Himsagar Express

The 16317 / 16318 Himsagar Express is a weekly Express train of the Indian Railways running between India's southern most operational railway station of Kanyakumari to India's Northern Most Operational and connected railway station(as of March 2024) of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra in Jammu and Kashmir. It is currently the 35th longest running train service of world and third-longest-running train on the Indian Railways in terms of distance and time, surpassed by the 22503/04 Dibrugarh-Kanyakumari Vivek Express and 12507/08 Aronai Superfast Express. In 73 hours, the train covers a distance of 3790 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 Kanyakumari to Kashmir through direct train service on 19-03-1979 in parliament. The proposals to extend 131/132 Jayanti Janata Express to and from Trivandrum and 125/126 Karnataka Kerala Express to and from Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi have been earlier examined at length and not found feasible. However, possibility of extending 131/132 Jayanti Janata Express to and from Kanyakumari in the South and to Jammu Tawi in the North on once-a-week basis is under examination; and if found feasible would provide a direct train between Jammu Tawi and Kanyakumari interalia serving Trivandrum with Delhi by this service.

Route
16317/18 Himsagar Express runs via following stations and states with stoppages listed in bold:

TAMIL NADU
 * 1) Kanniyakumari (Starts)
 * 2) Nagercoil
 * 3) Kulitturai
 * 4) Coimbatore Junction
 * 5) Tiruppur
 * 6) Erode Junction
 * 7) Salem Junction
 * 8) Jolarpettai Junction
 * 9) Katpadi Junction

KERALA
 * 1) Thiruvananthapuram Central
 * 2) Kollam Junction
 * 3) Kayamkulam
 * 4) Chengannur
 * 5) Tiruvalla
 * 6) Kottayam
 * 7) Ernakulam Town
 * 8) Aluva
 * 9) Thrissur
 * 10) Ottappalam
 * 11) Palakkad Junction

ANDHRA PRADESH
 * 1) Chittoor
 * 2) Tirupati
 * 3) Renigunta Junction
 * 4) Gudur Junction
 * 5) Nellore
 * 6) Ongole
 * 7) Tenali
 * 8) Vijayawada Junction

TELANGANA
 * 1) Khammam
 * 2) Warangal
 * 3) Ramagundam

MAHARASHTRA
 * 1) Balharshah Junction
 * 2) Chandrapur
 * 3) Sewagram Junction
 * 4) Nagpur Junction

MADHYA PRADESH
 * 1) Itarsi Junction
 * 2) Bhopal Junction
 * 3) Gwalior

RAJASTHAN
 * 1) Dholpur

UTTAR PRADESH
 * 1) Jhansi Junction
 * 2) Agra Cantonment
 * 3) Faridabad Haryana

DELHI
 * 1) Hazrat Nizamuddin
 * 2) New Delhi
 * 3) Shakurbasti

HARYANA


 * 1) Bahadurgarh
 * 2) Rohtak Junction
 * 3) Jind Junction
 * 4) Narwana
 * 5) Tohana
 * 6) Jakhal Junction

PUNJAB
 * 1) Lehragaga
 * 2) Sunam
 * 3) Sangrur
 * 4) Dhuri Junction
 * 5) Malerkotla
 * 6) Ahmedgarh
 * 7) Kila Raipur
 * 8) Ludhiana Junction
 * 9) Phillaur Junction
 * 10) Phagwara Junction
 * 11) Jalandhar Cantonment
 * 12) Urmar Tanda
 * 13) Dasuya
 * 14) Mukerian
 * 15) Pathankot Cantonment

JAMMU KASHMIR
 * 1) Kathua
 * 2) Samba
 * 3) Jammu Tawi
 * 4) Udhampur
 * 5) Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (Ends)

Traction
Both trains are hauled by an Erode or Royapuram based WAP-7 electric locomotive from CAPE to SVDK.

Coach composition
The train has 20 LHB coaches comprising two Second AC (2AC), Six Third AC (3AC), six Sleeper class (SL), two Unreserved coaches (UR/GS), two Luggage rakes (SLR) and one Pantry car (PC).