Sealdah–New Delhi Rajdhani Express

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Sealdah–New Delhi Rajdhani Express
New Delhi bound 12313 Sealdah Rajdhani hauled by 30330 Sealdah WAP-7
Overview
Service type	Rajdhani Express
Status	Operational on daily basis
Locale	West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh & Delhi
First service	1 July 2000; 24 years ago (2000-07-01)
Current operator(s)	Eastern Railway Zone
Route
Termini	Sealdah (SDAH) New Delhi (NDLS)
Stops	8
Distance travelled	1,459 km (907 mi)
Average journey time	17hrs 45mins
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	12313 / 12314
Line(s) used	Calcutta Chord link line Howrah-Bardhaman chord (from Dankuni Jn.) Bardhaman-Asansol section Asansol-Gaya section Gaya–Mughalsarai section Mughalsarai–Kanpur section Kanpur–Delhi line (till New Delhi)
On-board services
Class(es)	AC 1st Class, AC 2 Tier, AC 3 Tier
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	Available
Observation facilities	Large windows
Technical
Rolling stock	LHB coach
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	130 km/h (81 mph) operating speed 83 km/h (52 mph) average including halts
Route map Legend ↓ 12314 • 12313 ↑ New Delhi Kanpur Central Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Gaya Junction Dhanbad Junction Asansol Junction Durgapur Sealdah Detailed diagram km 0 New Delhi Yamuna Delhi Uttar Pradesh border NH 2 Grand Trunk Road 440 Kanpur Central NH 2 Grand Trunk Road Old Naini Bridge across Yamuna 787 Mughalsarai Junction Uttar Pradesh Bihar border Nehru Setu bridge across Son River 992 Gaya Falgu River Bihar Jharkhand border Barakar River Parasnath Hill 1350 m 1476 yd NH 2 Grand Trunk Road 1,191 Dhanbad NH 2 Grand Trunk Road Barakar River Jharkhand West Bengal border 1,249 Asansol 1,291 Durgapur Hooghly River 1,457 Sealdah This diagram: view talk edit

The 12313 / 12314 Sealdah–New Delhi Rajdhani Express is a Rajdhani class train of Indian Railways which connects the capital of West Bengal, Kolkata to the National Capital of India, New Delhi through Sealdah. It is the third Rajdhani Express class train connecting Delhi and Kolkata and is the second-fastest connection between these two cities by rail.^[1]

Owing to the high demands of the passengers plying between Delhi and Kolkata and to ease down the existing pressure of bookings on the Howrah Rajdhani Express, Indian Railways decided to introduce another Rajdhani class train between these two cities. Since Howrah Division of Eastern Railways already had two existing Rajdhani Express trains, thus Sealdah Division of Eastern Railway was awarded with third Rajdhani Express to West Bengal. Hence on the annual railway budget of FY 2000-01, the then Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee, announced the starting of the Sealdah – New Delhi Rajdhani on bi-weekly basis. Based on the same, on 1 July 2000, the first Sealdah Rajdhani Express left for New Delhi from Sealdah for its maiden journey.^[2]

On 23 August 2006, the coaches of Sealdah Rajdhani Express were upgraded to LHB coaches replacing the older ICF coaches.

• Sealdah
• Durgapur
• Asansol Junction
• Dhanbad Junction
• Gaya Junction
• Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction
• Kanpur Central
• New Delhi

It is hauled by a Howrah based WAP-7 (HOG) equipped locomotive from end to end. Post the transfer of HOG based WAP-7s and other electric locomotives to the Kanchrapara Locomotive Shed, officially known as the Sealdah Locomotive Shed, the Sealdah Rajdhani was occasionally spotted with the SDAH based WAP-7 (HOG) locomotive.

The train can reach its maximum allowed speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), except for two specific sections. One is the 29 km (18 mi) stretch between New Delhi (NDLS) and Chipyana Buzurg (CPYZ), where the Railway is endeavoring to increase the maximum allowed speed from 110 km/h (68 mph) to 130 km/h (81 mph). The other section is Gurpa to Gujhandi near Koderma, comprising a 22 km (14 mi) long ghat portion where trains are permitted to travel at a maximum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). Within tunnels, the speed limit is further reduced to 65 km/h (40 mph). Additionally, trains briefly touch speeds of 100 km/h (62 mph) over a short distance of approximately 3 km (1.9 mi).

In 2019, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) recommended to the government the augmentation of the existing maximum permissible speed of the Delhi – Howrah route from 130 km/h (81 mph) to 160 km/h (99 mph), with the aim of enhancing average speed by a minimum of 60% to facilitate quicker connectivity and trade. In alignment with this directive, the Railway Board approved a project budgeted at Rs. 6,865 crore under the Indian Railway’s Mission Raftaar initiative. The project's objective is to elevate the maximum permissible speed of both the Delhi – Howrah and Kanpur – Lucknow routes to 160 km/h (99 mph) by the timeline of 2022–2023. However, there has been no specific update on the progress of the project to date.^[3]

• 
  Sealdah Rajdhani Express – AC 3 tier coach – B 12
• 
  Sealdah Rajdhani Express – AC 2 tier coach
• 
  Sealdah Rajdhani Express – AC 3 tier coach – B 7, halted at New Delhi rail station
• 
  Sealdah bound 12314 Rajdhani Express