Description
MUMBAI (MAHARASHTRA) TO HOWRAH KOLKATA (WEST BENGAL) : FULL TRAIN JOURNEY : 12859 MUMBAI CSMT - HOWRAH GITANJALI SUPERFAST EXPRESS : GITANJALI EXPRESS PANTRY FOOD REVIEW
12859/Gitanjali Express (PT)
गीतांजलि एक्सप्रेस
CSMT/Mumbai CSM Terminus -- HWH/Howrah Junction
The 12859 / 12860 Gitanjali Express is a Daily Superfast Express train of Indian Railways running between Two Major Metro Cities Kolkata, (Howrah Junction) in West Bengal and Mumbai, (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) in Maharashtra connecting the East with the West. Numbered 12859/60 this train belongs to the Superfast Express category. This train takes 30½ hrs to cover the distance of 1968 km between Mumbai and Howrah while the return takes 31 hrs 15 mins. This is first train which depart behind pure AC Loco from Mumbai CSMT after conversion of Mumbai CSMT to Thane from DC to AC. It has the top most priority in Howrah Mumbai route. It uses the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line.
Rabindranath Tagore, a famous poet of India, wrote the book Gitanjali. Since this train, too, starts from Bengal this train has the same name. This is the first Classless train in India, introduced by Ex Railway Minister Prof. Madhu Dandvate on 26 December 1977.
Train stops at Kasara & Igatpuri Railway Station only for Bankers Loco attachment & removal at the back of the Train. Train No.12859 leaves source point, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai Daily Early Morning at 6:00 am and reaches its destination station Howrah Junction daily at 12:30 PM in afternoon the next day. Train No.12860 leaves Howrah Junction at 2:05 pm daily and reach its destination, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 9:20 pm next evening it is a daily Superfast Express service with Top Most High Level Priority.
It is hauled by a Santragachi Loco Shed / Ajni Loco Shed / Kalyan Loco Shed based WAP-7 electric locomotive on its entire journey.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), and also known as Victoria Terminus (VT), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India.
The terminus was designed by a British architectural engineer Frederick William Stevens from an initial design by Axel Haig, in an exuberant Indo Gothic style. Its construction began in 1878, in a location south of the old Bori Bunder railway station, and was completed in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
Inside Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, 2022
In March 1996, the station's official name was changed from Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus after Shivaji, the 17th-century warrior king and the first Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, who founded the polity in the western Marathi-speaking regions of the Deccan Plateau. In 2017, the station was again renamed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (with code CSMT), in which the title Maharaj means "great king" or emperor. The initials VT and CST are commonly used for the station.
The terminus is the headquarters of India's Central Railway. It is one of the busiest railway stations in India, serving as a terminal for both long-distance and suburban trains with a total number of 18 platforms.
CSMT has a total of 18 platforms—seven platforms are for suburban EMU trains and eleven platforms (Platform 8 to Platform 18) are for long-distance trains.
Rajdhani, Duronto, Garib Rath and Tejas Express leave from Platform No. 18.
The station was a filming location for the "Jai Ho" song in Slumdog Millionaire, the 2011 Indian film Ra.One, and the 2013 film The Attacks of 26/11.
Howrah railway station (also known as Howrah Junction) is a railway station located in the city of Howrah, of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, West Bengal, India. It is the largest and busiest railway complex in India, as well as one of the busiest and largest train stations in the world. It is also the oldest surviving railway complex in India. Howrah is one of the large intercity railway stations serving the Kolkata metropolitan area, the others being Sealdah, Santragachi, Shalimar, Dankuni and Kolkata station.
The first public train from the station was on 15 August 1854, on what is now the Howrah – Hooghly Main Line. At present, about 600 passenger trains pass through the station, serving more than 1 million passengers a day. Utilising its 22 operational platforms, the station handles a total of 252 Mail/Express trains and 500 suburban EMU trains daily; ten of the platforms are long enough to cater to trains with more than 24 coaches. Goods and parcel trains also originate and terminate here. The Howrah–Barddhaman main line is the busiest line that connects this station.
On 3 March 1969, the inaugural Rajdhani Express departed Howrah for New Delhi. In October 2011, India's first double-decker train, Howrah–Dhanbad Double Decker Express, left Howrah for Dhanbad. The first service of the Antyodaya Express, the Howrah–Ernakulam Antyodaya Express, was inaugurated in February 2017.