Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express


The Bhubaneswar–New Delhi Tejas Rajdhani Express is a Tejas Rajdhani Express train starting from Bhubaneswar, the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha to the final destination of New Delhi, the capital of India. Currently, there are three dedicated sets of rakes operating from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi. This is the 3rd Rajdhani train which is having 3 dedicated routes after Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express and Ranchi Rajdhani Express.

History

  • 1st set of Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express was introduced on 1994–95 Rail Budget by C. K. Jaffer Sharief as a weekly frequency train. Later the service was increased to bi-weekly after public demand in 1998. It used to get WAP-4 locomotive from Ghaziabad shed & Santragachi shed and also changed its route to Adra Instead of bypassing Howrah in 2002.
  • 2nd set of Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express was introduced on 2003 by Nitish Kumar as a bi-weekly frequency train. Later in 2004 the frequency of this train are increased to 4 days in a week.
  • Later, 3rd set of Bhubansewar Rajdhani Express was inaugurated on 10 February 2018, was flagged off by Piyush Goyal as a weekly frequency train which bypasses through Sambalpur.

Overview

This train is fully air conditioned and has an AC Hot Buffet car to provide both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals during the journey. The meals are pre-paid along with the ticket, similar to the other Rajdhani Express trains. The train offers three classes of accommodation i.e. AC First Class with 2-berth and 4-berth couples, AC Two Tier with open bays, provided with curtains for privacy, and AC Three Tier with open bays without curtains.
Bhubaneswar Rajdhani's coaches was painted in Pattachitra and NALCO branding in December 2019. However, it was upgraded to Tejas rake on 14 August 2023, making it the latest and 5th Tejas Rajdhani Express of India.

Traction

The three sets of Bhubaneswar Tejas Rajdhani Express are hauled by Ghaziabad Loco Shed-based WAP-7 electric locomotive on its entire journey.

Incidents

  • On 27 October 2009, Bhubaneswar Rajdhani was hijacked by Maoists and later train was taken over by Security Forces no damage to life happened.
  • On 3 Apr 2019, two coaches of Bhubaneswar Rajdhani uncoupled on the river bridge which is 2.5 km away from Cuttack immediately the loco pilot stopped the train, no casualties reported.
  • On 11 May 2019, a fire broke out at Generator Car of Bhubaneswar Rajdhani nearby Balasore, immediately railway staffs kept fire in under control, no casualties reported.