The New Delhi Bhopal Habibganj Shatabdi Express is a train operated by the Northern Railway which runs between New Delhi, the main railway station of India’s capital territory, New Delhi, and Rani Kamlapati Railway Station the sub-urban railway station of Bhopal City, the state capital of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the fastest train in India with a maximum permissible speed of 150 km/h.
It runs on the New Delhi-Agra stretch. The train commenced service in 1988 and was the first Shatabdi train to be introduced. The train runs at an average speed of 84 km/h (52 mph), including halts. There is a plan by the IR to cut short its travel time of 2 hours 06 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes (95 minutes) in the New Delhi -Agra section at an average speed of 130 km/h (81 mph) when the Maximum Permissible Speed in this section is enhanced to 200 km/h (124 mph). The train was extended to Rani Kamlapati Railway Station in the railway budget of 2014-15 .
History
The name “Shatabdi” means century in Sanskrit. The first Shatabdi Express train was introduced in 1988 to commemorate the birth century of Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. Madhavrao Scindia was the Indian Railway Minister at that point of time and the Shatabdi Express was his brainchild. The first Shatabdi Express was flagged off between New Delhi and Jhansi which was later extended to Bhopal and Habibganj.
Train
Interior view of Bhopal Shatabdi Express AC Chair Car
The train is fully air-conditioned and is based on LHB coaches. Cost of meals is covered in the ticket fare, and the travellers are provided with snacks, meals, coffee/tea, a one-litre water bottle/ 300ml packaged water (provided by the railways owned and operated subsidiary ‘”Rail Neer”), and juice. The rake is shared with 12011/2 Kalka Shatabdi Express with actual RSA pattern unknown.
A WAP5-hauled Bhopal Shatabdi about to leave New Delhi Railway Station
Route
The train covers following major cities: New Delhi, Mathura Junction, Agra Cantonment, Morena railway station Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhopal & Habibganj
Coach composition
The train has 14 AC Chair Car, 2 Executive Class & EOG coaches.
The train is expected to switch to HOG, where power for Hotel Load of the train is drawn from locomotive after commissioning of HOG fit WAP 5 locomotive.
| Loco | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
EOG | E1 | E2 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | C8 | C9 | C10 | C11 | C12 | C13 | C14 | EOG |