India’s oldest train Punjab Mail turns 110

Comprising six cars, back in the days, the Punjab Mail had a capacity of only 96 passengers

The origins of the train are rather unclear.

It is known to have journeyed from Bombay and Peshawar in its early years.

The train used to run on fixed mail days from Bombay's Ballard station to Peshawar in 1912.

India's oldest running train, Punjab Mail, which made her maiden run out of Ballard Pier Mole station in 1912, turned 110 on Tuesday.

The origins of the train are rather unclear but it is known to have journeyed from Bombay and Peshawar in its early years.

Over 16 years older than the glamorous Frontier Mail, the Punjab Mail or Punjab Limited as she was then called, first steamed out on June 1, 1912.

The Ballard Pier Mole, from where it started its journey, was a hub for British-era Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GPIR) services.

The Officers of the British Raj, along with their wives, on their first posting in Colonial India, had travelled in the train as part of their Southampton to Bombay 13-day-long steamer voyage.

As the British officials held combined tickets both for the voyage, as well as their inland journey by train to their place of posting, they would, after disembarking, board one of the trains bound for either Madras, Calcutta or Delhi.

The train used to run on fixed mail days from Bombay's Ballard station to Peshawar, via the GIP route, covering a distance of 2,496 km in about 47 hours.

Comprising six cars — three for passengers, and three for postal goods and mail — back in the days, the Punjab Mail had a capacity of only 96 passengers.

During the pre-partition period, it was the fastest train in British India and ran over the GIP track for a large part, and passed through Itarsi, Agra, Delhi and Lahore, before terminating at Peshawar Cantonment.

The electrically hauled train that started originating and terminating at Bombay VT (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai) in 1914, takes 34 hours and 15 minutes to cover the 1,930 km distance between Mumbai and Firozpur Cantonment.

As of today, Punjab Mail Special has one AC First Class cum AC2 Tier, Two AC2 Tier, Six AC3 Tier, 6 Sleeper Class, one pantry car, 5 general second class coaches and one generator van.

As train services were suspended during the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, Punjab Mail special has been journeying with LHB coaches since December.