Akal Takht Express
Train in India
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The 12317 / 12318 Akal Takht Express is an Indian Railways Express train connecting eastern Indian city of Kolkata with northern Indian city of Amritsar. It is named after the Akal Takht, a central Sikh shrine in Amritsar.
 | |||||
 Akal Takht Express entering Ambala Cantt. | |||||
| Overview | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service type | Superfast | ||||
| First service | 14 April 2000 | ||||
| Current operator | Eastern Railway | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Termini | Kolkata (KOAA) Amritsar (ASR) | ||||
| Stops | 21 | ||||
| Distance travelled | 1,899 km (1,180 mi) | ||||
| Average journey time | 33 hours 15 minutes (Average Time) | ||||
| Service frequency | Bi-Weekly | ||||
| Train number | 12317 / 12318 | ||||
| On-board services | |||||
| Classes | AC first, AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, Sleeper class, General Unreserved | ||||
| Seating arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Sleeping arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Catering facilities | On board catering, E-catering | ||||
| Observation facilities | Rake sharing with 12315/12316 Ananya Express | ||||
| Baggage facilities | No | ||||
| Other facilities | Below the seats | ||||
| Technical | |||||
| Rolling stock | LHB coach | ||||
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | ||||
| Operating speed | 57 km/h (35 mph) average including halts. | ||||
| |||||
Background
Originally started from Asansol as 2319/2320 Superfast in 1998, in 2000 it was extended to start from Sealdah as 2317/2318 & in 2009, 2317/2318 & 2319/2320 became same train. In 2015, its terminus got changed to Kolkata Terminus. It is a Superfast-class train travelling 1,899 kilometres (1,180 mi) in 33 hrs 40 mins at an average speed of 56 kilometres per hour (35 mph) as 12317 Akal Takht Express & in 32 hrs 50 mins at an average speed of 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph) as 12317 Akal Takht Express. It has sleeper, third AC, second AC, first AC, and unreserved types of coaches along with 2 EOG for power. for power. This train has modern LHB coach, however, pantry car facility is was not available with this train until 2020. Now pantry car, on-board catering and e-catering are available.[1][2]
12317 Route & halts
| Station Code | Station Name | Arrival | Departure |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOAA | Kolkata Terminus | --- | 07:40 |
| ASN | Asansol Junction | 10:35 | 10:45 |
| MDP | Madhupur Junction | 12:00 | 12:02 |
| JSME | Jasidh Junction | 12:29 | 12:31 |
| JAJ | Jhajha | 13:11 | 13:13 |
| KIUL | Kiul Junction | 13:57 | 13:59 |
| MKA | Mokama | 14:28 | 14:30 |
| PNC | Patna Saheb | 15:17 | 15:22 |
| PNBE | Patna Junction | 15:55 | 16:05 |
| DDU | Pt DD Upadhyaya Junction | 19:35 | 19:45 |
| BSB | Varanasi Junction | 20:30 | 20:40 |
| SLN | Sultanpur Junction | 22:46 | 22:48 |
| LKO | Lucknow Charbagh NR | 02:43 | 02:53 |
| BE | Bareilly Junction | 06:13 | 06:15 |
| MB | Moradabad Junction | 07:50 | 07:58 |
| NBD | Najibabad Junction | 09:23 | 09:25 |
| SRE | Saharanpur Junction | 11:30 | 11:40 |
| UMB | Ambala Cantt Junction | 12:45 | 12:50 |
| SIR | Sirhind Junction | 13:31 | 13:33 |
| LDH | Ludhiana Junction | 14:28 | 14:38 |
| JUC | Jalandhar City Junction | 15:35 | 15:40 |
| BEAS | Beas Junction | 16:12 | 16:14 |
| ASR | Amritsar Junction | 17:20 | --- |
12318 Route & Halts
| Station Code | Station Name | Arrival | Departure |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASR | Amritsar Junction | --- | 05:55 |
| BEAS | Beas Junction | 06:32 | 06:34 |
| JUC | Jalandhar City Junction | 07:10 | 07:15 |
| LDH | Ludhiana Junction | 08:12 | 08:22 |
| SIR | Sirhind Junction | 09:22 | 09:24 |
| UMB | Ambala Cantt Junction | 10:05 | 10.10 |
| SRE | Saharanpur Junction | 11:30 | 11:40 |
| NBD | Najibabad Junction | 13:08 | 13:10 |
| MB | Moradabad Junction | 14:55 | 15:05 |
| BE | Bareilly Junction | 16:35 | 16:40 |
| LKO | Lucknow Charbagh NR | 20:35 | 20:50 |
| SLN | Sultanpur Junction | 23:05 | 23:10 |
| BSB | Varanasi Junction | 01:40 | 01:50 |
| DDU | Pt DD Upadhyaya Junction | 02:20 | 02:40 |
| PNBE | Patna Junction | 05:55 | 06:05 |
| PNC | Patna Saheb | 06:17 | 06:22 |
| MKA | Mokama | 07:24 | 07:26 |
| KIUL | Kiul Junction | 08:05 | 08:07 |
| JAJ | Jhajha | 08:58 | 09:00 |
| JSME | Jasidh Junction | 09:40 | 09:42 |
| MDP | Madhupur Junction | 10:10 | 10:12 |
| ASN | Asansol Junction | 11:33 | 11:43 |
| KOAA | Kolkata Terminus | --- | 14:45 |
Coach composition
The train has standard LHB rakes with max speed of 130 km/h. The train consists of 22 coaches:
- 1 AC I cum AC II Tier
- 1 AC II Tier
- 6 AC III Tier
- 10 Sleeper coaches
- 2 General
- 2 EOG
| Loco | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |  | EOG | GEN | GEN | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 | S9 | S10 | PC | B1 | B2 | B3 | B4 | B5 | A1 | HA1 | EOG |
|---|
Traction
Rake sharing
The train shares its rake with 12315/12316 Ananya Express.
