Coalfield Express
 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Superfast |
| Locale | West Bengal & Jharkhand |
| Current operator(s) | Eastern Railways |
| Route | |
| Start | Howrah Junction |
| End | Dhanbad Junction |
| Distance travelled | 259 km |
| Average journey time | 4 hours and 30mins |
| Service frequency | Daily |
| Train number(s) | 12339/ 12440 |
| On-board services | |
| Seating arrangements | Available |
| Sleeping arrangements | Not Available |
| Baggage facilities | Available |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) |
| Electrification | Yes |
| Operating speed | Average - 59 km/hr |
Coalfield Express is an important superfast class day train of Indian Railways connecting city of Kolkata with industrial towns and coal belts of Durgapur, Raniganj, Asansol, Dhanbad.[1] It is one of the best train services between Dhanbad and Howrah railway station.
This train serves as vital train link during the office hours and is equally preferred by the daily passengers and the occasional commuters alike. As such it is a very popular train and usually all coaches can be found jam-packed with passengers.
The Coalfield Express is hauled by WAP-7 class electric locomotive of Gomoh/Howrah railway station shed. AC chair car, second-class sitting, general class are available in this train, but no pantry car is available. Important stations through which it travels are Durgapur, Andal, Raniganj, Asansol . 12339 Coalfield express leaves Howrah terminal at 5:20 p.m. from Platform No. 12 every day and reaches Dhanbad junction at 9:40 p.m. same day. 12340 Coalfield express departs Dhanbad Junction at 5:55 a.m. every day and arrives Howrah at 10:25 a.m. same day. Tatkal scheme is available in it.Being an office time train service, it receives one of the highest priorities, during its run from Dhanbad to Howrah. It shares it rake with the Agniveena Express and the Shantiniketan Express.
It is the twin train of the Black Diamond Express, which runs froms Dhanbad to Howrah as well. However it runs through the Howrah-Bardhaman Chord line while Black Diamond express goes through the Howrah-Bardhaman Main Line.
The train is particularly famous for it not having a stop at Bardhaman and also for its non-stop run of 132 km from Howrah to Mankar in around 1 hr 15 min, at a top speed of 110 km/hr.Also this train having a Unique Time Table 12314 Sealdah Rajdhani Overtakes it @ Waria after that, this runs between two Rajdhani 12314--12340-12302 for some time then 12302 Overtkes it
Trivia
In 2011, the train was in news for traveling several kilometers on the wrong track during a journey. The train took the wrong track at Khana Junction and traveled towards Bolpur instead of Dhanbad. It was sent back on the right track after the staff at the Talit station spotted the error.[2]
Back in the 1990s, (1982 to be precise) the train had a scheduled stop at Burdwan junction. However, due to overbearing notoriety of the daily commuters in the Burdwan-Howrah section which often culminated in serious altercations with other passengers, the stoppage had been revoked. An EMU (electric multiple unit) local train was put into the service to cater to the daily passengers travelling from Burdwan to Howrah at that particular hour of the day. The train had few stops in between the two stations.
References
- ↑ Coalfield Express/12339
- ↑ Amitabha Bhattasali (13 December 2011). "Alarm after Indian train takes wrong turn". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
