Amritsar Mail
The 13005 / 13006 Amritsar Mail, colloquially known as the Punjab Mail in the eastern part of India, is a mail train operated by the Eastern Railway Zone of Indian Railways. This train serves as a vital link connecting the capital city of West Bengal, Kolkata, with the historic and revered pilgrimage city of Amritsar in India. It operates under the train numbers 13005 from Howrah Junction in Kolkata to Amritsar Junction, and 13006 on its return journey.
History
Sources:The Howrah - Amritsar Mail holds the distinction of being one of the oldest operating Mail trains within the Indian Railways network. It commenced service on January 1, 1884, with the primary purpose of transporting British officials, including military and civil service personnel along with their families, from Howrah in undivided Bengal to Lahore Junction & Peshawar in the undivided Punjab region. Originally known as the 05 UP / 06 DN Punjab Mail, it was operated by the East Indian Railway Company (EIR) alongside another prestigious train, the 01 UP / 02 DN East India Mail. Around the same period, in 1889, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) introduced its own Punjab Mail, running from Mumbai Victoria Terminus to Lahore Junction via Peshawar. Intriguingly, both trains shared identical numbering , a reflection of the independent operations of various railway companies under the British Raj. The train used to cover in 48 hours until 1928, when Lahore-Peshawar service was strictly made for Bombay based Punjab Mail & Northern Express. Legendary freedom fighters like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bengali writer Balaichand Mukhopadhyay alias freedom fighter Sripati Samanta, Rash Behari Bose, Bipin Behari Ganguly, like personalities used this train to travel between Bengal & Punjab.
Following India's partition, both Punjab Mails underwent significant route changes. The GIPR's Punjab Mail was redirected to terminate at Ferozpur in Punjab, while the EIR's Punjab Mail was terminated at Amritsar Junction. Notably, to avoid confusion due to similar train numbers, the GIPR Punjab Mail operated as 05 UP / 06 DN Punjab Mail up to New Delhi, transitioning to 37 UP / 38 DN Punjab Mail for the journey onward to Ferozepur
In 1989, during the period of train number and name rationalization by Indian Railways, the Ferozepur-bound Punjab Mail relinquished its original 05 UP / 06 DN designation and was renumbered as 2137 UP / 2138 DN based on its New Delhi to Ferozepur segment. Meanwhile, the Howrah - Amritsar Punjab Mail was renumbered as 3005 UP / 3006 DN, retaining aspects of its original numbering. However, it underwent a name change to Amritsar Mail. Several other prestigious mail trains underwent similar transformations. For instance, the iconic 01 UP / 02 DN Kalka Mail was renumbered as 2311 / 2312 Kalka Mail, thus relinquishing its original number. Similarly, the revered 03 UP / 04 DN Frontier Mail underwent renumbering to 2903 / 2904 and was re-christened as the Golden Temple Mail.
It is worth highlighting that due to the immense popularity of the 05 UP / 06 DN Punjab Mail departing from Howrah Junction, the East Indian Railway Company introduced the 49 / 50 Howrah - Amritsar Janata Express. Given its route similarity with the EIR's Punjab Mail, the 49 / 50 Janata Express was informally referred to as the "Duplicate Punjab Mail" in eastern India. The service is now withdrawn after introduction of 12357/12358 Durgiana Express & 12379/12380 Jallianwala Bagh Express from Kolkata Terminus & Sealdah to Amritsar.