Full Journey Compilation on the Howrah Mumbai Duronto Express: Howrah-Kharagpur

Описание: A full journey compilation on the 12262 Howrah Mumbai Duronto Express, a revolutionary train which reduced the rail travel time between Kolkata and Mumbai to 26 hours, beating the existing fastest rail connection in this route, the legendary Gitanjali Express, by a whopping six hours. The Howrah Mumbai Duronto, a sixteen coach fully air-conditioned rake, operated from its very onset with posh LHB coaches, covers the 1,968 kilometres between the eastern and western coasts of India at an average speed of 75 kmph, with a maximum permissible speed of 110 kmph and five technical halts at Tatanagar (Jharkhand), Bilaspur (Chhatisgarh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhusaval (Maharashtra), and Igatpuri (Maharashtra).

The first part of this full journey compilation features the Duronto's progress in the 116 kilometres between Howrah and Kharagpur, in West Bengal, covered in one hour and 28 minutes, a duration generally unheard of on the Howrah-Kharagpur section where the gold standard is an hour and forty minutes.

The video covers the Duronto's exit from Howrah, powered by a Howrah WAP4 and marked with a parallel departure with the 12381 Poorva Express, heading towards New Delhi. The Poorva departs from platform 9, and therefore, has a less torturous exit out of Howrah, as platform 9 is the main line track. The upshot being that the Poorva slips out of Howrah much before us, leaving us in the lurch. In between, a sprightly Tata WAM4 crawls in with the Puri Howrah Srijagannath Express, a favourite of numerous Bengali vacationers to the sea-resort of Puri, including Shri Bappa Pal, the enigmatic rail-enthusiast from Kolkata.

After Howrah, we cruise past the red-bastion of Santragachhi, replete with its red WAP4s, the only locomotives the shed owns! There are some restrictions over the bridges of the Damodar and Rupnarayan, causing a drop in momentum, which we however gather through Mecheda. At Mecheda, the legendary Steel Express flies past with a Santragachhi WAP4. I was hoping for a Tata WAM4 and was so shocked at seeing the fascism of SRC WAP4s being extended to this that I kept repeating 'Steel with Tata WAM4!'.
As a sumptuous breakfast is served, We blast through Panskura at our maximum permissible speed of 110 kmph and I start mistaking every possible WAP4 train for the King of SER, Coromondal Express. The elusive search for 'Coro' continues right till Kharagpur, but I am denied a darshan of the Coro for the day, though the splendid assortment of locomotives on the outskirts of Kharagpur partially makes up for the loss. As we crawl past the massive platform number 1 at Kharagpur, the longest in India, we overtake the Shalimar Santaldih Aranyak Express, powered by an Itarsi WAM4.