| Netaji SF Express | |
| Type: | Superfast Express |
| Status: | Active |
| Locale: | West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab & Haryana |
| Operator: | Eastern Railway |
| Ridership: | Daily |
| Start: | Howrah (HWH) |
| Stops: | 38 |
| End: | Kalka (KLK) |
| Distance: | 1715km (1,066miles) |
| Journeytime: | 29 hrs 05 mins as 12311, 32 hrs 10 mins as 12312 |
| Frequency: | Daily |
| Class: | AC first, AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, Sleeper Class, Unreserved |
| Seating: | Yes |
| Sleeping: | Yes |
| Autorack: | Yes |
| Catering: | Available |
| Observation: | Windows |
| Entertainment: | No |
| Baggage: | Available |
| Otherfacilities: | Below the seats |
| Stock: | ICF coach |
| El: | Fully Electrified |
| Trainnumber: | 12311/12312 |
| Speed: | 110km/h |
The 12311/12 Netaji Express (formerly known as Kalka Mail) is one of the oldest running trains in India. This train connects Howrah in Kolkata, capital of the State of West Bengal to Kalka in Haryana. Kalka is the railhead for the Kalka-Shimla Railway which runs till Shimla, the once summer capital of the British Raj. This train connects with the Shivalik Deluxe Express that runs between Kalka and Shimla.
This train has 24 Utkrisht ICF coaches.
Howrah to Kalka [3]
Kalka to Howrah [4]
At Chandigarh Junction; coaches S1 to S5, PC, B1 and A1 are detached from 12311 bound to Kalka. These coaches are re-attached with 12312 bound to Howrah. This is done as the platforms of Kalka are too short to fully fit the 24 coach rake.
This train is hauled end to end by a WAP-7 or a WAP-4 electric locomotive based in Electric Loco Shed, Howrah.
In the late 1850s, the British Government in India decided to relocate their capital from Calcutta to Shimla during the summer months to protect the European population from the intense heat of the Bengal plains. To facilitate the annual migration of British officials, their families, and accompanying staff between the imperial capital at Calcutta and the summer capital in Shimla, the East Indian Railway Company inaugurated a train service on July 1, 1866. Departing from Howrah Railway Station, the service was designated as 1 UP (Up Line) / 2 DN (Down Line), known as the East Indian Railway Mail. Initially, this service operated exclusively between Howrah and Delhi.[5]
The extension of the Ambala – Kalka railway line in 1891 enabled the East Indian Railway Mail to extend its route to Kalka. The subsequent opening of the Kalka – Shimla route on November 7, 1903, facilitated the further extension of the train service to Shimla, involving a gauge change at Kalka. Passengers traveling to Shimla from Kalka transitioned from a broad gauge train to a narrow gauge East Indian Railway Mail for the final leg of the journey. Notably, both Howrah and Kalka stations featured internal carriageways along the platforms to allow the Viceroy and other dignitaries to access their rail coaches directly. The carriageway at Howrah remains in use between Platforms 8 and 9, while the carriageway at Kalka has been repurposed into a platform.[6]
The revered freedom fighter Netaji Subash Chandra Bose boarded this train from Gomoh on the night of 17 January, 1941 while escaping the British Raj to Peshawar. With the rationalisation of train numbering system in the 1990s, the iconic designation 01 UP / 02 DN was discontinued. [7] On July 10, 2011 this train was involved in a derailment at Malwan station in Fatehpur district that killed 70 and injured 300.[8] On 2 October, 2018 the train started running with Utkrisht rakes, becoming the first train in Indian Railways to do so.
This train is featured in a short story by Satyajit Ray, the Indian film director and writer. In the story, The Mystery of the Kalka Mail (Baksho Rahasya), the three main characters travel from Calcutta to Delhi and on to Kalka on the train. The plot involves a stolen diamond and an unpublished manuscript.[9] The story was also made into a radio play and a film.
This train was renamed to Netaji Express in honour of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to commemorate his 124th Birth Anniversary on 23 January 2021.[10]
See main article: Fatehpur derailment. 15 coaches of the Kalka Mail derailed on the Kanpur-Fatehpur line near the Fatehpur railway station on the afternoon of 10 July 2011. Causation is unsolved though poor maintenance of the locomotive is suspected because the engine had begun swaying sideways just before the accident. More than 70 persons died and 300 were injured. The injured were taken to hospitals in Kanpur, Lucknow and Allahabad.[11] [12]