Anupama Nair
www.mediaeyenews.com
May is a very historic month as far as history of India is a glorious month. From the Revolt of 1857, birthday of Veer Savarkar and Buddha Purnima, it all happened. Now I am going to talk about the oldest running train in India – Punjab Mail and she turned 110 on June 1st 2021. She even served the Britishers during the colonial rule.
Before writing about Punjab Mail, let me start about the invention of railways and how they impacted the world of transportation. Rail transport is a means of transferring passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are located on tracks. The oldest known, man, animal-hauled railways date back to the 6th century BC in Corinth (Greece). Rail transport as we know started in mid-16th century Germany, in the form of horse-powered funiculars and wagon ways. Modern rail transport commenced with the British development of the steam locomotive in Merhyr Tydfil when Richard Trevithick ran a steam locomotive and loaded wagons between Penydarren Ironworks and Abercynon in 1802 AD. Thus, the oldest railway in the world is in Great Britain. They were central to the spread of the industrial revolution, helping to make Britain one of the most powerful nations in the world.
While travelling by train now, few of us might realize how the railway transformed the world. Railways reformed the landscape physically and culturally, putting Great Britain at the forefront of railway technology and architecture in the past. Before, the railways, was invented most people rarely travelled further than the next town, not more than one hundred kilometers away.
The combination of the steam locomotive and a permanent travel by way of metal rails were the next goal of the scientists. Experiments were made in the 19th century. Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened in 1825 AD, and after five years of experience with steam locomotives led to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, when it opened in 1830 AD, started the first fully time-tabled railway service with scheduled freight and passenger traffic relying entirely on the steam locomotive for traction. This railway was designed by George Stevenson.
India's first passenger train was operated by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (Central Railway) and was hauled by three steam locomotives (Sahib, Sindh and Sultan), ran for 34 kilometers with four hundred people on board in fourteen carriages between Bori Bunder (Bombay) and Thane on 16 April 1853 AD. The service was inaugurated by the “father of Indian Railways”, the great Lord Dalhousie.
From the start of very first train in India on 16th of April 1853 AD, railways were a way of life during the British Raj and the glorious history of Indian Railways starts from there. British-Indian Railway companies in the early days invested heavily in India with the latest locomotives and equipment and expanded lines everywhere. It is said that the facilities available on trains in India in those days were better than ones in England!
At that time people lived with harmony and peace and humanity was eminent during the period which surpassed the conflicts. However later on, these trains saw a totally different side in the history of the country. They witnessed the collapse of the nation during the Partition of India, when trains coming in and out of India were filled with dead bodies. When the Partition took place, a few trains felt the desolation of separation from Peshawar which once used to be the terminal of these trains.
Over the years, despite the major changes that occurred in the geography, history or the social changes post-partition era, these trains remained to be a part of the nation and continued to render their duties well. There are still few trains that still are part of the Indian Railways, chugging their way on the tracks recalling the bygone British era.
One of the oldest long-distance trains on the Indian Railways- The Punjab Mail. Earlier known as the Punjab Limited, it completed 110 years on June 1, 2021. Being the oldest trains in India, this train has bypassed all challenges and continues taking passengers from one part of the country to another. Over 110 years ago, this train was the only one helping people travel from Bombay to Peshawar (Pakistan). Interestingly the origins of this train are based upon a complaint by an enraged passenger on October 12, 1912, about its late arrival by a few minutes at Delhi. Then, as per the records, it started its maiden voyage from Ballard Pier Mole station on June 1, 1912 and the British officers, civil servants, and their families directly boarded this train from their ships to Delhi and the North-West frontier of British India (now in Pakistan).
However, in 1914, the starting station was shifted to Victoria Terminus, and after the partition of India in 1947, Firozpur was declared as the train’s terminus point. It used to run on fixed mail days from Bombay’s Ballard Pier Mole station all the way to Peshawar, covering the 2,496 km in around 47 hours. The train consisted of six cars: three for passengers, and three for postal goods and mail. The three passenger carrying cars had a capacity of 96 passengers.
Today, the journey time of Punjab Mail, hauled by electric engines, has come down significantly, covering the 1,930 km between Mumbai Victoria Terminus to Firozpur Cantt in 34 hours 15 minutes. Compared to the original 6 cars of the Punjab Limited, Punjab Mail now has 9nine air-conditioned coaches, six sleeper coaches, five general second class coaches, a pantry and a generator van. From December 2020 AD, the Punjab Mail started its journey with the German-designed Alstom LHB GmbH's Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches which give more safety and a pleasant travel experience to the passengers.
Though I have never travelled by this train I sure would love to travel one day post corona and would like to be a part of history and in my mind conjure the inaugural journey in the bygone era and fantasize a little as travel down memory lane is hobby of mine. I wish I had a time machine for that. You never know what might be invented in later years. I for sure can hope.
