Indian Railways' oldest running train completes 109 years in service. See photos
Indian Railways' oldest running passenger train, Punjab Mail has completed 109 years and steps into 110th year tomorrow. Though passenger train services were suspended during the Covid-19 lockdown from March 22, 2020, gradually the services were reintroduced as special trains after unlock from 1 May last year. However, Punjab Mail special began its journey with LHB coaches from 1 December last year
The origins of the Bombay to Peshawar Punjab Mail are rather unclear. Based on a Cost Estimate paper circa 1911 and a complaint by an irate passenger circa October 12, 1912 about the 'late arrival of the train by a few minutes at Delhi', it has been more or less inferred that the Punjab Mail made her maiden run out of Ballard Pier Mole station on 1 June 1912.
Punjab Mail is over 16 years older than the more glamorous Frontier Mail. Ballard Pier Mole station was actually a hub for GIPR services. The Punjab Mail, or Punjab Limited as she was then called, finally steamed out on 1 June 1912. To begin with, there were the P & O steamers bringing in the mail, and the Officers of the Raj, along with their wives, on their first posting in Colonial India. The steamer voyage between Southampton and Bombay lasted thirteen days. As the British officials held combined tickets both for their voyage to Bombay, as well as their inland journey by train to their place of posting, they would, after disembarking, simply board one of the trains bound for either Madras, Calcutta .s
Indian Railways' oldest running train completes 109 years in service. See photos
Indian Railways' oldest running passenger train, Punjab Mail has completed 109 years and steps into 110th year tomorrow. Though passenger train services were suspended during the Covid-19 lockdown from March 22, 2020, gradually the services were reintroduced as special trains after unlock from 1 May last year. However, Punjab Mail special began its journey with LHB coaches from 1 December last year.
The origins of the Bombay to Peshawar Punjab Mail are rather unclear. Based on a Cost Estimate paper circa 1911 and a complaint by an irate passenger circa October 12, 1912 about the 'late arrival of the train by a few minutes at Delhi', it has been more or less inferred that the Punjab Mail made her maiden run out of Ballard Pier Mole station on 1 June 1912.
Punjab Mail is over 16 years older than the more glamorous Frontier Mail. Ballard Pier Mole station was actually a hub for GIPR services. The Punjab Mail, or Punjab Limited as she was then called, finally steamed out on 1 June 1912. To begin with, there were the P & O steamers bringing in the mail, and the Officers of the Raj, along with their wives, on their first posting in Colonial India. The steamer voyage between Southampton and Bombay lasted thirteen days. As the British officials held combined tickets both for their voyage to Bombay, as well as their inland journey by train to their place of posting, they would, after disembarking, simply board one of the trains bound for either Madras, Calcutta or Del
The Punjab Limited used to run on fixed mail days from Bombay's Ballard Pier Mole station all the way to Peshawar, via the GIP route, covering the distance of 2,496 km in about 47 hrs. The train comprised of six cars: three for passengers, and three for postal goods and mail. The three passenger carrying cars had a capacity of 96 passengers only. The sparkling cars were all corridor cars, and were made up of first class, dual berth compartments. Catering as they were to the upper-class gentry, the cars were pretty well appointed, offering lavatories, bathrooms, a restaurant car, and a compartment for luggage and the servants of the white sahibs.
During the pre-partition period, the Punjab Limited was the fastest train in British India. The Punjab Limited's route ran over GIP track for the large part, and passed through Itarsi, Agra, Delhi and Lahore, before terminating at Peshawar Cantonment. The train started originating and terminating at Bombay VT (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai) from 1914. The train then loosely came to be known as the Punjab Mail, rather than Punjab Limited, and became a daily service.
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