Visakhapatnam–Gandhidham Express
 | |||||
| Overview | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service type | Express | ||||
| First service | 24 December 2013 | ||||
| Current operator(s) | East Coast Railway | ||||
| Ridership | Sleeper-648, AC 3tier-144, AC 2tier-54 | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Start | Visakhapatnam | ||||
| Stops | 27 | ||||
| End | Gandhidham | ||||
| Distance travelled | 2,112 km (1,312 mi) | ||||
| Average journey time | 40 hours 15 minutes (up) and 39 hours 50 minutes (down) | ||||
| Service frequency | weekly | ||||
| Train number(s) | 18501 / 18502 | ||||
| On-board services | |||||
| Disabled access |
 | ||||
| Seating arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Sleeping arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Observation facilities | Standard Indian Railway coaches | ||||
| Technical | |||||
| Rolling stock |
Locomotive: Bogie: One AC 2-Tier (2A) Two AC 3-Tier (3A) Nine II Sleeper Six UR / GS Two SLR | ||||
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | ||||
| Operating speed |
110 km/h (68 mph) maximum 52 km/h (32 mph) (up), 53 km/h (33 mph) (down) including halts | ||||
| |||||
_Express_Route_map.jpg)
Visakhapatnam–Gandhidham Express is an Express Train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between Visakhapatnam and Gandhidham as a weekly service. It is maintained by East Coast Railway Zone.
Special runs and inaugural
It operates as train number 18501 from Visakhapatnam to Gandhidham and as train number 18502.It first ran as holiday special on 19, 26 December 2013. Later it was inaugurated on 24 December by Union minister of state for commerce and industry, D.Purandeswari with train number as 08503 from Visakhapatnam and from Gandhidham as 08504 inaugural special.[1][2] Its regular run commenced on 2 January 2014 with train numbers 18501/18502.
Coaches
During holiday special run on 19 and 26 December 2013 Visakhapatnam–Gandhidham Express has one AC 2tier, two AC 3tier, Eleven Sleeper, Six General unreserved and two guard cum luggage vans. Total composition is 22 Coaches.[3]
During regular run, it constitutes of one AC2-tier, two AC3-tier, Nine sleeper, Six general second, Pantry car and two guard cum luggage vans. The total composition is 21 coaches.[4]
| Loco | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | SLR | UR | UR | UR | A1 | B1 | B2 | S1 | S2 | PC | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 | S9 | S10 | UR | UR | SLR |
Service
Visakhapatnam–Gandhidham Express covers a distance of 2112 km from Eastern to Western part of India .The Visakhapatnam–Gandhidham Express covers the distance of 2112 km in 40 hours 15 mins on journey towards Gandhidham and in 39 hours 50 mins on journey towards Visakhapatnam. 18501/18502 Visakhapatnam–Gandhidham Express averaging 52 km/hr on journey towards Gandhidham and averaging 53 km/hr on journey towards Visakhapatnam.[5][6]
Traction
It is hauled by a Royapuram or Lallaguda based WAP-4 from Visakhapatnam to Ahmedabad after which a Vatva based WDM 3A or WDM 3D takes over until Gandhidham.