable to waitlisted passengers made applicable to Rajdhani w/L passengers instead of full fare. |
| 2004 – 05 | Complimentary trip for frequent travellers as incentive announced. Departure delays informed via SMS. Sealdah Rajdhani Express from 5 days to daily. Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express from tri-weekly to 6 days a week. Parcel rates for R increased by 7.1 per cent. |
| 2005 – 06 | Dibrugarh Town Rajdhani from tri-weekly to daily. LHB coaches for Mumbai and AK Rajdhani. |
| 2006 – 07 | LHB coaches for some more Rajdhanis, including Patna and Sealdah. Free passenger upgrade to higher class introduced |
| 2007 – 08 | Patna Rajdhani goes daily |
| 2008 – 09 | Jammu Rajdhani made daily, Trivandrum and Bhubaneswar tri-weekly. LHB rakes for all Rajdhanis by March 2010. Onboard cleaning by professional agencies introduced. Ashok Chakra awardees provided Rajdhani card passes. Param Vir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra and Vir Chakra already entitled. |
| 2009 – 10 | On-board infotainment proposed. Bangalore Rajdhani via Kacheguda introduced as tri-weekly. Two weekly Rajdhanis to Guwahati via Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur introduced. Frequency increase Guwahati/Dibrugarh 6 days a week, Bhubaneswar made |
| 2010 – 11 | Train number 2235 /36 Guwahati Rajdhani extended to Dibrugarh. Regional film industry technicians |
| 2011 – 12 | Internet access as a pilot project on Howrah Rajdhani. Kirti /Shaurya chakra recipients |
| 2012 – 13 | Introduction of ‘Rail Bandhu’ onboard magazine on Rajdhanis. Realtime tracking of Rajdhani by SIMRAN. Arjuna awardees get a concession. 12453/54 Ranchi Rajdhani via Barkakana made bi-weekly. |
| 2013 – 14 | Anubhuti coach mooted. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Dhyan Chand, Dronachaya, police gallantry awardees besides Olympic medalists given concession. |
| 2014 – 15 | Dynamic pricing of tickets introduced. To rakes on trial with fire and smoke detectors. |
| 2015 – 16 | Bi-weekly Madgaon Rajdhani introduced on November 15, 2015 |
| 2017 – 18 | Weekly Agartala Rajdhani introduced on October 28, 2017 |
| 2018 – 19 | CSMT – Nizamuddin Rajdhani introduced on January 19, 2019 |
Image Courtesy: Syed Zohaibullah
Chennai Rajdhani has been running Bi-weekly from 1997-98. No plans to run on more days in a week.