Abita Begum Express: Delhi Jn. - Raxaul [OLD –now runs as Satyagraha Exp.]

DLI d 17.15; RXL a 15.10/RXL d 09.00;DLI a 07.35.

(Abita Ahmed Begum, wife of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed)

Agnibeena Express: Howrah - Asansol (former Bidhan Exp.) HWH d 18.20; ASN

a 21.30/ASN d 05.30; HWH a 08.45.

(Name of work by Bengali poet Nazrul Islam)

Ahilyanagari Express: Thiruvananthapuram – Indore Jn. TVC d 05.30; INDE a

03.50/INDE d 16.40; TVC a 17.20.

(Another (older) name for Indore, built by Holkar queen Ahilyabai)

Ahimsa Express: Ahmedabad - Pune . ADI d 16.00; PUNE a 03.50/PUNE d

19.45; ADI a 07.35.

(Ahimsa = non-violence, associated with Gandhi)

Air-Conditioned Express (AC Express) : Name used for several trains in the past

when air-conditioning was rare. Howrah - New Delhi [OLD-now

Rajdhani/Duronto Exp], Mumbai Central - New Delhi [OLD-now

Rajdhani/Duronto Exp.], Chennai Central - New Delhi [OLD-now

Rajdhani/Duronto Exp.], Mumbai CST - Howrah [OLD- now Duronto Exp.],

Mumbai CST - Madras Central [OLD- now Duronto Exp(proposed)], Chennai

Central - Howrah [OLD- now Duronto Exp(proposed)].

Ajanta Express: Secunderabad – Manmad. SC d 18.10; MMR a 06.30/MMR d

21.00; SC a 09.10

(Ajanta caves near Aurangabad)

Akal Takht Express: Sealdah – Amritsar. SDAH d 07.40; ASR a 16.55/ASR d

06.05; SDAH a 15.20;

(Sikh holy site at the Golden Temple in Amritsar)

Ala Hazrat Express: Bhuj - Bareilly City. BHUJ d 12.50/15.20; BEC a

20.15\BEC d 06.00; BHUJ a 13.20/11.15.

(Shrine of Muslim saint Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raja Khan)

Amarkantak Express: Durg – Bhopal. DURG d 18.20;BPL a 10.35/BPL d 15.30;

DURG 07.45.

(Source of the river Narmada)

Amarnath Express: Gorakhpur / Barauni - Jammu Tawi. BJU d 05.00/GKP d

14.00; JAT a 12.00\JAT d 22.45; GKP a 20.45; BJU 05.15.

Amarnath is a Hindu shrine in the Himalayas

Amravati Express: Vijayawada - Hubli. BZA d 19.00; UBL 09.10/UBL d 12.20;

BZA a 02.40.

(Name of town - location of Buddhist stupa)

Amravati Express: Howrah-Hubli-Madmagaon. HWH d 23.30; BZA d 19.00;

VSG a 14.30/ VSG d 07.45; BZA d 03.15; HWH a 22.30.

(Name of town - location of Buddhist stupa)

Amrapali Express: Amritsar - Katihar Jn. KIR d 23.30; ASR a 12.00/ ASR d

07.15; KIR a 20.00.

(From the name of the earlier train that terminated at Barauni, see above)

Amrita Express: Palakkad Town – Trivandrum. PKDT d 22.15; PLKD d 22.50;

TVC a 05.55/TVC d 23.00; PLKD d 06.20; PKDT a 06.40.

(Named for Mata Amritanandamayi, a spiritual leader in Kerala)

Ananya Express: Sealdah – Ajmer-Udaipur. SDAH d 13.15; AII d 20.00; UDZ a

03.15/UDZ d 00.30; AII d 06.15; SDAH a 14.30.

(‘Unique')

Ananthapuri Express: Trivandrum - Chennai Egmore . TVC d 16.20; NCJ d

18.00; MS a 07.20/MS d 19.25; NCJ d 08.50; TVC a 10.25.

(One of the classical names of Trivandrum)

Andaman Express: Jammu Tawi- Chennai . MAS d 05.30; JAT a 13.30/JAT d

23.45; MAS a 07.45

(Apparently just to keep the tradition of having a train named after every

state or territory -- the Andaman’s islands and cannot have train services

from the mainland, but at least can have a train named for them!)

Andhra Kesari Express: Vijayawada - Mumbai [PROPOSED]. BZA d 08.40; SC

d 14.40; CSTM a 04.55/CSTM d 20.05; BZA a 16.20.

('Lion of Andhra Pradesh')

Andhra Pradesh Express: Hyderabad - New Delhi. HYB d 06.15; NDLS a

09.15/NDLS d 17.30; HYB a 20.00.

(Name of state)

Aradhana Express: Howrah – Okha. HWH d 22.40; OKHA a 18.55/OKHA d

07.25; HWH a 04.00.

(‘Worship’?)

Aranyak Express: Shalimar – Adra-Bhojudihi. SHM d 07.45; ADRA d 12.35;

BHJD a 13.00/ BHJD d 13.35; ADRA d 14.05; SHM a 19.00.

(‘Of the forest', perhaps referring to a novel of this name by Bibhutibhushan

Bandyopadhyay)

Aravalli Express: Bandra - Jaipur . JP d 09.00; ,BDTS a 06.15/BDTS d 21.00; JP

a 18.15.

(A mountain range)

Archana Express: Rajendra Nagar - Jammu Tawi . RJQ d 07.00; PNBE d 07.25;

JAT a 11.15/JAT d 20.15; PNBE d 23.50; RJQ A 00.00.

(Worship ritual, 'Puja')

Arunachal Express: Rangiya - Murkong Selek . KYQ d 17.55; RNY d 19.20;

MZS a 03.50/MZS d 18.45; RNY d 03.30; KYQ a 04.40.

(Name for the state, 'hills of the dawn')

Ashram Express: Ahmedabad - New Delhi . ADI d 18.30; DLI a 11.00/DLI d

15.20; ADI a 07.35.

(Gandhi's ashram at Ahmedabad)

Assam Mail: Delhi - Guwahati [OLD-now Brahmaputra Mail] DLI d 23.40;

GHY a 14.40/GHY d 12.00; DLI d 06.05.

(Name of state/river)

August Kranti Rajdhani Express: Mumbai - Hazrat Nizamuddin. NZM d 16.55;

BCT a 09.55/BCT d 17.40; NZM a 10.40;

('August Revolution', the Quit India movement started in 1942) This train

was the Bombay AC Rajdhani, and renamed in October 1992.

Avantika Express: Mumbai - Indore . BCT d 19.05; INDE a 10.25/INDE d 15.45;

BCT a 06.55.

(Avantika is another (older) name for Ujjain, near Indore)

Awadh Assam Express: Lalgarh - New Delhi . LJQ d 19.45; DLI d 08.30; GHY a

03.30/GHY d 21.30; DLI d 16.10; LJQ a 04.35.

(Awadh, also Awadh -- name of a region)

Awadh Express: Muzaffarpur/Gorakhpur – Bandra.

(Awadh, also Awadh -- name of region)

Awadh (Oudh) Tirhut Mail: Lucknow - Guwahati [OLD-now Guwahati-link

Exp.]

(Awadh, also Awadh -- name of region; Tirhut -- name of a place.)

Azad Express: Chennai Central- Haldia

(‘Free, independent')

Azad Hind Express: Pune - Howrah

('Free India') The Azad Hind Fauj was a nationalist militia raised by Netaji

Subhashchandra Bose against the British.

Baidyanathdham Express: Puri - Patna

(Hindu holy spot near Bihar)

Bagh Express: Howrah - Kathgodam

(May be 'garden', or more likely 'tiger' the latter could be a reference to

Corbett National Park near Kathgodam)

Bagha Jatin Passenger: Howrah - Bhadrak

(Bagha Jatin or Jatindranath Mukherjee was a freedom fighter from West

Bengal)

Barak Valley Express: Lumding - Silchar (after gauge-conversion, will be

Guwahati-Silchar-Ziribalm.)

(River valley in Assam)

Barisal Express: Sealdah - Barisal [OLD- now Bangladeshi Train.]

(Name of place)

Basava Express: Yeshwantpur - Bijapur

(Basava, also known as Basaveshwara or Basavanna, was a 12th century

reformer and theologian from the Bijapur area)

Beas Link Express: Jodhpur – Jammu-Tawi (now as Ahmedabad-Jammu-Tawi

(Beas River)

Begumpura Express: Jalandhar – Varanasi (now Jammu-Varanasi Exp.)

(Area near Jalandhar)

Bhagirathi Express: Sealdah - Lalgola

(Name of river, tributary of the Ganga)

Bhagirathi Express: Chhapra - Allahabad City [OLD- now Ald-Ddn Exp. ]

(Name of river, tributary of the Ganga)

Bhagya Nagar Express: Secunderabad - Sirpur Kagaznagar- Balharshah.

(Bhagyanagar is an old name for present-day Hyderabad)

Bharat Darshan: Tourist journey, billed as a pan-Indian economy tourist train

(‘Vision of India')

Bharat Tirth: Tourist trains with circular itineraries run by IRCTC, primarily in

the south

(‘Pilgrimage of India')

Bhopal Express: Hazrat Nizamuddin - Habibganj

(Bhopal is the real destination near Habibganj)

Bihar Sampark-Kranti Exp.: New Delhi - Darbhanga

(Name of state)

Bishwabharati fast Passenger: Howrah - Rampurhat

(Rabindranath Tagore's university at Shantiniketan)

Black Diamond Express: Howrah - Dhanbad

(Coalfields)

Blue Express: Chennai - Mettupalayam Nilgiri Express [unofficial]

(From the earlier name, Blue Mountain Express -- see below)

Boat Mail: Madras Egmore - Dhanushkodi [OLD-now up to Rameshwaram]

(Connecting to Rameshwaram)

Mumbai Jayanti: Mumbai - Kannyakumari [OLD-now Mumbai – Kannyakumari

Exp.]

Bombay VT Express: Mumbai CST – Howrah Gitanjali Exp (at present)

Brahmaputra Mail: New Delhi - Dibrugarh

(Name of river)

Brindavan Express: Chennai - Bangalore

(‘Garden', referring to the Brindavan Gardens in Mysore, since there used to

be a connecting link from Bangalore to Mysore for passengers on this train.

Note, however, Bangalore is also known as the Garden City.)

Buddha Purnima Express: Benaras/Varanasi - Rajgir via Gaya

('Purnima' = full moon; Buddha Purnima is the day marking the birth of the

Buddha)

Buddhist Circuit: Tourist train covering sites of significance to Buddhism.

Bundelkhand Express: Gwalior - Varanasi /Allahabad City.

(Name of region in Madhya Pradesh)

Cachhar Express: Lumding - Silchar

(Name of region in Assam)

Island Express: Kannyakumari - Bangalore

(Kannyakumari is at the tip of the Indian peninsula, earlier known as Cape

Comorin)

Capital Express : Danapur - New Jalpaiguri/Kamakhya.

(Perhaps originally intended to run from Patna, the capital of the state of

Bihar. Danapur is 9km from Patna.)

Cauvery Exp. Tiruchhi-Sengottai via Karaikudi-Manamadurai. (Now mas-mys)

Century Express (NER timetable listing of Sanctuary Exp., arising from

confusion over the spelling)

Chalukya Express: Dadar - Bangalore via Miraj

(Former kingdom in the area)

Chambal Express: Howrah – Agra-Mathura-Kasganj.

(Name of river/valley)

Chambal Express: Howrah - Gwalior

(Name of river/valley)

Chamundi Express: Mysore - Bangalore

(Temple to deity of this name at Mysore)

Chandigarh Express: Kalka – Jodhpur/Chennai Central-Chandigarh/Dehradun.

(Name of town)

Chandrabhaga Express: Mumbai – Pandharpur-Sholapur via Miraj [proposed]

(Local name of river Bhīma/Bhimarathi at Pandharpur)

Ganga-Chambal Express: Gwalior - Barauni Jn. Mail

(Name of region)

Charminar Express: Chennai - Hyderabad

(Charminar -- medieval minarets at Hyderabad)

Chhattisgarh Express: Bilaspur – Amritsar/ Delhi - Durg

(Name of region)

Chauri Chaura Express: Kanpur – Benaras-Gorakhpur

(Name of town)

Cheran Express: Chennai - Coimbatore

(Historical royal dynasty)

Chetak Express: New Delhi - Udaipur

(Legendary battle horse of Maharaja Pratap, ruler of Udaipur)

Chitrakut Express: Jabalpur - Lucknow

(Region in Uttar Pradesh)

Circar Express: Chennai – Kakinada Port

(Region in Andhra Pradesh)

Classical India Tour: Tourist train covering Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Khajuraho-

Varanasi-Patna

Coalfield Express: Howrah - Dhanbad

(Coal mines near Dhanbad)

Corbett Park Link Express: New Delhi - Ramnagar

(National park named for Jim Corbett, hunter and pioneer conservationist)

Coromandel Express: Howrah - Chennai Central

(Name of the eastern coastal region)

Dakshin Express: Hyderabad - Hazrat Nizamuddin

('Dakshin' = south)

Dakshin Link Express: Vishakapatnam - Hazrat Nizamuddin

('Dakshin' = south)

Darjeeling Mail: Sealdah - New Jalpaiguri

(The town and region of Darjeeling)

Deccan Express: Mumbai - Pune

(The region - Deccan plateau)

Deccan Express: Pune - Bangalore [proposed]

(The region - Deccan plateau)

Deccan Odyssey: Maharashtra / Goa round trip tourist train

Deccan Queen: Mumbai - Pune

(The region - Deccan plateau; started 1930, first and second class

accommodation only)

Deekshabhoomi Express: Kolhapur-Dhanbad

Doon Express: Howrah - Dehradun Doon Express

(From the town Dehradun-means valley))

Delhi Jayanti: Hazrat Nizamuddin - Mangalore [OLD-now Kerala-Sampark

Kranti Exp.]

Desert Queen: Rajasthan - round trip tourist train

Devgiri Express: Mumbai - Nanded - Nizamabad – Kacheguda.

(Region in Maharashtra)

Dhauladhar Express: Pathankot – Old-Delhi

(Name of mountain range)

Dhauli Express: Howrah – Bhubaneswar-Puri

(Hill in Orissa, site of the Kalinga war of Asoka, ~270BCE)

Duronto Express: Several, including Mumbai-Howrah (2009-09-28), Pune-

H.Nizamuddin (2009-09-28), Chennai-H.Nizamuddin (2009-09-21), and

Kolkata-New Delhi (2009-09-18)

('Quick' in Bengali; these trains are designated as fast non-stop trains.)

Dwaraka Express : Okha - Guwahati

(Dwaraka is a place on the west coast near Okha.)

East Coast Express : Howrah – Hyderabad

East Bengal Express : Sealdah-Parbatipur[OLD]-now discontinued.

East Bengal Express: Sealdah-Goalando [OLD]-now discontinued.

East Bengal Mail : Sealdah-Parbatipur [OLD]-now discontinued

Ekta Express: Bhiwani - Kalka

('Ekta' = unity)

Ellora Express: Hazrat Nizamuddin - Mudkhed (Manmad){now Asr-Hsn

Sachkhand Exp.}

(The Ellora cave temples)

Ernad Express: Mangalore Central - Nagercoil

(Region in Kerala)

Falaknuma Express : Howrah - Secunderabad

(Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad)

Farakka Express: Malda - Bhiwani via Faizabad / Via Sultanpur

(Place, better known for dam across the Ganga

Flying Ranee Express: Mumbai - Surat

('Ranee' = queen)

Frontier Mail: New Delhi - Mumbai [OLD-Now Amritsar-Dadar Exp.]

(Used to be from Peshawar, the North West frontier of British India)

Ganadevta Express: Rampurhat - Howrah (extended to Azimganj in 2005)

(Bengali novel by Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay)

Gandak Express: Jayanagar – Narkatiaganj(will extended to Gorakhpur After

Gauge Conversion)

(River near Jayanagar.)

Ganga Damodar Express: Dhanbad – Rajendra Nagar.

(Names of rivers)

Ganga Gomati Express: Allahabad - Lucknow

(Names of rivers)

Ganga Yamuna Express: New Delhi - Patna [now NDLS-SDAH Link

Exp.(proposed)]

(Names of rivers)

Ganga Kaveri Express: Chennai - Varanasi – Chhapra.

(Names of rivers)

Ganga Sagar Express: Sealdah - Darbhanga

(Ganga river, 'Sagar' = ocean; Ganga Sagar is a pilgrimage spot close to the

Sunder bans / Sand heads area)

Ganga Sutlej Express: Dhanbad - Firozpur

(Names of rivers)

Gangaur Express: Mumbai Central - Jaipur [proposed]

(A festival in Jaipur, around March every year)

Garhwal Express: Delhi - Kotdwar

(Mountainous region in Uttaranchal)

Garib Nawaz Express: Ajmer/Udaipur –Sealdah(proposed) Delhi- Ajmer [OLD-

now Mysore- Ajmer], Yeshwantpur - Ajmer [2006], New Jalpaiguri - Ajmer

[2006], Ranchi - Ajmer [2006]

(Garib Nawaz is the honorific title of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti, whose

tomb is at Ajmer

Garib Rath Express : Rajendra Nagar - H. Nizamuddin, Bandra - H. Nizamuddin,

New Delhi - Chennai, Saharsa - Amritsar, etc. [2006]

('Chariot of the poor' - new class of trains introduced with all-AC coaches

and lower fares than AC-3T trains)

Gaur Express: Sealdah - Malda Town

(Town near Malda, historic capital of Bengal kingdoms)

Gautama Express: Kakinada - Secunderabad

(Legendary disciple of the Buddha, also name of river tributary of the

Godavari at Kakinada)

Girnar Express: Veraval - Ahmedabad

(Hills in Gujarat)

Gitanjali Express: Mumbai - Howrah

(Compilation of Bengali songs/poetry by Rabindranath Tagore)

Goa Express: Hazrat Nizamuddin - Vasco Da Gama / Madgaon

(Name of state)

Godan Express: Lokmanya Tilak Terminus - Gorakhpur

(Novel by Hindi author Premchand, who lived in/near Gorakhpur

Godavari Express: Vishakapatnam - Hyderabad (SCR)

(Name of river - route is through Rajahmundry Godavari bridge).

Godavari Express: Kurla (LTT) - Manmad –Nanded –Secunderabad-

Vishakapatnam.

(Name of river - route is through Nasik where the Godavari originates)

Gokul Express: Gorakhpur - Agra Fort {proposed in BG)

(Legendary place where the Hindu god Krishna spent his childhood)

Golconda Express : Guntur - Secunderabad

(Medieval fortress near Hyderabad

Golden Temple Express: Howrah - Amritsar [proposed]

(The Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest place, is at Amritsar)

Golden Temple Mail: Mumbai Central - Amritsar

(The Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest place, is at Amritsar)

GolGumbaz Express: Sholapur - Bangalore via Bijapur/Gadag

(GolGumbaz is a domed monument in Bijapur)

Gomati Express: New Delhi - Lucknow (Name of river)

Gondwana Express: Hazrat Nizamuddin - Bilaspur/Jabalpur/Nagpur/Bhusawal

(Name of region, inhabited the Gondi tribe)

Gorakhdham Express: New Delhi - Gorakhpur

Gorakhnath Express: Lucknow - Gorakhpur

(The train earlier terminated at Gorakhpur)

Grand Trunk Express: New Delhi - Chennai

(Name modeled on the famous Grand Trunk Road; also known simply as

'GT Express')

Green Valley Express: Vishakapatnam - Araku Valley [proposed]

Gujarat Express: Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad

(Name of state)

Gujarat Mail: Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad

(Name of state)

Gujarat Queen: Valsad - Ahmedabad

(Name of state)

Gulbarga Express: Bijapur - Yeshwantpur {proposed}

(Region in the Deccan, in Karnataka state)

Gurudev Express: Nagercoil - Shalimar

('Gurudev' = divine teacher; named for both Rabindranath Tagore & Swami

Chinmayananda)

Gyanganga Express: Pune - Varanasi

('Gyanganga' = the Ganga (river) of knowledge)

Hampi Express: Hubli - Bangalore

(Place in Karnataka with ruins of the 14th century Vijayanagar kingdom)

Earlier the Vijayanagar Exp.

Hampi Link Express: Hubli/Nanded - Bangalore

(Place in Karnataka with 14th century ruins)

Harihar Express: Muzaffarpur - Ambala Cantt.

(Sonpur is also known as Harihar Kshetra and has the Harihar Nath temple.)

Haripriya Express: Kolhapur - Tirupati

('beloved of god' (Hari = Hindu god Vishnu); the name was the winner in a

contest among schoolchildren to name this train)

Haryana Express: Tilak Bridge (New Delhi) - Sirsa

(Name of state)

Hatey Bazaare Express: Sealdah - Barauni [unofficial?]

(Name of novel by Balai Chand Mukhopaddhay ('Banaphool'))

Hazarduari Express: Kolkata - Murshidabad [2009]

(Hazarduari is a building in the classical European style in Murshidabad;

'hazar duari' = with a thousand doors)

Hemkunt Express: Jammu Tawi – Rishikesh/ Rishikesh - Howrah (poposed)

(Perhaps from Hemkunt Sahib (near Rishikesh) Sikh holy site in northern

Uttar Pradesh in the Uttarakhand Himalayas)

High Court Express: Manmad - Dharma bad [unofficial]

(Originally a Nanded-Aurangabad train, started for the convenience of

passengers of interior Marathwada region to travel to Aurangabad which has

a bench of the Mumbai High Court.

Himachal Express: New Delhi - Una

(Una is in Himachal Pradesh; 'Himachal' = mountains of snow)

Himalayan Queen Express: New Delhi - Kalka

Himgiri Express: Howrah - Jammu Tawi

('Himgiri' = hills of snow)

Himsagar Express: Kannyakumari - Jammu Tawi

('Himsagar' = ocean of snow)

Hirakhand Express: Bhubaneswar – Koraput/Jagdalpur

(Region in Orissa, known for gems and minerals; 'hira' = diamond)

Hirakud Express: Hazrat Nizamuddin - Bhubaneswar/Sambalpur -

Vishakhapatnam

(Region in Orissa, site of one of the biggest dams in the world)

Hussainsagar Express: Mumbai - Hyderabad

(Lake near Hyderabad)

Hutatma Express: Pune - Sholapur

('Hutatma' = martyr)

Ziyarat Exp: Rajendranagar - Ajmer

('Devotion, Worship', reference to the Ajmer Sharif shrine of the Sufi saint

Hazrat Moinuddin Chisti.

Imperial Indian Mail : Bombay - Calcutta [OLD-now Howrah-Mumbai Mail.]

(1906; accommodation for first-class passengers and their servants only)

Maharaja Express: Mumbai - Aurangabad - Udaipur - Sawai Madhopur - Jaipur -

Agra - New Delhi; luxury tourist train

Indrayani Express: Mumbai - Pune

(Name of river)

Intercity Express: Many trains, past and present. Bangalore - Coimbatore,

Bangalore - Hubli, Mumbai - Pune, Bhopal - Indore, Bhubaneswar - Palasa -

Srikakulam, Bhubaneswar - Sambalpur, Bikaner - Jodhpur, Bikaner - Jaipur,

Chennai - Tirupati, Chennai - Coimbatore, Dhanbad - Hatia, Gulbarga - Raichur,

Guwahati - Mariani, Guwahati - Ledo, Hazrat Nizamuddin - Agra, Hazrat

Nizamuddin - Indore, Jaipur - Jodhpur, Katihar - Siliguri, New Delhi - Jaipur, New

Delhi - Bhatinda, Sealdah - Asansol,Solapur - Pune, Tenali - Secunderabad,

Vadodara - Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad - Veraval, Valsad - Vadodara, Howrah -

Rampurhat, Howrah - Malda Town, Trivandrum - Ernakulam, Patna - Katihar,

Bhagalpur - Danapur, Haridwar - Sri Ganganagar, Jaipur - Loharu, etc.

Intercity Link Express: Chandigarh - Sriganganagar

Ispat Express: Howrah - Sambalpur

('Ispat' = steel; Raurkela has a steel plant)

Sri Jagannath Express: Howrah - Puri

Jallianwala Bagh Express: Tatanagar – Amritsar-Sealdah

(Site in Amritsar of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 1919)

Janaki Express: Jayanagar - Saharsa

(Janaki temple near Samastipur)

Jan Shatabdi Express : (Class name) Many trains, including: Madgaon - Kurla,

Madgaon - Mangalore, Mumbai - Kanpur, Ernakulam - Trivandrum, Bangalore -

Hubli, New Delhi - Kota, New Delhi - Dehradun, Chennai Egmore - Vijayawada,

Coimbatore - Tanjavur, Bhubaneswar - Howrah, Tatanagar - Ranchi

('Jana' = people; People's Shatabdi, i.e., lower-cost version of the Shatabdi

Expresses -- see below)

Janata Express : (Class name) Many trains, including: Howrah - New Delhi ,

Mumbai Central-Firozpur

('Janata' = people)

Janmabhoomi Express: Tenali/Vishakhapatnam - Vijayawada -Hyderabad

('Janmabhoomi' = birthplace; may also refer to a self-help program in

Andhra Pradesh)

Jan Nayak Express : Darbhanga - Amritsar

('Jan Nayak' = leader of the people; honorary title of Jaiprakash Narayan)

Jan Sadharan Express : New Delhi - Patna, Muzaffarpur - LTT Kurla,

Muzaffarpur - Ahmedabad, Muzaffarpur - Howrah,

('Jan' = people, 'sadharan' = ordinary, simple)

Jansewa Express : Barauni - Amritsar

('Jansewa' = service of the people)

Jansewa Express : Bhagalpur - Muzaffarpur

('Jansewa' = service of the people)

Jayanti Janata Express : Mumbai - Cochin (later Kannyakumari)

('Jayanti Janata' = 'the people shall prevail')

Jeevan Rekha Exp. (Lifeline Exp.) : itinerant hospital train

(literally, Life-Line)

Jharkhand Express : New Delhi - Ranchi [2004]

(name of state)

Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express : New Delhi - Hatia

(was name of region; now name of state)

Jhelum Express : Pune - Jammu Tawi

(name of river)

Jnaneshwari (Gyaneshwari) Express (Super Deluxe Exp.) : Kurla - Howrah via

Nagpur

(Jnaneshwari is the Marathi translation of and commentary on the Hindu text

the Bhagwad Gita by the 13th century saint Jnaneshwara)

Jim Corbett Park Express : Ramnagar - Moradabad - Delhi

(national park named for Jim Corbett, hunter and pioneer conservationist)

Joy Train : Darjeeling - Ghum (DHR)

A couple of the DHR train services (11am, 12:50pm) of short excursions,

which are intended for, and generally patronized by, tourists; the trains don't

run if enough tickets aren't sold. See School Train.

Kaifiat Express : Delhi - Azamgarh

(Said to be for Kaifi Azmi, poet born at Azamgarh)

Kakatiya Fast Passenger : Warangal - Hyderabad/Secunderabad

(From name of 14th century dynasty ruling in the Warangal region)

Kalindi Express : Kanpur-Bhiwani

(another name for the river Yamuna, from Kalinda = the Sun, the

mythological father of the river)

Kalinga Express : ? - ?

(See Kalinga Utkal Exp.)

Kalinga Utkal Express : Puri - Hazrat Nizamuddin/Haridwar

('Kalinga' = region along the east coast (in modern-day Orissa); 'Utkal' =

Orissa) This train replaced the older Kalinga and Utkal Expresses of SER.

Kamala Gandak Express : Jaynagar - Gorakhpur (proposed)

(names of two rivers in Bihar)

Kamayani Express : Kurla (LTT) - Varanasi

(name of epic work by Hindi poet Jaya Shankar Prasad)

Kamban Express : Chennai - Nagore

(Tamil poet, 9th century AD, who wrote the Tamil version of the Ramayana

epic)

Kamrup Express : Howrah - Dibrugarh

(name of district in Assam)

Kanchan Kanya Express : Sealdah - New Jalpaiguri - Guwahati

('kanchan' = gold; 'kanya' = girl, virgin; probably a reference to the

Kanchenjunga mountain in the Himalayas)

Kanchenjunga Express : Sealdah - Guwahati

(name of mountain in Himalayas)

Kangra Queen : Pathankot – Palampur-Baijnath-Prapola

(name of town and valley in Himachal Pradesh)

Kangra Valley Express : Pathankot - Joginder [NG]

(name of town and valley in Himachal Pradesh)

Kangra Valley Passenger : Pathankot - Joginder (NG)

(name of town and valley in Himachal Pradesh)

Kannokunwari Mixed Express : Gwalior - Sheopur Kalan (NG) [OLD]

(?? 'Kunwari' is a small river near Gwalior)

Kanyakubj Express : Kanpur – Kasganj-Mathura (to be re-introduced)

(old name for modern-day Kannauj area in Uttar Pradesh)

Karmabhoomi : Name given to some unreserved trains intended for 'common'

people.

('Karmabhoomi' = land of work)

Karnataka Darshan : Round-trip tourist train

(name of state; 'Darshan' = vision)

Karnataka Express : Bangalore - New Delhi

(name of state)

Karnavati Express : Mumbai - Ahmedabad

(another (older) name for modern-day Ahmedabad)

Kashi Express : Dadar – Varanasi-Gorakhpur

(another name for Varanasi)

Kashi Express : Dadar - Gorakhpur

(another name for Varanasi, where the train originally terminated)

Kashi Vishwanath Express : Varanasi - New Delhi

(Hindu temple at Varanasi)

Kashmir Mail : Delhi – Pathankot-Udhampur(proposed)

(name of state)

Kaveri (Cauvery) Express : Mysore – Chennai

(name of river)

Kaveri (Cauvery) Express : Mysore - Chennai

(name of river; the train runs in the slot of the old Cauvery Exp. (above))

Kaziranga Express : Guwahati - Jorhat Town(proposed)

(proximity to Kaziranga Park, a wildlife sanctuary)

Kerala Express : Trivandrum - New Delhi

(name of state)

Kerala/Karnataka Express : New Delhi - Trivandrum / Bangalore [OLD]

(names of states; train bifurcated at Jolarpettai. Later became the Kerala

Exp. and Karnataka Exp.)

Kerala Mangala Express : Trivandrum/Ernakulam - New Delhi

('Kerala' = name of state; 'mangala' = good fortune / covering the Mangalore

region)

Kisan Express : Delhi - Bathinda

('farmer')

Konark Express : Mumbai - Bhubaneshwar

(name of place in Orissa, site of the sun temple built in the 13th century)

Kongu Express : Hazrat Nizamuddin - Coimbatore

(name of region in Tamil Nadu)

Konkan Kanya Express : Mumbai - Madgaon - Mangalore

('Konkan' = name of the western coastal area; 'kanya' = girl, virgin)

Koshi Express : Forsebganj - Sonpur (to be introduced after Saharsa-Foresebganj

gauge conversion)

(name of river in Nepal)

Kosi Express : Saharsa - Patna

(name of river in Bihar)

Kovai Express : Chennai - Coimbatore

(another name for Coimbatore)

Koyna Express : Mumbai - Kolhapur

(name of river / dam)

Krishak Express : Lucknow - Manduadih

('krishak' = farmer)

Krishna Express : Tirupati - Hyderabad - Nizamabad

(name of river)

Kudal Express : Chennai - Madurai

(another (older) name for the Madurai)

Kumaon Express : KasganjMG - Lalkuan

(name of region)

Kushinagar Express : Kurla - Gorakhpur

(name of town near Gorakhpur; site where the Buddha is said to have died)

Kutch Express : Mumbai - Gandhidham (extended to Bhuj)

(name of region)

Lake City Express : Jaipur – Udaipur(to be re-started)

(Udaipur is known as the Lake City)

Mangala-Lakshadweep Express : Hazrat Nizamuddin - Ernakulam

(name of island group in Indian ocean (also sometimes 'Laccadive');

literally, 'myriad isles')

Lal Quila Express : Sealdah - New Delhi

('Red Fort')

Lalbagh Express : Chennai - Bangalore

(name of botanical gardens in Bangalore)

Lashkar Express : Kurla - Agra

('army'; originally terminated at Gwalior, where the old fort area is named

Lashkar)

Lashkar Express : Secunderabad - Vijayawada - Guntur [proposed]

('army'; Secunderabad has a military cantonment)

Lichhavi Express : New Delhi - Muzaffarpur –Sitamarhi via

Madhosingh/Varanasi - Samastipur

(name of ancient dynasty that prevailed in areas of Uttar Pradesh and Nepal,

to which the Buddha belonged)

Lifeline Exp. : see Jeevan Rekha Exp.

(the hospital train)

Link Express : Many past and present trains intended to provide connecting

services with other trains. Allahabad - Dehradun, Allahabad - Saharanpur,

Bangalore - Nanded, Bilaspur - Vishakhapatnam, Chennai - Thanjavur, Delhi -

Bikaner, Haridwar - Sriganganagar, Hatia - Muri, Hazrat Nizamuddin -

Vishakhapatnam, Jammu Tawi - Madurai, Jaipur - Secunderabad, Jodhpur -

Haridwar, New Delhi - Kotdwara, Tatanagar - Rourkela, Vasco da Gama - Londa,

Kakinada - Visakhapatnam - Nagarsol, Tiruchirapalli - Ernakulam [unofficial] (this

ran earlier as the Mangalore - Palghat Exp. and used to have many long-distance

slip coaches), Nimach - New Delhi, Ahmedabad - Muzaffarpur / Darbhanga

Link Passenger : Several trains intended to provide connecting services with other

trains. E.g., Chennai Egmore- Pondicherry

Lohit Express : Guwahati - Jammu Tawi

(local name in Assam / Arunachal Pradesh for the Brahmaputra river, also

the name of a tributary of the Brahmaputra)

Lokshakti Janata Express : Mumbai - Ahmedabad

('lokshakti' = people power; 'janata' = the public)

Madhya Pradesh Express : H. Nizamuddin - Jabalpur

(name of state)

Magadh Vikramshila Express : Islampur/Bhagalpur - New Delhi

('Magadh' = ancient kingdom in present-day Bihar; 'Vikramshila' = ruins of

an ancient university)

Mahabodhi Express : New Delhi - Gaya

('great enlightenment', a reference to Siddhartha becoming the Buddha at

Gaya)

Mahakoshal Express : Jabalpur - Hazrat Nizamuddin

(name of region)

Mahalaxmi (Mahalakshmi) Express : Mumbai - Kolhapur (BG)

(temple of Hindu goddess Mahalaxmi at Kolhapur)

Mahanadi Express : Bilaspur - Bhopal

(name of river)

Mahanagari Express : Mumbai - Varanasi

('of the great city')

Mahananda Link Express : New Delhi - New Jalpaiguri - Alipurduar

(name of river, region and wildlife sanctuary) Train originally terminated at

Katihar.

Mahaparinirvan Express : Buddhist circuit tourist train running from Chennai

through Guntur, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Agra, Delhi, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Varanasi,

Gaya, and Bhubaneshwar.

(Term used to refer to the death of the Buddha; 'the great Nirvana', 'nirvana'

being a Sanskrit term for cessation or extinction)

Maharajah Express : Howrah - Delhi - Howrah, Mumbai - Delhi - Mumbai, and

other circular luxury tourist trains run by IRCTC and Cox & Kings.

(the train is designed to provide extremely luxurious accommodations)

Maharashtra Express : Kolhapur - Gondia; also H. Nizamuddin - Bandra

(name of state)

Maitry Express : Sealdah - Bangladesh

('Maitry' = friendship)

Malabar Express : Madras - Mangalore, then Cochin - Mangalore, then

Trivandrum - Mangalore

(name of south-western coastal region)

Malani Express : Barmer - New Delhi

(name of Region near Barmer)

Malwa Express : Indore - Jammu Tawi

(name of region)

Mandore Express : New Delhi - Jodhpur

(name of town)

Mandovi Express : Mumbai - Madgaon

(name of river)

Mangala Lakshadweep Express : Hazrat Nizamuddin - Ernakulam

('mangala' = good fortune;, reference to Mangalore which is the terminus of

this train. 'Lakshadweep' = island group in Indian ocean, literally 'myriad

isles')

Marathwada Express : Manmad - Dharmabad

(region in Maharashtra)

Mariani Express : Guwahati - Jorhat

(Place near Jorhat)

Marudhar Express : Varanasi - Faizabad - Jodhpur

('marudhar' = desert)

Marusagar Express : Jaipur - Ernakulam

('desert-ocean', reflecting the locations of the termini)

Ma Tara (Maa Tara) Express : Sealdah - Rampurhat

(Hindu deity, a shrine to whom exists at Tarapith near Rampurhat)

Matribhumi Express : New Delhi – Jammu(superfast proposed)

('motherland')

Matribhumi Express : Howrah - New Delhi (Duronto type proposed)

('motherland')

Matribhumi Express : Howrah – Dehradun(proposed via Tata Gaya)

('motherland')

Matribhumi Express : New Delhi - Lucknow - Barauni (extension up to

Guwahati proposed)

('motherland')

Matribhumi Express : Hyderabad - Bangalore (proposed via Chennai)

('motherland')

Matribhumi Express : Mumbai – Gorakhpur(proposed)

('motherland')

Matribhumi Express : Mumbai - Varanasi (proposed)

('motherland')

Matribhoomi Local : Name given to some special trains for women.

('motherland')

Matsyagandha Express : Kurla - Mangalore

(name of person in Hindu mythology, the fisherman's daughter who was the

mother of Vyasa the sage; literally, 'fishy-smelling')

Maurya Express : Hatia - Gorakhpur

(name of dynasty that ruled in the Bihar area in ancient times)

Maveli Express : Mangalore - Trivandrum

(name of ruler of Kerala in mythology, also 'Mahabali')

Mayurakshi Fast Passenger : Howrah - Rampurhat

(name of river)

Meenakshi Express : Hyderabad - Ajmer

(?? name of Hindu goddess)

Mewari Fast Passenger : Ahmedabad - Chittaurgarh

(Former kingdom in Rajasthan)

Millennium Express : Hazrat Nizamuddin - Ernakulam

Millennium Parcel Express : Shalimar - Ahmedabad (parcels) [proposed]

Millennium Parcel Express : Sanatnagar - Tughlakabad (parcels) [proposed]

Millennium Parcel Express : Shalimar - Sanatnagar (parcels) [proposed]

Mithila Express : Howrah - Raxaul

(name of region, also Mythili)

Mithilanchal Express : Darbhanga - Kolkata (Chitpur) [2006]

(name of region, also Mythili or Mithila, straddling Bihar in India and the

terai of Nepal)

Mour Dhwaj Express : Sonpur - Chhapra - Jammu Tawi [2006]

(?)

Muri Express : Tatanagar/Hatia – Pathankot/Jammu

(name of town)

Mussoorie Express : New Delhi – Dehradun/Kotdwar

(name of town)

Nagarjuna Express : Guntur - Secunderabad

(Second-century Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna)

Nainital Express : Lalkuan- Lucknow

(name of town)

Nandigram Express : Mumbai CST - Nanded

(Old name of Nanded)

Narayanadri Express : Tirupati - Secunderabad

(name of a hill, one of the famed 'seven hills' of Tirupati)

Narmada Express : Indore - Bilaspur

(name of river)

Nauchandi Express : Allahabad - Meerut / Shahjahanpur via Lucknow

(Nauchandi fair held annually near Meerut)

Navjivan Express : Ahmedabad - Chennai

(institute established by Gandhi at Ahmedabad)

Navyana Express : Jammu Tawi - Mangalore

(?? perhaps navayana = 'new vehicle', Dr Ambedkar's Buddhist philosophy)

Navyug Express : Mangalore / Trichy - Jammu Tawi

('new era')

Neelachal Express : Puri - New Delhi( In northern India this is also known as the

'Neelanchal Express' (note the extra 'n').

(an old name for Puri; a place near Puri)

Nellai Express : Chennai - Tirunelveli

(another name for Tirunelveli)

Netravati Express : Kurla - Ernakulam

(name of river)

Nilgiri Express : Chennai - Mettupalayam

(name of mountains)

Night Queen Express : Hazrat Nizamuddin - Habibganj

(The name is used in some official announcements at Jhansi)

Nilgiri Express : Mettupalayam - Ootacamund [renamed as below]

(name of mountains)

Nilgiri Passenger : Mettupalayam - Ootacamund

(name of mountains))

North Bihar Express : Howrah - Barauni [proposed]

North East Express : Guwahati - New Delhi

Orissa Express : New Delhi - Bhubaneswar [2004]

(name of state)

Overnight Express : Bangalore - Shimoga Town

Overnight Express : Jabalpur - Indore (formerly Jabalpur-Bhopal)

Padatik Express : Sealdah - New Jalpaiguri

(perhaps named for film by noted film director Mrinal Sen (not sure))

Padmavati Express : Tirupati - Secunderabad

(name of Hindu deity whose temple is close to Tirupati)

Paharia Express : New Jalpaiguri - Digha

('of the hills')

Palace on Wheels : Delhi / Rajasthan round trip tourist train

Palamau Express : Barkakana - Patna/Rajendranagar

(name of region)

Pallavan Express : Chennai - Tiruchchirappalli

(7th century kingdom in present-day Tamil Nadu)

Palnadu Express : Guntur - Secunderabad

Region of Andhra Pradesh state, near Guntur

Pench Valley Passenger : Chindwara - Bhopal

(River Pench near Parasia)

Panchvati Express : Mumbai - Manmad

(name of place)

Pandyan Express : Chennai - Madurai

(10th-13th century kingdom in present-day Tamil Nadu)

Parasnath Express : Ahmedabad - Asansol

(Jain pilgrimage destination near Ranchi, hilltop temple of Parasnath, the

23rd Jain Tirthankar)

Parikrama : Circular railway in New Delhi

(circumambulation / circumference)

Parsuram (Parashuram) Express : Trivandrum - Mangalore

(in Hindu mythology, a form of the god Vishnu, who among other things is

said to have created the region of Kerala)

Pashchim Express : Mumbai - Amritsar

('pashchim' = west)

Pashchim Parcel Express : Calcutta - Mumbai (parcels)

('pashchim' = west)

Pataliputra Express : Patna - Hatia

(another (older) name for Patna)

Patalkot Express : Chindwara - DelhiSR weekly train [10/09]

(Patalkot is a place (a valley) in Chindwara district)

Pathankot Express : Sealdah - Jammu Tawi Express

(name of city)

Pathankot Express : Dadar - Amritsar Express

(name of city)

Pawan Express : Kanpur - Kasganj

('wind')

Pearl City Express : Chennai - Tuticorin

(pearl farming in Tuticorin)

Pinakini Express : Vijayawada - Chennai

(name of two rivers, the Uttara (northern) Pinakini and the Dakshin

(southern) Pinakini that originate in Kolar district, flowing into Andhra

Pradehs and Tamil Nadu )

Poorabiya Express : Delhi (New Azadpur) - Lucknow - Saharsa [2006]

('Eastern', usually referring to eastern Uttar Pradesh and neighboring areas)

Poorna Express : Pune - Ernakulam

(older name for the Periyar river near Ernakulam)

Poorva Express : Howrah - New Delhi

('poorv' = east)

Poorvottar Express : New Delhi - Guwahati

('northeast')

Pragati Express : Mumbai - Pune

('progress')

Prashanti Express : Vishakhapatnam - Bangalore

('peace, tranquility', reference to Prashanti Nilayam, the ashram of Sathya

Sai Baba)

Prayagraj Express : Allahabad - New Delhi

(another (older) name for Allahabad)

Prema Express : Ahmedabad - Nagpur

(?? 'love'. May be a typographic error or computer scanning error for Prerana

Exp., below!)

Prerana Express : Nagpur - Ahmedabad

('inspiration')

Princely India Tour : Tourist train covering Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Udaipur-

Jodhpur-Jaisalmer-Jaipur-Delhi

Punjab Mail : Mumbai - Firozpur

(name of state)

Punjab Mail : the Howrah-Amritsar Mail

(name of state)

Purushottam Express : Puri - New Delhi

(another name for Puri)

Purvanchal Express : Howrah - Gorakhpur

(name of region, literally, the 'eastern lands' -- eastern UP and parts of Bihar)

Pushpak Express : Mumbai - Lucknow

(a flying chariot in Hindu mythology)

Rajasthan Express : New Delhi – Jodhpur/Bikaner

(name of state)

Rajdhani Express : (Class name) Many trains, including: Bangalore - Hazrat

Nizamuddin, Bhubaneswar - New Delhi, Chennai - Hazrat Nizamuddin,

Dibrugarh - New Delhi, Guwahati - New Delhi, Howrah - New Delhi Via

Gaya, Howrah - New Delhi Via Patna, Mumbai - New Delhi, Jammu Tawi -

New Delhi, Patna - New Delhi, Sealdah - New Delhi, Secunderabad - Hazrat

Nizamuddin, Bangalore - Hazrat Nizamuddin, Trivandrum - Hazrat

Nizamuddin, Raipur/Bilaspur - New Delhi [proposed], Ranchi/Hatia - New

Delhi, Patna - New Delhi (via Kanpur - MGS), Guwahati - New Delhi (via

Patna / Hajipur on different days)

('capital city') The 'Bombay AC Rajdhani' was renamed to be the August

Kranti Rajdhani in 1992.

Ranakpur Express : Bikaner - Bandra

(Temple town in Rajasthan)

Rani Chennamma Express : Bangalore - Miraj - Kolhapur

('Rani' = queen; Chenamma was a queen of the Kittur kingdom)

Rani Shiromani Passenger : Howrah - Adra (MEMU)

(Leader of the Chuar rebellion in Bengal against the British in the early 19th

century)

Ranikhet Express : Delhi - Kathgodam

(name of place)

Ranthambore Express : Indore - Jodhpur

(National park and wildlife preserve)

Raptisagar Express : Trivandrum / Cochin - Barauni / Gorakhpur

(Rapti is a river near Gorakhpur; 'sagar' = ocean, referring to Cochin which

is on the coast)

Ratnachal Express : Vishakapatnam - Vijayawada

('gem mountains')

Ravi Express : Amritsar - Pathankot

(name of river)

Rayalaseema Express : Hyderabad - Tirupati

(name of region)

Red Ribbon Express

[Special exhibition train for AIDS/HIV awareness and education campaign]

Revanchal (Rewanchal) Express : Bhopal - Rewa

(Region in northern Madhya Pradesh.)

Rock Fort Express : Chennai – Tiruchchirappalli/Kumbakonam

(12th century fortress in Trichy)

Rohilkhand Express : KasganjMG - LucknowMG

(name of region)

Royal Orient : Delhi / Rajasthan / Gujarat round trip tourist train

Royal Rajasthan on Wheels : New Delhi - Jaipur - Sawai Madhopur - Chittorgarh

- Udaipur - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Bharatpur - Agra Cantt. round trip tourist train

[1/09]

Rupashi Bangla Express : Howrah - Purulia

(work of Bengali poet Jibanananda Das)

Sabari Express : Secunderabad - Ernakulam/Thiruvananthapuram

(from Sabarimalai, a Hindu pilgrimage spot)

Sabarmati Express : Ahmedabad – Faizabad-Sultanpur

(name of river)

Sabarmati Express : Ahmedabad - Muzaffarpur - Darbhanga

(name of river)

Sabarmati Express : Ahmedabad - Varanasi

(name of river)

Sachkhand Express : Amritsar - Purna/Nanded

(Sachkhand Sahib, Sikh holy site at Nanded)

Sadbhavna Express : New Delhi - Muzaffarpur / Varanasi

('goodwill')

Sahyadri Express : Mumbai - Kolhapur

(mountain range; formerly the Poona Mail)

Sai Express : Secunderabad - Belapur [withdrawn]

(Sai Baba, spiritual leader)

Saket Express : Kurla - Faizabad

(another (older) name for Faizabad / place near Faizabad / Ayodhya, also

Saketpuri)

Samarasta (Samarasata) Express (Super Deluxe AC Exp.) : Kurla - Nagpur

('harmony')

Sambaleshwari (Samaleswari) Express : Howrah - Sambalpur/Koraput

(local deity in Sambalpur)

Samta Express : Vishakapatnam - Hazrat Nizamuddin

('equality')

Samjhauta Express : Amritsar - Lahore

('understanding')

Sampark Kranti Express : various trains, usually from New Delhi to different cities

[2004]. E.g., H. Nizamuddin - Secunderabad

Sampark = 'contact', Kranti = 'revolution'

Sampoorna Kranti Express : Patna - New Delhi

([2/02] 'total revolution', movement launched by Jayaprakash Narayan in

1974 against corruption in public life)

Sanctuary Express : Tikunia/Palikalan - Lucknow

(Dudwa wildlife sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh?)

Sangam Express : Allahabad - Meerut

('confluence'; older name for Allahabad, meeting point of Ganga and

Yamuna rivers, and the legendary Saraswati)

Sangamitra (Sanghamitra) Express : Bangalore - Chennai - Patna

(daughter of Mauryan ruler Ashoka, whose capital was at modern-day Patna;

she is said to have spread Buddhism to Sri Lanka)

Sanskriti Express : Special exhibition train to mark 150th birth anniversary of

Rabindranath Tagore. (Itinerary covers India, but also planned to go to

Bangladesh.)

('culture')

Saptagiri Express : Chennai - Tirupati

('seven hills', name for Tirupati)

Sapt Kranti : New Delhi - Muzaffarpur - Darbhanga

('seven revolutions' ??)

Saraighat Express : Howrah - Guwahati

(name of place, site of first bridge over Brahmaputra; also the site of a

battlefield where Assamese warrior Lachit Barphukan defeated the Mughals

in battle)

Sarayu Yamuna Express : Darbhanga - New Delhi

(names of rivers)

Sarnath Express : Durg - Chhapra

(name of place; site of the Buddha's first sermons)

Sarvodaya Express : Ahmedabad - Jammu Tawi

(Gandhian philosophy practised at his ashram near Ahmedabad)

Shasya Shyamala (Sasya Syamala) Express : Secunderabad - Guwahati

[PROPOSED]

('Dark with vegetation/harvest' from a phrase in 'Vande Mataram', India's

national song)

Satavahana Express : Vijayawada - Secunderabad

(Deccan/Andhra kingdom in the first centuries AD)

Satpura Express : Gondia - Jabalpur (NG)

(name of mountain range)

Satyagraha Express : Delhi - Raxaul

('truthful insistence', a reference to Gandhi's campaign of non-cooperation

against indigo planters in Uttar Pradesh)

Saurashtra Express : Mumbai - Porbandar

(name of region of Gujarat)

Saurashtra Janata Express : Bandra - Jamnagar

(name of region of Gujarat; 'janata' = the public)

Saurashtra Mail : Mumbai - Okha

(name of region of Gujarat)

Sayajinagari Express : Bandra - Vadodara, later to Gandhidham

('city of Sayaji'; Vadodara (Baroda) was ruled by the Gaekwads, prominent

among them being Sayajirao Gaekwad)

School Train : Kurseong - Darjeeling (DHR)

Train to Darjeeling in the morning, returning in the late afternoon;

presumably from the number of school children that take it. See Joy Train.

Science Express : Exhibition train to raise awareness of science, akin to Science on

Wheels (below), started Oct. 2007.

Science on Wheels

See Vigyan Mail below.

Seemanchal Express : New Delhi - JOGBANI [2009]

('seema' = frontier, Radhikapur is near the India-Bangladesh border)

Sethu Express : Madras - Rameswaram

(Sethu Samudram reservoir named for queen Sethu Parvati Bai of

Travancore)

Sevagram Express : Dadar - Nagpur

(Sevagram Ashram established by Gandhi at Nagpur)

Shabari Express : Hyderabad - Cochin

(character from Hindu mythology; Shabarimala is a place name)

Shaheed Express : Darbhanga - Delhi

('Shaheed' = martyr)

Shaktipunj Express : Jabalpur - Howrah

('source/apex of energy', a reference to the coalfields and power plants in the

Singrauli region)

Shakuntala Express : Murtazapur-Yawatmal, Murtazapur-Elichpur [non-IR,

Killicks Nixon & co.)

Shalimar Express : New Delhi - Jammu Tawi

(Shalimar Bagh, Mughal era gardens at Srinagar)

Shan-e-Avadh Express : Lucknow - Siliguri

('glory of Avadh (a region)')

Shan-e-Bhopal Express : Hazrat Nizamuddin - Habibganj [proposed]

('glory of Bhopal')

Shan-e-Punjab Express : New Delhi - Amritsar

('glory of Punjab')

Shanti Express : Gandhinagar - Indore

('peace')

Shantiniketan Express : Howrah - Bolpur

(Rabindranath Tagore's Shantiniketan institute)

Sharavati Express : Mysore - Mumbai CST

(name of river in Karnataka)

Shatabdi Express : (class name) Many trains, including: Bhopal - New Delhi,

Chennai - Bangalore - Mysore, Howrah - Bokaro Steel City, Howrah - Raurkela,

Howrah - Patna, Lucknow - New Delhi, Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad, New Delhi

- Ajmer, New Delhi - Amritsar, New Delhi - Chandigarh, New Delhi - Dehradun,

New Delhi - Kalka, Vijayawada - Rajahmundry [OLD], Secunderabad -

Rajahmundry [OLD], Bangalore - Hubli [OLD], Mumbai CST - Pune [OLD],

Chennai - Coimbatore [OLD], Howrah - Puri [proposed], New Delhi - Bathinda

[proposed]

('Shatabdi' = century or centenary; this class of service started in 1989 to

commerate the Nehru centenary. It also happened to be the centenary of the

construction of the Victoria Terminus station, which yields an alternative

explanation for the name in some sources.)

Shekhawati Express : New Delhi - Jaipur

(name of region near Jaipur)

Shetrunji Express : Bhavnagar - Ahmedabad

(name of river)

Sheshadri (Seshadri) Express : Tirupati - Kakinada Town

(Name of a hill in the Tirumala Tirupati range in Andhra Pradesh, one of the

famed 'seven hills')

Shipra Express : Indore - Howrah

(name of river)

Shirdi Express : Kakinada - Manmad

(town of Sai Baba, spiritual leader)

Shiromani MEMU : Bankura - Howrah

Shivalik (Shiwalik) Express : Kalka - Shimla (NG)

(name of hill range, the lowest of the Himalayas)

Shivalik (Shiwalik) Express : Ambala Cantt. - Nangal Dam

(name of hill range)

Shiv Ganga Express : New Delhi - Varanasi

(Hindu deity Shiva, Ganga river at Varanasi)

Shramik Express : Varanasi - Kanpur [OLD]

('worker')

Shramik Express : Valsad - Udhna (Surat) - Chhapra - Sonpur [2006]

('worker')

Shramik Gari : (various departmental trains for transporting staff members)

("workers' train")

Shramjeevi Express : Patna - New Delhi

('living by labour')

Shramshakti (Shram Shakti) Express : New Delhi - Kanpur

('power of labour')

Siddhaganga (Siddaganga) Express : Bangalore - Hubli

(Hindu pilgrimage spot in Karnataka)

Siddheshwar (Siddeshwar) Express : Mumbai - Solapur

(name of Hindu temple)

Sikkim Express : Katihar - New Jalpaiguri - Alipurduar

(name of state) See Mahananda Express. This was the link from Katihar for

that train.

Sikkim Mahananda Express : New Jalpaiguri - New Delhi

('Sikkim' = name of state; 'Mahananda' = name of river flowing through

Siliguri / NE Bihar, also the region and a wildlife sanctuary)

Simanchal Express : see Seemanchal Express, above.

Simhadri Express : Guntur - Vishakapatnam

(name of place, site of thermal power plant)

Sindhu Express : Jamnagar - Jammu Tawi [was used earlier, then unofficial for

some time? Now official]

(Sindhu = the Indus river)

Sinhagad (Simhagad) Express : Mumbai - Pune

('Lion fort', name of a medieval fort near Pune; formerly the Bombay-Poona

Janata Exp.)

Sitamahal Express : Narkatiaganj - Jaynagar

(?? Name of a place? See also Gandak Express - the reverse direction)

Somnath Mail : Veraval - Ahmedabad

(name of place near Ahmedabad, site of Hindu temple)

South Bihar Express : Bilaspur /Tatanagar - Patna

Southern Express : Hyderabad - Hazrat Nizamuddin [unofficial name for Dakshin

Exp.]

('dakshin' = south)

Splendour of the South : Bangalore - Chennai - Pondicherry - Tiruchirapalli -

Madurai - TVM - Alleppey; circular luxury tourist train. [1/09]

Sri Jagannath Express : Howrah - Puri

(temple of Jagannath at Puri)

Steel City Express (also Steel Express) : Howrah - Tatanagar

(steel industry in Tatanagar)

Subarnarekha (Suvarnarekha, Suvarna Rekha) Express : Dhanbad - Tatanagar

(name of river)

Super Express : Madras Egmore - Trivandrum Exp. [unofficial, OLD]

Super Express : Jalandhar City - New Delhi Exp. [unofficial]

Super Deluxe Express : see Jnaneshwari Exp.

Super Deluxe Express : Chennai - Howrah

Superfast Express : Mumbai - Lucknow Pushpak Exp. [unofficial]

Superfast Express : Mumbai - Chennai Exp. (1063/1064) [unofficial]

Suryanagari Express : Jodhpur - Ahmedabad - Mumbai

('city of the sun', local name for Jodhpur, perhaps referring to the legendary

'solar' origin of the former rulers of Jodhpur)

Sutlej Express : Ludhiana - Firozpur, New Delhi - Firozpur

(name of river)

Swadeshabhimani Express : Ernakulam - Cannanore [proposed]

('patriotic; pride in one's own country')

Swaraj Express : Mumbai - Jammu Tawi

('self-rule')

Swarna (Suvarna) Fast Passenger : Bangalore - Marikuppam

('gold'; the Kolar gold fields are near Marikuppam)

Swarna Jayanti Express : Hatia - New Delhi

('Golden Jubilee')

Swarna Jayanti Express : Mysore - Hazrat Nizamuddin

Swarna Jayanti Express : Vishakapatnam - Hazrat Nizamuddin

Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express : New Delhi - Ahmedabad

Swarna Shatabdi Express : New Delhi - Amritsar

('Golden Centenary', upgraded version of Shatabdi services, q.v.)

Swarna Shatabdi Express : New Delhi - Lucknow

Swatantrata Sainani Express : Muzaffarpur - New Delhi

('freedom fighter')

Taj Express : Gwalior - Hazrat Nizamuddin

(stops at Agra, site of the Taj Mahal; originally ran only between Delhi and

Agra; introduced 1964.)

Tamilnadu Express : Madurai / Chennai - New Delhi

(also 'Tamil Nadu Express', from the name of the state)

Tapaswini Express : Raurkela - Bhubaneshwar / Puri

(?? Tapaswini is the name of a work by Orissa poet Gangadhar Meher)

Tapovan Express : Mumbai - Nanded

(name of place)

Tapti Ganga Express : Surat - Varanasi

(names of rivers)

Tata Express : Tatanagar/Hatia - Pathankot Muri Exp. [unofficial]

(from Tatanagar)

Tea Garden Express : Cochin - Tirupati (earlier to Mettupalaiyam) [OLD]

Tea Garden Express / Tea Garden Fast Passenger : Tiruchirapalli - Ernakulam

[unofficial]

(from the earlier Cochin - Mettupalaiyam Tea Garden Express -- see above)

Teesta Torsha Express : Sealdah - Haldibari / New Alipurduar

(names of rivers; one part of the train terminates at Haldibari close to the

Teesta, and the other part at Alipurduar near where the Torsha flows)

Tej Shree Parcel Sewa : Parcel freight services, Tughlakabad to Howrah and Vapi

Telangana Express : Secunderabad - Sirpur Kagaz Nagar

(name of region in Andhra Pradesh)

Thar Express : Munabao (Rajasthan, India) - Khokrapar (Sindh, Pakistan)

[proposed, [1/06]]

(The Thar desert which is the predominant geographic feature of the area)

Tipu (Tippu) Express : Mysore - Bangalore

(Tipu Sultan, 18th century ruler of Mysore)

Tirhut Express : Muzaffarpur - Kolkata (Chitpur) [2006]

(Tirhut - area near Bihar / Bengal)

Tirthankar Express : Secunderabad - Bikaner

(Presumably from a connection with Jainism in the Hyderabad area;

Tirthankars were the founders of the Jain religion.)

Tirukkural (Thirukkural) Express : Kanyakumari - Hazrat Nizamuddin

(Historic Tamil poem/treatise by the poet-saint Thiruvalluvar)

Tirumala Express : Tirupati - Vishakapatnam / Kakinada [UNOFFICIAL?]

(Tirumala is another name for the Tirupati hills)

Toofan Express : Delhi - Howrah, later to Sriganganagar [OLD]

('typhoon') See Udyan Abha Toofan Exp.

Trishatabdi Express : Indore - Nagpur

('tercentenary' (of Nagpur city))

Triveni Express : Singrauli - Lucknow

(Triveni Sangam or 'triple confluence' is another name for Allahabad where

the Ganga, Yamuna and legendary Saraswati rivers meet)

Tulsi Express : Kurla - Allahabad

(16th century poet Tulsi Das who wrote the Hindi version of the Ramayana

epic)

Tungabhadra Express : Secunderabad - Kurnool (- Guntakal proposed)

(rivers Tunga and Bhadra (which merge to form the Tungabhadra); dam of

the same name)

Udyan Abha Express : Delhi - Sriganganagar [OLD]

(?? 'udyan' = garden; 'abha' = splendour, beauty) See Udyan Abha Toofan

Exp.

Udyan Abha Toofan Express : Howrah - Sriganganagar

(?? 'udyan' = garden; 'abha' = splendour, beauty; 'toofan' = typhoon) Formed

when the Udyan Abha and Toofan Expresses were combined.

Udyan Express : Delhi Jn. - Sri Ganganagar [OLD]

('garden'))

Udyan Express : Mumbai - Bangalore

('garden'; Bangalore is sometimes called the Garden City)

Udyogkarmi Express : Valsad - Udhna (Surat) - Kanpur [2006]

('Udyog' = industry; reference to the industrial areas this train connects)

Udyog Nagari Express : Mumbai - Kanpur

('City of Industry')

Ujjayani Express : Ujjain - Dehradun

(from Ujjain)

Unchahar Express : Allahabad - Ambala

(name of place in Uttar Pradesh)

Upasana Express : Howrah - Dehradun (formerly Millennium Exp.)

('worship, adoration')

Upper India Express : Sealdah - Sahibganj - Delhi [OLD]

Utkal Express : ? - ?

(See Kalinga Utkal Exp.)

Utkal Sammilani Passenger : Cuttack - Palasa (DMU) [OLD?]

(Name of movement that promoted Oriya culture and statehood for Orissa)

Utsarg Express : Chappra - Lucknow

(?? 'giving as a gift, liberation, flowing into abundance')

Uttar Express, also Uttar Sampark Kranti Express : New Delhi - Udhampur

(uttar = 'north', sampark = 'contact')

Uttaranchal Express : Okha - Dehradun; also New Delhi - Kathgodam

(name of region, later state)

Uttar Banga Express : Sealdah - New Cooch Behar

('northern Bengal')

Uttar Pradesh Express : New Delhi - Chitrakoot

(name of state)

Vaigai Express : Chennai - Madurai

(name of river near Madurai)

Vainganga (Wainganga) Express : Bilaspur - Yeshwantpur

(name of river near Bilaspur, a tributary of the Godavari)

Vaishali Express : Barauni - New Delhi

(name of place in Bihar)

Vaishali Express : Kathgodam - Siliguri

(name of place in Bihar)

Vananchal (Bananchal, Wananchal) Express : Bhagalpur - Ranchi / Hatia

(name of region)

Vanchinad (Vanchinadu) Express : Ernakulam - Trivandrum

(name of region; kingdom based near modern-day Trivandrum)

Varuna Express : Varanasi - Lucknow

(Varuna river joins the Ganga at Varnasi; also name of Hindu deity)

Venad Express : Shoranur - Trivandrum

(name of region)

Venkatadri Express : Kacheguda - Tirupati

(name of a hill, one of the famed 'seven hills' of Tirupati)

Venkatadri Express : BANGALORE- TIRUPATI VIA DHARMAVARAM-

PAKALA[PROPOSED]

(name of a hill, one of the famed 'seven hills' of Tirupati)

Vibhuti Express : Varanasi - Howrah

('vibhuti' literally means sacred ash (as used in Hindu religious practice); the

name is more likely for Dr Vibhuti Narayan Singh, by tradition the maharaja

of Varanasi. Another possibility: from one or more of the famous Hindu

temples at Varanasi such as the Kashi Vishwanath temple)

Viceroy's Toy Train : the Kalka-Shimla NG train [OLD and unofficial]

(the route was built at the behest of Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India)

Vidarbha Express : Mumbai - Nagpur

(name of region around Nagpur)

Vidarbha Queen : Nagpur - Nagbhid [PROPOSED] AC narrow-gauge 'jungle

safari' tourist train to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.

(name of region around Nagpur)

Vigyan Mail (also Vigyan Rail): Travelling science exhibition on a dedicated 12-

coach rake

('Science Rail') English name of train is 'Science on Wheels'. Sometimes

Vigyan Mail is used specifically for the second version of this exhibition

train which was launched in 2005, and Science on Wheels is used for the

first version.

Vijayanagar Express : Hubli - Guntakal (MG) [OLD] (extended to Bangalore with

BG)

(Vijayanagar empire, 14th-16th century) Later renamed to Hampi Exp.

Vikramshila Express : Bhagalpur - Patna - New Delhi

(ruins of an ancient university)

Village on Wheels : Rajendra Nagar - Patna - Varanasi - Agra - Mathura - Delhi

Safdarjung - Jammu Tawi (Vaishno Devi) - Amritsar - Haridwar (Rishikesh) -

Patna - Rajendra Nagar

(Intended to be the common man's version of the Palace on Wheels)

Vindhyachal Express : Itarsi - Bina

(the Vindhya mountain range)

Vishakha Express : Palasa - Secunderabad

(For the town of Vishakhapatnam / Hindu deity Vishakha)

Vishwabharati Fast Passenger see Bishwabharati Fast Passenger

Vivekananda Express : the Trivandrum - Guwahati Exp. [unofficial]

(Vivekananda Memorial at Kanyakumari, not far from Trivandrum. Swami

Vivekananda is said to have walked the length of the country along the same

route. Although not seen officially in any timetables, the name was found on

the schedule boards at Vijayawada.)

Wainganga Express : Yeshwantpur - Bilaspur

(name of river)

Weekend Express : Bombay - Ahmedabad [OLD, 1981]

Wellington Special : A military special train, used by officers and other brass.

(Wellington, near Ooty, has a military academy. From the Duke of

Wellington, renowned British military commander at the beginning of the

19th century in India)

West Bengal Express : New Delhi - Sealdah

(name of state)

West Coast Express : Chennai - Mangalore

Yatra Special : Various trains

'Journey'; Various trains are organized for pilgrims to make trips to spots of

religious significance at various times during the year.

Yelagiri Express : Chennai - Jolarpettai

(name of hills)

Yercaud Express : Chennai - Erode

(name of hill station near Salem; the train predominantly served passengers

from Salem)

Yuva Express : Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Mumbai

('youth')

Zindagi Express : Exhibition train for Life Insurance Corp. of India

('life')

Ziyarat Express : Ajmer - Rajendranagar

('Pilgrimage', reference to people making a pilgrimage to the Ajmer Sharif

shrine of Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti. Ibadat Exp. (see above) in reverse

direction.)

Related Sections

Origins of Train Names

The system of train numbers

Famous trains of IR

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