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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Trains introduced by Railway Ministers

This is an attempt to list out the trains introduced by successive Railway Ministers in India. Much of the information is from the railway budgets of each year. There are a vast number of trains that run in India, and many are cancelled, re-introduced, renamed, rescheduled or re-routed all the time, so this is only the barest attempt at listing some of the better-known trains and their origins.

Year Railway Minister Trains introduced
1973 T A Pai
  • H. Nizamuddin – Mangalore/Ernakulam Jayanti Janata
1974 L N Mishra
  • Samastipur Jayanti Janata and other JJ trains.
1975-? Kamalapati Tripathi
  • Sabarmati Express
  • Ganga-Kaveri Exp.
  • Neelambari Exp.
  • Varanasi Exp. (Delhi-Lucknow Exp. extended)
  • Tamilnadu Exp.
  • Kashi Vishwanath Exp.
1979-? Prof. Madhu Dandavate
  • Jhelum Exp.
  • Swaraj Exp.
  • Sarvodaya Exp.
  • Kerala Exp.
  • Karnataka Exp.
  • Andhra Pradesh Exp.
  • EMUs on Pune-Lonavala section
1980-1984 A B A Ghani Khan Chaudhuri
  • Sealdah – Malda Gaur Exp.
  • Sealdah – Malda Gaur Exp.
1988 Madhav Rao Scindia
  • Jhansi Shatabdi (later to Bhopal)
  • Howrah-Gwalior Chambal Exp.
  • Bombay-Gwalior Lashkar Exp.
1989 Madhav Rao Scindia
  • Kanpur Shatabdi (later to Lucknow)
  • Indrayani Exp.
  • Pragati Exp.
1990 George Fernandes
  • Jammu Tawi – Mangalore/Trichy Navyug Exp
  • Dadar – Muzaffarpur Shramshakti Exp (now cancelled)
  • Hatia – Varanasi Exp (still running?)
  • Surat – Varanasi Tapti Ganga Exp
  • New Delhi and Patna (via Varanasi) Shramjeevi Exp
1991 Jaffer Sharief
  • Bombay – New Delhi AC Exp (later August Kranti Rajdhani)
  • Bombay – Ahmedabad Karnavati Exp
  • Bombay – Varanasi Pawan Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Vishakapatnam Samata Exp
  • Puri – Tirupati Exp
  • Mysore – Tirupati Exp (now Mysore – Tirupati Passenger)
  • Allahabad – Chahpra Bhagirathi Exp (MG)
  • Allahabad – Agra Exp (proposed, never introduced)
1992 Jaffer Sharief
  • New Delhi – Bangalore Rajdhani
  • Kurla- Bangalore Exp
  • Bidar – Bangalore Link Exp
  • Madras – Banglaore Lalbagh Exp
  • Madras – Vijayawada Pinakani Exp
  • Secunderabad – Vijayawada Satvahana Exp
  • Secunderabad – Bhadrachalam (Passenger?)
  • Varanasi – Gorakhpur Krishak Exp
  • Sealdah – New Jalpaiguri Teesta Torsha Exp
  • Gandhidham – Nagercoil Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Indore Inter-City Exp
  • Valsad- Vadodara ExpThe following trains proposed by him were introduced later:
  • Bombay Pune Pragati Exp
  • Amritsar Barauni Amrapali Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Sambalpur Hirakud Exp
  • Delhi – Sikar Sainik Exp (MG)
  • Vadodara – Gandhidham Exp
  • Secunderabad – Vishakapatnam Vishaka Exp
1993 Jaffer Sharief
  • H. Nizamuddin – Madras Rajdhani
  • H. Nizamuddin – Agra Inter-City Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Mangalore Mangala Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Jabalpur/Nagpur Gondwana Exp
  • New Delhi – Puri Purushottam Exp
  • Delhi – Jammu Tawi Super Fast Exp
  • Delhi – Newjalpaiguri Mahananda Link Exp
  • Dhanbad – Tatanagar Subarnarekha Exp
  • Agra Fort – Jaipur Superfast Exp (MG)
1994 Jaffer Sharief
  • New Delhi – Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Exp
  • New Delhi – Guwahati Rajdhani Exp
  • Bombay – Ahmedabad Shatabdi Exp
  • Bombay – Trivandrum Exp (weekly)
  • New Delhi – Sriganganagar Exp
  • Delhi – Kathgodam Exp
  • Delhi – Sultanpur Sadbhavana Exp
  • Saharanpur – Lucknow Exp
  • Jodhpur – Lucknow Exp
  • Jaipur – Sealdah Exp
  • Katihar – Sealdah Exp
  • Secunderbad – Guntur Nagarjuna ExpThe following trains proposed by him were introduced later:
  • Madras – Mysore Shatabdi
  • Bombay – Jaipur Super Fast
  • New Delhi – Amritsar Shatabdi
  • New Delhi – Chandigarh Shatabdi
  • New Delhi – Jaipur Shatabdi
  • Madras – Kanyakumari Exp
  • Nagercoil – Guruvayur Exp
1995 Jaffer Sharief
  • Howrah – Bokaro Shatabdi
  • Howrah – Raurkela Shatabdi
  • Madras – Coimbatore Shatabdi (cancelled)
  • Bangalore – Hubli Shatabdi (cancelled)
  • Bombay – Madgaon Shatabdi (never introduced)
  • Kurla – Madgaon Exp
  • Miraj – Bangalore Rani Chennamma Exp
  • Bangalore – Quilon Exp (weekly)
  • Ernakulam – Trivandrum Exp (Via Alleppey)
  • Nagercoil – Bombay Exp (weekly)
  • Tirupati – Cuddapah Exp (Passenger?)(cancelled)
  • Delhi – Jaipur Inter-City Exp
  • Jodhpur – Jaipur Exp
  • Bikaner – Jaipur Exp
  • Jodhpur – Howrah Superfast (instead of Jaipur-Sealdah Exp)
  • New Delhi- Muzaffarpur Lichhavi Exp
  • Raxaul – Muzaffarpur Exp
  • Howrah – Gorakhpur Exp (weekly)
  • Howrah – Gauhati Saraighat Exp (weekly)
  • Ahmedabad – Bhavnagar Exp (MG)
  • Kanpur – Farukhabad Exp (MG)
  • Bhagalpur – Muzaffarpur Jansewa Exp
  • Amritsar – Barauni Jansewa Exp
  • Ahmedabad – Puri Exp
  • Surat – Varanasi Jansewa Exp (never introduced)For sometime, Suresh Kalmadi was the railway minister, from Pune.
  • Bombay Pune Shatabdi
  • Ahmedabad – Pune Ahimsa Exp
  • Howrah – Pune Azad Hind Exp
  • Varanasi – Pune Gyan Ganga Exp
1996 Ram Vilas Paswan
  • New Delhi – Patna Rajdhani
  • Kurla – Patna Exp
  • Delhi – Ramnagar Link Exp
  • Kalka – Simla Shivalik Exp
  • Gorakhpur- Darbhanga Exp (MG)
  • Howrah – Rampurhat Gandevta Exp
  • Howrah – Bikaner Link Exp
  • Jaipur – Chennai Exp (weekly)
  • Bhopal – Rewa Exp
  • Hubli – Bangalore Intercity (instead of the Shatabdi)He also announced the following trains in BG after gauge conversion
  • Ahmedabad – Delhi Mail
  • Ahmedabad – Delhi Ashram Exp
  • Ahmedabad – Bikaner Ranakpur Exp
  • Secunderabad/Guntur – Vasco Exp
  • Guwahati – Dibrugarh Exp
1997 Ram Vilas Paswan
  • Newdelhi – Ahmedabad Swarnajayanti Rajdhani
  • H. Nizamuddin – Vishakapatnam Swarnajayanti Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Bangalore Swarnajayanti Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Secunderabad Rajdhani (later cancelled, then reintroduced)
  • Delhi – Ranchi Jarkand Swarnajayanti Exp
  • Surat – Patna Exp
  • Gorakhpur – Dehradun Exp (bi-weekly)
  • Koraput- Bhubaneswar Link Exp
  • Madras – Tirupati Inter City
  • Tata- Katihar link Exp
  • Vasco – Bangalore Exp
  • Coimbatore – Bangalore Intercity Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Ernakulam Swarnajayanti Exp (introduced for political reasons, to placate Kerala MPs)
1998 Nitish Kumar
  • Kurla – Howrah Super Deluxe
  • Kurla – Nagpur Super Deluxe
  • Kurla – Varanasi Kamyani Exp
  • Kurla – Mangalore Matsyagandha Exp
  • H. Nizamuddin – Bhopal Superfast
  • Patna – Bhagalpur Intercity
  • Secunderbad – Guntur Palnad Exp
  • Madurai – Coimbatore Exp (MG) (cancelled)
  • New Delhi – Muzaffarpur Swatantra senani Exp
  • Sealdah – NewBongaigaon Uttar Bangla Exp
  • Howrah – Trichy Exp (triweekly)
  • Vishakaptanam – Bangalore Prashanti Exp
  • Later on all the express trains on the Chennai – Trichy – Madurai route were restored after BG conversion. All the trains on the Ahmedabad – Delhi route announced earlier were also introduced, except that Ranakpur Exp was started from Bandra to Bikaner, Suryanagari Exp was restored from Ahmedabad to Jodhpur and Aravalli Exp was started from Bombay to Jaipur (via Ajmer). In SCR, Venkatadari Exp was introduced between Secunderabad – Tirupati (via Kurnool), Haripriya Exp was introduced between Kolhapur and Tirupati. However a Secunderabd – Hubli Exp announced earlier was never introduced.
1999 Nitish kumar
  • Amritsar – Darbhanga Jansewa Exp (weekly)
  • Delhi – Gandhidham Exp. (the train was not introduced, but Ala Hazrat Exp running between Ajmer and Bareilly was extended to Gandhidham)
  • Kurla-Patna superfast
  • Mumbai – Madgaon Mandovi Exp
  • Jaipur- Bangalore Exp (via Secunderabad)
  • Raichur – Gulbarga Passenger
  • Secunderabd – Machilipatnam Exp
  • Chennai – Tirupati Shatabdi (never introduced)
  • Chennai – Guwahati Exp (biweekly)
  • Pune – Ernakulam Exp (via Hubli) (introduced later, now runs via Madgoan)
  • Shalimar- Haldia Azad Exp
  • Kamakhya – NewBongaigaon Pass
  • Patna – Mughalsarai Pass (via Gaya)
  • H. Nizamuddin – Coimbatore Kongu Exp (weekly)
2000 Mamta Banerji
  • Sealdah – New Delhi Rajdhani
  • Sealdah – Amritsar Akaltakht Exp
  • Sealdah – New Jalpaiguri Kanchkanya Exp
  • Shalimar – Bankura Exp
  • Howrah – Purulia Rupashi Bangla Exp
  • Ajmer – Bangalore Exp (weekly)
  • Jodhpur – Bangalore Exp (weekly)
  • Shimoga – Bangalore Exp
  • Puttaparthi – Bangalore Satya Sai Exp
  • Tirupati – Nagercoil Exp
  • Manmad – Kakinada Exp
  • Ahmedabad – Nagpur Exp (weekly)
  • Okha – Dehradun Uttaranchal Exp (weekly)
  • Bandra – Gandhidham Exp (combining 9055 Sayajinagari Exp and 9101 Vadodara Gandhidham Exp)
  • Hatia – Bhagalpur Vananchal Exp
  • Manduadih – Baidynathdham Exp
  • Lucknow – Chhapra Exp
  • Lucknow – Bhopal Exp((weekly)
  • Bikaner – Suratgarh Exp
  • Kurla – Madurai Exp (weekly)Some Calcutta area specials introduced by her:
  • Howrah – Dehradun Upasana Exp (weekly)
  • Sealdah – Ajmer Exp (weekly)
  • Howrah – Okha Exp (weekly)
2001 Mamta Banerji
  • New Delhi – Bilaspur Rajdhani
  • Newdelhi – Hatia Rajdhani
  • H. Nizamuddin – Secunderabad Rajdhani
  • New Delhi – Gorakhpur Gorakhdham Exp
  • Hatia – Dhanbad Inter-City
  • Asansol – Amritsar Superfast
  • Asansol – Haldia Exp
  • Asansol – New Jalpaiguri Exp
  • Howrah – New Jalpaiguri Exp
  • Howrah – Yeshwantpur Exp (weekly)
  • Howrah – Nagercoil Gurudev Exp
  • Howrah – Rampurhat Exp
  • Kurla – Bhubaneswar Exp (weekly)
  • Berhampur – Bhubaneswar Exp (now extended to Srikakulam)
  • Chennai – Jodhpur Exp (weekly)
  • Jodhpur – Haridwar link Exp
  • Valsad – Patna Exp(weekly)
  • Gandhinagar – Indore Exp
  • Pune – Solapur Exp
  • Pune – Ernakulam Exp (via Madgaon)
  • Vasco – Yeshwantpur Exp (biweekly)
  • Jaipur – Ernakulam Marusagar Exp
  • Palghat – Trivandrum amritha Exp
2002 Nitish Kumar
  • Jammu Tawi – Haridwar Exp
  • New Delhi – Howrah Exp (biweekly)
  • H. Nizamuddin – Kanyakumari Exp (weekly via Villipuram)
  • Delhi – Pathankot Exp (triweekly)
  • Guwahati – Jodhpur/Bikaner Exp (weekly)
  • Jaipur – Durg Exp (weekly)
  • Jaipur – Bandra Exp (triweekly)
  • Indore – Patna Exp (weekly via Lucknow and Varanasi)
  • Bhopal – Howrah Exp (weekly)
  • Kurla – Habibganj Exp (weekly)
  • Durg – Banglaore Exp (weekly via Chanda Fort, Secunderbad)
  • Mhow – Chittaurgarh Exp (MG)
  • Ahmedabad – Varanasi Exp (via Allahabad)
  • Ahmedbad – Rajkot Exp
  • Gandhidham – Bangalore Exp (weekly)
  • Pune – Nanded Exp (triweekly)
  • Cannanore – Banglaore Exp (weekly)
  • Calicut – Erankulam Exp (after Janshatabdi is introduced between Ernakulam and Trivandrum)
  • Chennai – Trivandrum Exp (via Nagercoil)
  • Chennai – Vishakapatnam Exp (weekly)
  • Kurla – Hatia Exp (weekly via Gaya)
  • Hatia – Gervaroad Exp
  • Rajgir – Sarnath Buddhaparikrama Exp (triweekly)
  • Howrah – Gorakhpur Exp (weekly via Narkatiaganj)
  • Bhubneswar – Palasa IntercityThere are also the Jan Shatabdis proposed
  • Madgaon – Kurla
  • Bangalore – Hubli
  • Ernakulam – Trivandrum
  • Chennai – Vijayawada
  • Habibganj – Jabalpur
  • Ahmedabad – Bhuj
  • Lucknow – Varanasi
  • Patna – Katihar
  • Tata – Ranchi
  • Raigarh – Durg
  • Guwahati – Dimapur
  • Howrah – Malda town
  • Howrah – Bhubaneshwar
  • New Delhi – Chandigarh
  • New Delhi – Dehradun
  • H. Nizamuddin – Kota

List of Indian Railway Ministers

Below is a list of the Union Government Ministers of Railways over the years in independent India. Also included further below is the list of who presented the railway budget for each year.
Note: These lists are incomplete, and some of the dates are uncertain. Unfortunately, there is no readily available source for reliable information on this topic — reference will have to be made to archives of Indian newspapers or magazines for the most accurate information. Corrections or additions are most welcome.

Railway Ministers Of India

Years Railway Minister
1947 (Nov.) John Mathai (not formally designated the Minister for Railways) presents the first Railway budget for independent India
1948-1952 N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar; worked on consolidating the various railways into the zonal railways
1952-1956 Lal Bahadur Shastri; resigned in 1956 taking responsibility for three fatal railway accidents
1956-1962 Jagjivan Ram
1962 Sardar Swaran Singh
1967?? Kengal Hanumanthaiah (Note: Some sources suggest he was Railway Minister later, in 1971). Ram Sew Singh is also mentioned in some sources as a railway minister in 1966-1968, he may not have been a Cabinet minister for railways.
1968 Cheppudira Muthana Poonacha
1969 Govinda Menon Panampilly
1970-1971 Gulzari Lal Nanda Note: Kengal Hanumanthaiah may have been the Railway Minister briefly in 1971.
1972-1973 Tonse Ananth Pai
1973-1975 Lalit Narayan Mishra; killed by a bomb blast 2-Jan-1975, at the opening of a railway line in Samastipur.
1975-1977 Kamlapati Tripathi (again briefly in 1980?)
1977-1979 Prof. Madhu Dandavate
1980-1981 Kedar Pandey (Kamlapathi Tripathi briefly in 1980)
(1981?) 1982-1984 ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury.
1984 Bansi Lal; his was a brief stint during a reorganization of some ministries and government departments
(1985?) 1984-1989 Madhav Rao Scindia
1989-1990 George Fernandes
1990-1991 Jnaneshwar Mishra; very short tenure
1991-1995 C K Jaffer Sharief
1995-1996 Suresh Kalmadi (briefly), followed by Atal Behari Vajpayee also briefly, who held the Railways portfolio along with being PM.
1996-1998 Ram Vilas Paswan
1998-1999 Nitish Kumar
2000 Mamata Banerjee
2001-2004 Nitish Kumar


2004-2009 Laloo Prasad Yadav


2009- Mamata Banerjee


Yearly List of Presenters of the Railway Budget of India

Fiscal Year Budget Presenter
1 1947-48 Transport Member, Railway Board
2 1947-48 Col. R. E. Emerson (Chief Commissioner, Railways)
3 1948-49 Dr. John Mathai
4 1949-50 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
5 1950-51 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
6 1951-52 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
7 1952-53 (interim) N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
8 1952-53 (final) Lal Bahadur Shastri
9 1953-54 Lal Bahadur Shastri
10 1954-55 Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 1955-56 Lal Bahadur Shastri
12 1956-57 Lal Bahadur Shastri
13 1957-58 (interim) Jagjivan Ram
14 1957-58 (final) Jagjivan Ram
15 1958-59 Jagjivan Ram
16 1959-60 Jagjivan Ram
17 1960-61 Jagjivan Ram
18 1961-62 Jagjivan Ram
19 1962-63 Jagjivan Ram
20 1962-63 (final) Sardar Swaran Singh
21 1963-64 Sardar Swaran Singh
22 1964-65 H. C. Dasappa
23 1965-66 S. K. Patil
24 1966-67 S. K. Patil
25 1967-68 (interim) C. M. Poonacha
26 1967-68 (final) C. M. Poonacha
27 1968-69 C. M. Poonacha
28 1969-70 Dr. Ram Subhag Singh
29 1970-71 Gulzari Lal Nanda
30 1971-72 (interim) K. Hanumanthaiya
31 1971-72 (final) K. Hanumanthaiya
32 1972-73 K. Hanumanthaiya
33 1973-74 Lalit Narayan Misra
34 1974-75 Lalit Narayan Misra
35 August 1974 Lalit Narayan Misra
36 1975-76 Kamalapati Tripathi
37 1976-77 Kamalapati Tripathi
38 1977-78 (interim) Prof. Mathu Dandavate
39 1977-78 (final) Prof. Mathu Dandavate
40 1978-79 Prof. Madhu Dandavate
41 1979-80 Prof. Madhu Dandavate
42 1980-81 (interim) Kamalapati Tripathi
43 1980-81 (final) Kamalapati Tripati
44 1981-82 Kedar Pande
45 1982-83 P. C. Sethi
46 1983-84 A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury
47 1984-85 A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury
48 1985-86 Bansi Lal
49 1986-87 Bansi Lal
50 November 1986 Madhavrao Scindia
51 1987-88 Madhavrao Scindia
52 1988-89 Madhavrao Scindia
53 1989-90 Madhavrao Scindia
54 1990-91 George Fernandes
55 1991-92 (interim) Janeshwar Mishra
56 1991-92 (final) C. K. Jaffar Sharief
57 1992-93 C. K. Jaffar Sharief
58 1993-94 C. K. Jaffar Sharief
59 1994-96 C. K. Jaffar Sharief
60 1996-97 C. K. Jaffar Sharief
61 1996-97 (interim) Suresh Kalmadi
62 1996-97 (final) Ram Vilas Paswan
63 1997-98 Ram Vilas Paswan
64 1998-99 (interim) Nitish Kumar
65 1998-99 (final) Nitish Kumar
66 1999-2000 Nitish Kumar
67 2000-01 Mamata Banerjee
68 2001-02 Mamata Banerjee
69 2002-03 Nitish Kumar
70 2003-04 Nitish Kumar
71 2004-05 (interim) Nitish Kumar
72 2004-05 (final) Lalu Prasad Yadav
73 2005-06 Lalu Prasad Yadav
74 2006-07 Lalu Prasad Yadav
75 2007-08 Lalu Prasad Yadav
76 2008-09 Lalu Prasad Yadav
77 2009-2010 Mamata Banerjee

Designer of Indian Rupee Symbol