Netaji Express

The 12311 / 12312 Howrah - Kalka Netaji Express (formerly known as Kalka Mail) is one of the oldest running train in India. This train connects Howrah in Kolkata, capital of the State of West Bengal to Kalka in the North-Western state of Haryana. Kalka is the railhead for the Kalka-Shimla Railway which connects to Shimla, the one time summer capital of the British Raj.

Overview
Netaji Express (formerly known as Kalka Mail) at present is one of the oldest trains running in the country, it has a total of 24 coaches (eleven Sleeper Class coaches, two SLR coaches, two General Class coaches, one First AC-cum-AC Two Tier coach, three AC Three Tier coaches, three AC Two Tier coaches , one Second class-seating and one Pantry Car) and has total four Rakes. This train is categorized as superfast-mail and runs at a maximum speed of 110 km/hrs. The train stops at 37 stations in its entire route, thus passengers boarding the train have to abide by distance restriction (the minimum travel distance is 160 km in all AC classes and 480 km in Sleeper and 2S). However, it carries all passengers on the Delhi-Kalka route.

Due to the passenger demand, one AC Two Tier Coach, one AC Three Tier Coach, five Sleeper Class coach, one General Class coach, the RMS coach, one SLR coach and the Pantry Car is separately reserved for the passengers boarding from Chandigarh Junction only. Hence these eleven coaches are attached during the journey towards Howrah in Chandigarh and is detached during its journey towards Kalka in Chandigarh itself.

History
In the late 1850s, the British Government in India decided to relocate their capital from Calcutta to Shimla during the summer months to protect the European population from the intense heat of the Bengal plains. To facilitate the annual migration of British officials, their families, and accompanying staff between the imperial capital at Calcutta and the summer capital in Shimla, the East Indian Railway Company inaugurated a train service on July 1, 1855. Departing from Howrah Railway Station, the service was designated as 1 UP (Up Line) / 2 DN (Down Line), known as the East Indian Railway Mail. Initially, this service operated exclusively between Howrah and Delhi.

The extension of the Ambala – Kalka railway line in 1891 enabled the East Indian Railway Mail to extend its route to Kalka. The subsequent opening of the Kalka – Shimla route on November 7, 1903, facilitated the further extension of the train service to Shimla, involving a gauge change at Kalka. Passengers traveling to Shimla from Kalka transitioned from a broad gauge train to a narrow gauge East Indian Railway Mail for the final leg of the journey. Notably, both Howrah and Kalka stations featured internal carriageways along the platforms to allow the Viceroy and other dignitaries to access their rail coaches directly. The carriageway at Howrah remains in use between Platforms 8 and 9, while the carriageway at Kalka has been repurposed into a platform.

Over time, as railway services evolved across British India and the capital permanently shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, the East Indian Railway Mail experienced a decline in its patronage. Consequently, during the railway system's modernization in the 1990s, the iconic designation 01 UP / 02 DN was discontinued. In 2021, the train service was renamed the "Netaji Express" in tribute to the revered Indian freedom fighter, Subhas Chandra Bose, who utilized this train to escape from Gomoh to Peshawar.

Traction
As the route is fully electrified, it is hauled by a Howrah Loco Shed based WAP-7 electric locomotive from end to end.

In popular culture
Kalka Mail is featured in a short story by Satyajit Ray, the Indian film director and writer. In the story, The Mystery of the Kalka Mail (Baksho Rahasya), the three main characters travel from Calcutta to Delhi and on to Kalka on the train. The plot involves a stolen diamond and an unpublished manuscript. The story was also made into a radio play and a film.

Renaming
Kalka Mail was renamed to Netaji Express in honour of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to commemorate his 124th Birth Anniversary on 23 January 2021.

Fatehpur derailment, 2011
15 coaches of the Kalka Mail derailed on the Kanpur-Fatehpur line near the Fatehpur railway station on the afternoon of 10 July 2011. Causation is unsolved though poor maintenance of the locomotive is suspected because the engine had begun swaying sideways just before the accident. More than 69 persons died and 200 were injured. The injured were taken to hospitals in Kanpur, Lucknow and Allahabad.