The 16317 / 16318 Himsagar Express is a weekly Express train of the Indian Railways running between Kanyakumari in India’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra in Jammu and Kashmir- the northernmost state of India. It is currently the third-longest-running train on the Indian Railways in terms of distance and time, surpassed by the Dibrugarh–Kanyakumari Vivek Express and Thiruvananthapuram–Silchar Superfast Express. In 72 hours, the train covers a distance of 3787 km at a speed of 52 km/h, and transverses twelve of India’s states halting at a total of 73 stations.
History
Krishnagiri MP Dr. P. V. Periasamy’s demand promoted national integration from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir through direct train service on 19-03-1979 in parliament.
Route & Frequency
It runs weekly, starting every Friday at 14:05 hours from Kanyakumari, reaching Katra on Mondays at 15:20 hours.[3] It starts from Katra on Mondays at 21:55 hours and reaches Kanyakumari on Thursdays at 21:30 hours.[3] Because of this schedule, it needs just one rake to complete its entire run. There is a Slip Route of this train, running from Erode Junction to Tirunelveli Junction & Chhindwara Junction to Bhopal Junction. The train travels through the union territories and states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Katra to Kanyakumari: There are several long halts for this train like New Delhi (150 min) and in Thiruvananthapuram Central, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Erode Junction, Bhopal Junction, Nagpur, Itarsi Junction, Jhansi, Gwalior Junction and Vijayawada Junction (10-15 min each).
Kanyakumari to Katra: The fastest speed is achieved near Kila Raipur (108 km/h) and the slowest speeds on the Hazrat Nizamuddin to New Delhi (24 km/h) and Bhopal Habibganj to Bhopal Junction (19 km/h) . It takes around three hours for the train to clear the Delhi area.
Traction
Both trains are hauled by an Erode / Arakkonam-based WAP-4 electric locomotive from CAPE to NDLS and handing over to a Tughlakabad-based WDP-4B / WDP-4D diesel locomotive from NDLS to SVDK and vice versa.
Coach composition
The train has 19 coaches comprising one Second AC (2AC), two Third AC (3AC), ten Sleeper class (SL), three Unreserved coaches (UR/GS), two Luggage rakes (SLR) and one Pantry car (PC).[a]
| Loco | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
SLR | UR | UR | B2 | B1 | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | PC | S7 | S8 | S9 | S10 | A1 | UR | SLR |