The 22503 / 22504 Dibrugarh – Kanyakumari - Dibrugarh Vivek Superfast Express is a Daily Superfast Express train of the Vivek Express series belonging to Indian Railways and operated by Northeast Frontier Railway which runs from Dibrugarh in India's north eastern state Assam to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu the southernmost state of India. In 74 hours 35 minutes the train covers a distance of 4,189 kilometres (2,603 mi) and traverses through eight states in India.[1] This train is currently the longest train route in India by both distance and time,[2] as well as the 28th-longest train service in the world. The train has 57 halts across its route.
 Dibrugarh–Kanniyakumari Vivek SUPERFAST Express at Erode Junction | |||||
| Overview | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service type | Superfast Express | ||||
| Status | Active | ||||
| Locale | Assam, Nagaland, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala & Tamil Nadu | ||||
| First service | 19 November 2011 | ||||
| Current operator(s) | Northeast Frontier Railway | ||||
| Ridership | Superfast Express | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Termini | Dibrugarh (DBRG) Kanniyakumari (CAPE) | ||||
| Stops | 57 | ||||
| Distance travelled | 4,154 km (2,581 mi) | ||||
| Average journey time | 75 hr 30 min | ||||
| Service frequency | Daily (Effect from 8 July 2024) | ||||
| Train number(s) | 22503/22504 | ||||
| On-board services | |||||
| Class(es) |
| ||||
| Disabled access |  | ||||
| Seating arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Auto-rack arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Catering facilities | Pantry car On-board Catering E-Catering | ||||
| Observation facilities | Large windows | ||||
| Entertainment facilities | YES | ||||
| Baggage facilities | Available | ||||
| Other facilities | CCTV Cameras in all coaches | ||||
| Technical | |||||
| Rolling stock | LHB coach
| ||||
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | ||||
| Electrification | 25kV AC 50 Hz | ||||
| Operating speed | 65 km/h (40 mph) | ||||
| Average length | 24 Coaches | ||||
| Rake sharing | RSA with 15903/15904 Dibrugarh-Chandigarh Express and 15945/15946 Mumbai LTT-Dibrugarh Express | ||||
| |||||
History
editVivek Express is a series of four Express Trains on the Indian Railways network. These trains were announced in the Railway Budget of 2011-12 by the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. These trains were started to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
Vivek express also holds another place in the history of Indian railways, as being the last train to halt its services, when the entire Indian railway passenger services came to standstill following the COVID19 pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown in March 2020.
Dibrugarh - Kanyakumari Vivek Express joins Dibrugarh in Assam, North-East India to Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu which is the southernmost tip of India. The train No:22504 starts from Dibrugarh at 7:55 PM and reaches Kanyakumari at 9:55 PM on the fourth day of journey. In the return direction the train no: 22503 leaves Kanyakumari at 5:25 PM and reaches Dibrugarh at 8:50 PM on the fourth day of the journey. This train runs through Assam, Nagaland, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This train also passes through Sahibganj district and Pakur district of Jharkhand but it does not have any stoppages there.
Coach composition
editThe train runs with modern LHB rakes. The coach composition is
| Loco | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GENERAL |  |
EOG | GEN | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 | S9 | S10 | S11 | PC | A1 | B1 | B2 | B3 | B4 | B-5 | GEN | GEN | GENERAL
SLR/DISABLED COACH |
Major halts
editNew Tinsukia Jn,Lumding Jn,Guwahati,New Bongaigaon Jn,New Cooch Behar,New Jalpaiguri Jn,Malda Town,Rampurhat Jn,Kharagpur Jn,Cuttack Jn,Bhubaneswar,Visakhapatnam Jn,Vijayawada Jn,Katpadi Jn,Coimbatore Jn,Thiruvananthapuram Central.
Locomotive
editThe train is hauled by WDP-4D Locomotive of Diesel Loco Shed, Siliguri from New Tinsukia to Guwahati. Then it is hauled by WAP-7 Locomotive of Electric Loco Shed, Visakhapatnam from Guwahati up to Visakhapatnam. Lastly from Visakhapatnam to Kanniyakumari it is hauled by WAP-7 locomotive of Electric Loco Shed, Royapuram.
See also
edit- Vivek Express
- Himsagar Express
- Longest train services
- Longest train services of Indian Railways
- Tambaram–Guwahati Express
- Bangalore-Guwahati Express
- Thiruvananthapuram–Silchar Superfast Express
- New Tinsukia-Bengaluru Express
- Bangalore-Agartala Humsafar Express
- Chennai–New Jalpaiguri Superfast Express
- Yesvantpur–Kamakhya AC Superfast Express
References
edit- ^ "Welcome to Indian Railway Passenger Reservation Enquiry". www.indianrail.gov.in. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
- ^ "Life aboard the longest train ride through India". National Geographic. 17 August 2017. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
External links
edit