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Darjeeling Mail

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Darjeeling Mail
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The 12343 / 12344 Darjeeling Mail is one of the oldest running trains in India. It connects Kolkata with Haldibari. This is a major train for KolkataSiliguri route. [1]

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History

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During the British period all connections to North Bengal were through East Bengal. From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps. The first lap was a 184.9 kilometres (114.9 mi) long journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River. The passengers would then avail a ferry across the river. The second lap of the journey was a 363.1 kilometres (225.6 mi) metre-gauge line of the North Bengal Railway that linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.[2]

The 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) long Hardinge Bridge across the Padma came up in 1912.[3] In 1916 the metre-gauge section north of the bridge was converted to broad gauge, and so the entire Calcutta – Siliguri route became broad-gauge.[2] The route thus roughly ran: SealdahRanaghatBheramaraHardinge BridgeIswardiSantaharHiliParbatipurNilphamariHaldibariJalpaiguriSiliguri. The train ran on this route in pre-partition days. Even after the partition of India it ran on this route for some years.[4][5]

With the partition of India in 1947, the major hurdle in connecting Kolkata and Siliguri was that there was no bridge across the Ganges in West Bengal or Bihar. A generally acceptable route to Siliguri was via Sahibganj loop to Rajmahal, then across the Ganges by ferry to Manihari Ghat on the other side, then to Kishanganj via Manihari, Katihar and Barsoi and finally through narrow gauge to Siliguri.[6] In 1949 Kishanganj–Siliguri section too was converted to metre gauge, thus making the entire route a uni-gauge one.[2]

In the early 1960s, when Farakka Barrage was being constructed, a more radical change was made. Indian Railways created a new broad-gauge rail link from Kolkata, and on a greenfield site south of Siliguri Town built an entirely new broad-gauge junction, New Jalpaiguri.[2] The 2,256.25 metres (7,402.4 ft) long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges. The rail bridge was thrown open to the public in 1971, thereby linking the Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop to Malda Town, Barsoi, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri and other railway stations in North Bengal.[7][8] Since then Darjeeling Mail has been using the Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line.

A slip train was introduced; consisting of a sleeper class and an AC-3 Tier coach. This service continued further to Haldibari from New Jalpaiguri.[9] With the upgradation to LHB coaches, it was cancelled permanently and the enitre train was extended till Haldibari. However this desicion was met with apprehension as it was thought that it would reduce the importance of New Jalpaiguri station.[10]

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Coach composition

This train runs with 22 Linke-Hoffman Busch coaches. It has two dedicated rakes with primary maintenance at Sealdah. It is an ISO 9001:2008 certified train. [11]

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Coach Position of 12343 (ex. Sealdah)

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Coach Position of 12344 (ex. Haldibari)

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Passengers are advised to check the coach position indicators at the station before boarding.

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Service

Traction

Since the route is completely electrified, this train is hauled entirely by a Howrah or a Sealdah based WAP-7 locomotive.

See also

References

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