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European Mail (?), East Indian Railway, locomotive 214, c.1900 (coll. Emil Konrad)


(map by Kurt Soelch)

On the Indian sub-continent mail runners and horse-drawn mail carts conveyed the letters from England, endangered by tigers and the "Thag" robber gangs. In 1852 the broad gauge railway Bombay - Thana opened, the first section of the future GIPR on the way to Calcutta. In the '50s the Calcutta mail used certain rail sections via Poona, then Agra. Bombay - Igatpuri was completed in 1865. The Thull Ghat mountain section initially could be crossed regularly only during daylight hours, but for the mail from England an exception was made. That meant the start of special Overland Mail trains, consisting of one or two vans only. From 1866 that "Special Train", including a post-office and extra-fare passenger cars, ran regularly in connection with the mail steamers. In 1870 the direct rail link Bombay - Jabalpur - Calcutta Howrah was established by GIPR and EIR. In February 1889 started an experimental special Howrah - Bombay with 43 hours traveling time in addition to the regular mail trains. Depending on subsidies by the Postal Department it ended soon. In 1897 first-class through cars from Calcutta Howrah changed in Naini (near Allahabat) to a mail special. From 1898 or 89 a new white "European Mail Train", consisting of 1st class sleepers, a diner with a longitudinal table and mail cars, jointly owned by GIPR and EIR, provided a new once-weekly service Bombay Victoria - Calcutta Howrah. In 1908 a new Overland Express replaced it. With a true bath room for every compartment it was the most luxurious train of the world. Cook's off 1911 showed 36 hours traveling time for that "Special Limited Express". In 1926 new cars were built for a new "Imperial Indian Mail", one set by GIPR and one by EIR. The passengers paid eight times the standard fare and cooperation with the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company made the train profitable for the railways. For a holiday trip to Darjeeling the travelers could take the Darjeeling Mail to Siliguri, where they changed to the famous narrow gauge mountain railway.

Imperial Mail
Howrah (Calcutta) - Bombay - Howrah, EIR, 1908:
1Composite
31st class (sleeping-cars, en-suite bathrooms)
1Dining Car
1Composite

Imperial Indian Mail
Howrah - Bombay - Howrah, according to P&O Handbook from Nov. 1926:
Car No.1 (kitchen, staff luggage)
Car No.2 (restaurant, 2 single-compartments, 1 bath)
Car No.3 (7 double-compartments, only lower berths, 1 bath)
Car No.4 (7 double-compartments, lower and upper berths, 1 bath)
Car No.5 (2 single-compartments, 1 bath, places for servants).

Cars 1-5 12-wheelers. 1 or 2 postal vans, 8-wheelers. One train set was from GIPR, painted cream, and another one from EIR, painted dark blue.

Traction: Tenwheelers, then on GIPR possibly XA Pacifics. Bombay - Igatpuri electrified with 1.5 kVd.c., completed in 1930, 2Co1 type engines and on the Bhore Ghat CoCo (WCG1, Crocodile type) helpers.

Colors: GIPR steam locomotives maroon, electrics at least later black.


Imperial Indian Mail Bombay - Calcutta ascending the Thull Ghat, GIPR 2-6-2 type tank engine heading and 0-8-4T banking, before electrification, which was completed in 1930 (coll. Deutsches Museum Muenchen)
Imperial Indian Mail of the EIR, Restaurant in the 30's (contemporary press)

From 1889 a broad gauge line, which then became a part of the GIPR, connected Bombay with Delhi. A competitor became the BBCIR in 1909 on a shorter way via Baroda. From 1912 Delhi was the capital of India and in the same year BBCIR started an exclusive P&O special Bombay - Delhi - Peshawar. The competing GIPR's answer was another "postal" special. In 1927 both companies introduced new train sets and the "race to Delhi" started. The P&O Punjab Express of the GIPR was victorious, while the Punjab Limited Express of the GIPR had to be closed down due to horrendous losses.

P&O Punjab Expess
Bombay - Delhi - Peshawar, BB & CIR, 1927:
2Mail
21st class (sleeping-cars)
1Restaurant
1Guard's Van


Punjab Limited
Bombay - Delhi - Peshawar, GIPR, 1927:
11st class (sleeping-car)
11st class (articulated sleeping-car)
1Restaurant
11st class (sleeping-car)
1Van (?)

All these de-Luxe trains were cream-colored. Traction initially 4-4-0 or 4-4-2 then 4-6-0 type engines. GIPR tank engines on the Thull Ghat near Bombay.


Punjab Limited Bombay - Peshawar of the GIPR, NWR locomotive 2397, Jhelum Bridge 1927 (P.S.A. Berridge)
P&O Special of the BBCIR from 1912 with tenwheeler (contemporary press)

A broad gauge railway Bombay - Madras (now Chennai) via Raichur was completed by GIPR and MR in 1871. A "Special Limited Express" Bombay - Madras however ran only in the first decade of the 20th century. Passengers of the regular Madras Mail could take a meter gauge train of the SIR to Tuticorin and then a British India Liner to Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 1914 a new service was introduced with the meter gauge Ceylon Boat Mail Madras - Dhanushkodi, connecting with steamers to Talaimannar and the broad gauge Ceylon Government Railway to Colombo and further on.

With India’s liberation in 1947 the Pakistan border was closed, after 1965 the Indo-Ceylon Boat Mail became stopped and with the war of 1971 Bangladesh was cut off. The Imperial Indian Mail and other exclusive expresses had disappeared long before, but a multitude of conventional long-distance trains connects all the big cities of India. Now a train Lahore – Amritsar is crossing the border between Pakistan and India. Through traffic from Calcutta to Dhaka in Bangladesh was closed in 1965 and resumed in 2008, one train set being provided by Indian Railways, consisting of coaches and couchettes (blue/ pastel) and another one by Bangladesh Railways. At the end of the 20th century an important new line, the coastal railway Mumbay (Bombay) - Mangalore was completed. In India the traditional expresses with annually c. 500 billion passenger kilometers and with 24 cars per train are a necessity still for a while. A quite different modern logistics project open to private investment is the idea of special corridors for container transport crossing the country. Nevertheless also the possibility of future high-speed trains is envisioned.

Punjab Mail
Indian Railways, departure Bombay August 12, 1975:
12nd class Sleeper 3-tierBombay - Bina
1Brake, Luggage & 2nd classBombay - Firozepur
12nd classBombay - Lucknow
22nd class Sleeper 3-tierBombay - Lucknow
11st class (couchette)Bombay - Lucknow
12nd classBombay - Firozepur
11st class (couchette)Bombay - Firozepur
12nd class & MailBombay - Firozepur "
1Air-cond. (sleeper) & 1st classBombay - Delhi
1Pantry CarBombay - Delhi

Traction: WCM4 (d.c.) Bombay-Igatpuri, WCG2 (d.c.) helper Kasara - Igatpuri, WCM5 (a.c.) or diesel from Igatpuri, diesel WDM2 (CoCo) to Jhansi. WP (4-6-2 steam!) Jhansi - Delhi (photograph see chapter Travels).

Colors: Electric and diesel locomotives maroon, WP green/black Cars maroon/cream.

Tourist Specials
The de-Luxe special Deccan Odyssey started round trips between Mumbay (Bombay), Goa and Aurangabad. On India's, meter-gauge the white nostalgic "Maharadja Express" de-Luxe special has been introduced for trips Delhi - Udaipur - Jaipur - Delhi, later "The Palace on Wheels" and the "Royal Orient Express" for Delhi - Veraval round trips.

A dark-red train with P.E. titles built for the Pakistan Eastern, but East Pakistan had become already Bangladesh. Picture taken at Istanbul Haidarpasa in August 1972 (WS)



Sri Lanka, a local with a Henschel engine at Mount Lavinia 1971, the line where in 2005 the Tsunami raged (Dr. Stephan Stoeckl)



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