Duronto Express

 ( Railway Services Introduced In 2009 ) 

Duronto Express, translating to "restless" in Bengali language, is a class of long-distance rapid trains operated by Indian Railways. Initially conceived to operate non-stop between origin and destination stations, since January 2016, these trains have been permitted to make additional commercial stops and accept ticket bookings from technical halts. Before the introduction of trains like the Gatimaan Express and Vande Bharat Express, Duronto trains held the distinction of being the fastest trains in India. Unlike its counterpart, the Rajdhani Express, which links India's capital, Delhi, to state capitals, the Duronto Express connects major metropolitan areas, state capitals, and the national capital.

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History The Government of India's Ministry of Railways has pursued the introduction of high-speed rail services in India. In 2007, the ministry initiated a pre-feasibility study for a 500-kilometre corridor between Delhi and Amritsar. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced plans in January 2009 to engage global consultants for the implementation of high-speed trains on select routes. The Indian Railway Budget for the fiscal year 2010 saw the establishment of the National High Speed Rail Authority (NHSRA) under Banerjee's leadership, aimed at developing high-speed rail corridors across the country. The Duronto Express project was part of the government's initiatives to introduce semi-high speed rail travel ahead of the full implementation of high-speed railways.

In line with these efforts, Mamata Banerjee flagged off the inaugural Duronto Express service from Sealdah Railway Station to New Delhi on 18 September 2009. The objective of this train service was to provide high-speed rail connectivity comparable to the Rajdhani Express between various metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities, catering to diverse segments of the population. Unlike the Rajdhani Express, which primarily offered air-conditioned coaches, the Duronto Express was designed to accommodate a range of reserved coaches, including AC First Class, AC Two Tier, AC Three Tier, AC Three Tier Economy, and Sleeper Class. Notably, the initial journey of the Duronto Express from Sealdah to New Delhi featured AC First Class, AC Two Tier, AC Three Tier, and AC Three Tier Economy coaches.

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About The Duronto Express holds the second highest priority among trains on the Indian railway network. Passengers aboard this service are provided with optional meals, with the cost of food included in the train fare. Depending on the duration and timing of the journey, passengers can expect to be served morning tea, breakfast, lunch, high tea, and dinner.

Duronto Express trains offer three classes of accommodation:

• AC First Class (1A): Featuring 2-berth and 4-berth coupes with locking facilities for privacy.
• AC 2-tier (2A): Providing open bays with 4 berths per bay, along with curtains for privacy.
• AC 3-tier (3A): Similar to AC 2-tier but with 6 berths per bay.
• AC 3 Tier Economy (3E): Also similar to AC 3-tier but with more seats and smaller berths.
• Sleeper Class (SL): Featuring open bays with 6 berths per bay.

Currently, the Indian Railways operates a total of 24 Duronto Express trains across various routes in the country.

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List of Duronto Express trains

12213/12214	Yesvantpur Jn	Delhi Sarai Rohilla	SWR	Weekly		31h 55m		6	19 February 2011
12219/12220	Mumbai LTT	Secunderabad Jn	SCR	Bi-weekly		12h 05m		3	23 February 2011
12221/12222	Pune Jn	Howrah	SER	Bi-weekly		29h 00m		7	11 October 2010
12223/12224	Mumbai LTT	Ernakulam Jn	CR	Bi-weekly		22h 00m		5	18 January 2011
12227/12228	Mumbai Central	Indore Jn	WR	Bi-weekly		11h 10m		3	26 January 2011
12239/12240	Mumbai Central	Hisar Jn	WR	Bi-weekly		21h 25m		10	3 April 2011
12245/12246	Howrah	SMVT Bengaluru	SER	5 Days/wk		29h 00m		4	30 December 2009
12259/12260	Sealdah	Bikaner Jn	ER	4 Days/wk		25h 00m		10	18 September 2009
12261/12262	CSMT Mumbai	Howrah	SER	4 Days/wk		27h 00m		6	29 September 2009
12263/12264	Pune Jn	Hazrat Nizamuddin	NR	Bi-weekly		19h 54m		5	29 September 2009
12265/12266	Delhi Sarai Rohilla	Jammu Tawi	NR	Tri-weekly		08h 40m		1	1 April 2010
12267/12268	Mumbai Central	Hapa	WR	Daily		11h 40m		3	22 December 2009
12269/12270	MGR Chennai Central	Hazrat Nizamuddin	SR	Bi-weekly		28h 05m		6	21 September 2009
12273/12274	Howrah	New Delhi	ER	Bi-weekly		22h 05m		5	2 April 2010
12281/12282	Bhubaneswar	New Delhi	ECoR	Weekly		23h 05m		5	4 April 2010
12283/12284	Ernakulam Jn	Hazrat Nizamuddin	NR	Weekly		41h 55m		10	7 March 2010
12285/12286	Secunderabad Jn	Hazrat Nizamuddin	SCR	Bi-weekly		21h 50m		4	14 March 2010
12289/12290	CSMT Mumbai	Nagpur Jn	CR	Daily		11h 05m		2	21 November 2009
12293/12294	Mumbai LTT	Prayagraj Jn	CR	Bi-weekly		19h 20m		4	16 March 2012
12297/12298	Ahmedabad Jn	Pune Jn	CR	Tri-weekly		08h 45m		3	11 March 2012
22201/22202	Sealdah	Puri	ER	Tri-weekly		07h 55m		2	12 February 2012
22203/22204	Visakhapatnam Jn	Secunderabad Jn	SCR	Tri-weekly		10h 35m		2	8 July 2012
22209/22210	Mumbai Central	New Delhi	WR	Bi-weekly		16h 45m		3	23 March 2012
22213/22214	Kolkata - Shalimar	Patna Jn	SER	Tri-weekly		08h 20m		2	19 February 2012

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List of defunct Duronto Express trains

1	Ajmer–Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express	Ajmer–Delhi Sarai Rohilla Jan Shatabdi Express
2	Howrah–Puri Duronto Express	Howrah–Puri Shatabdi Express
3	Chennai–Coimbatore AC Duronto Express	Chennai Central–Coimbatore Shatabdi Express
4	Chennai–Thiruvananthapuram AC Duronto Express	Chennai–Thiruvananthapuram AC Superfast Express
5	Amritsar–Chandigarh Duronto Express	Amritsar–Chandigarh Superfast Express
6	Lucknow–New Delhi AC Duronto Express	Lucknow–New Delhi AC Superfast Express
7	Howrah–Digha Duronto Express	Howrah–Digha AC Superfast Express pib.nic.in, Retrieved 11 June 2019
8	Prayagraj–New Delhi Duronto Express	Prayagraj–New Delhi Humsafar Express
9	Chennai–Madurai AC Duronto Express	Chennai Central–Madurai AC Superfast Express

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Gallery File:Shalimar Patna Duronto Express.jpg|22214 Patna-Kolkata Shalimar AC Duronto Express on Platform 1 of Shalimar Railway Station. File:Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express on Platform 6 of Mughalsarai Junction.jpg|12273 Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express on Platform 6 of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction. File:New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Duronto Express with Ghaziabad WAP-7 at Balasore.JPG|New Delhi–Bhubaneswar Duronto Express File:Nameboard SC NZM Duronto.jpg|Secunderabad to Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express. File:Yeswanthapur-Howrah Duronto Express.jpg|Yeswanthapur–Howrah Duronto Express leaving Yeswanthapur railway station. File:12290 Nagpur Duronto Express at Mumbai CST station.jpg|12290 Nagpur Duronto Express at Mumbai CST station. File:Duronto Express standing on platform 4 of Asansol Junction.jpg|12273 Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express standing on platform 4 of Asansol Junction. File:12273 Duronto Express led by WAP 5 standing on Platform 5, New Delhi, India.jpg|12273 Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express led by WAP 5 standing on Platform 5 at New Delhi Railway Station.

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Trivia

• Sealdah–Bikaner Duronto Express was not only the first Duronto service to Bikaner but also one connecting New Delhi and Bikaner.
• Howrah–New Delhi Duronto Express which is equal to the Rajdhani Express gets top-most priority on the route, making it the fastest train in the Howrah–Delhi route.
• This train was used LHB coach, but the train equipped LHB coaches rakes.
• The name "Duronto" means "restless" in Bengali, reflecting its initial concept of running non-stop between its origin and destination.
• Duronto coaches are easily identifiable by their bright yellow-green color scheme, which was chosen to symbolize a "field full of flowers."
• The Ernakulam–Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express is one of the longest-running Duronto trains in terms of distance, connecting Kochi to New Delhi, covering over 2900 km.

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Efficiency and speed The Duronto Express is one of the fastest trains in India. Some of these trains run faster than Rajdhani Express trains which hold the record of the fastest Passenger train in India.For example, the Chennai–Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express takes 28 hours to cover the journey while the Chennai Rajdhani Express takes 28 hours 35 minutes to do so. The trains will adhere to the speed limit of 130 km/h. New Delhi–Sealdah Duronto Express has a top speed of 130 km/h. The Mumbai, Sealdah, Yeshwantpur and Secundrabad Duronto runs at a speed of 130 km/h. The Howrah/Bhubaneshwar New Delhi, Secunderabad Hazrat Nizamuddin are now equipped with LHB rakes and now they also run at a speed of 130 km/h In March 2011, the cost of travel in the Duronto Express went up as the Minister of Railways announced a hike in railway fare. The decision to hike railway fares resulted in trouble across the Government and were rolled back, only to be raised again on 1 April.

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Incidents and accidents

• In January 2010, the passengers of the Duronto Express between Nagpur and Mumbai complained about passengers without confirmed tickets travelling inside the reserved coaches.
• In May 2010, at least 19 passengers on board the Ernakulam Duronto Express were admitted to the Government General Hospital after complaining of food poisoning.
• In June 2010, the Mumbai CST–Howrah Duronto Express faced interruption as its engine and generator car were detached from the rest of the train's coaches due to technical problems. The problem was fixed within less than an hour.
• In June 2013, the 12264 Hazrat Nizamuddin–Pune Duronto derailed near Monkey Hill due to a landslide. No injuries were reported & the train reached 5 hours late at .
• In September 2015, 12220 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus–Secunderabad AC Duronto Express derailed at Martur station between Shahbad and Gulbarga on Solapur Division in Karnataka at around 02:15. Two passengers were killed and more than 30 injured when eight of its coaches were derailed.
• On 29 August 2017 12290 Nagpur Duronto Express heading towards Mumbai derailed between Vasind and Asangaon stations at 06.30 as heavy rains had caused mud slides onto the tracks which caused the derailment. No casualties were reported in an official statement by the Railway department.
• On 17 January 2019 unidentified persons entered into Jammu-Delhi Duronto near Badli, Delhi and looted the passengers.
• On 10 May 2019 engine failure caused late departure of the train from Mumbai central by an hour.
• On 11 August 2019 Yeshvantapur–Delhi Sarai Rohilla AC Duronto Express was cancelled due to "unavoidable circumstances".
• On 24 April 2019 12274 Howrah–New Delhi Duronto Express led by Howrah WAP-7 30370 ran over cattle while at MPS near Jamtara, Jharkhand. The locomotive failed and was backed by ABB made GZB WAP-5 30009, but due to throttle issues it too needed help. A banker Locomotive, GMO WAG-9 31932 was attached. No passenger casualties/injuries were reported. This was a rare incident where all three types of locomotives equipped with 3-phase technology were seen hauling one train.
• On 16 October 2022 More than 20 armed robbers reportedly climbed onto a Delhi-Kolkata Duronto Express train early on Sunday. Several passengers were allegedly looted at gunpoint by the robbers who climbed onto at least six-seven bogies of the train.

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See also

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External links

• List of Duronto Trains on India Rail website

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