On Rajdhani Express' 50th anniversary, passengers pampered with delicacies

Kolkata : Indian Railways introduced its first Rajdhani Express way back in 1960s, revolutionising the travel experience with speed and luxury. On Sunday, the train service turned 50. Decorated with red and yellow marigold flowers it chugged out of Howrah station on its golden jubilee run.

The first commercial run of Rajdhani Express had embarked on March 3, 1969 from Howrah, making it the country’s first fully-airconditioned, high-speed train that covered the 1,450 km stretch in 17 hours and 20 minutes.

It was flagged off by three former staffers of Rajdhani Express after ceremonial cake-cutting and release of a greeting stamp to commemorate the epoch-making event.

On the occasion of its golden jubilee, passengers were surprised with Indian delicacies like fish fry or vegetable cutlets and ‘rosogollas’ apart from ice cream for dessert, said IRCTC (East) general manager Debasish Chandra.

Brand new linen and disposable napkins with greetings of “50 Years of Rajdhani Express” were distributed among the passengers, the ER official said.

About Rajdhani Express

Launched in 1960's, Rajdhani Express was the first ever fully AC train in India that included meal charges in the ticket fare.

On its first run it had nine vacuum braked coaches built at Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perambur, two power cars, five AC chair cars, one AC dining car and one AC first class coach.

With the passage of time, the chair cars were replaced by AC 2-tier and AC 3-tier coaches. The number of AC first class coaches was increased, while the dining car was done away with.

With time to time evolution, the train now comes with 20 LHB coaches consisting of two AC first class, five AC 2-tier, 10 AC 3-tier with one pantry car and two power cars-cum-luggage vans.