Punjab Mail which connected Mumbai, Peshawar completes 108 yrs of operation

The Punjab Mail, one of the oldest long-distance trains in the country, completed 107 years Saturday. June 1 is also the birthday of the Deccan Queen, which connects Mumbai and Pune. The popular train completed 89 years of its operation Saturday.

The Punjab Mail, or `Punjab Limited' as it was then called, steamed out on June 1, 1912, from Mumbai, heading for Peshawar, now in Pakistan. A service meant primarily for white `sahibs' initially, it soon started catering to lower classes too.

Third class cars started appearing on the Punjab Mail by the mid-1930s. It got an air-conditioned car in 1945. Now it runs on electric power.

Before Partition, the train ran from Ballard Pier Mole station in Mumbai to all the way to Peshawar, covering a distance of 2,496 km in 47 hours, said Sunil Udasi, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway. It was known to be the fastest train of British India.

Now its northward journey ends at Firozpur Cantonment after covering 1,930 km within 34 hours and 15 minutes. "The train then comprised six cars; three for passengers and three for postal goods and mail. The three passenger cars had a capacity of only 96," he said.

The train also had bathrooms, a restaurant car and a compartment for luggage and the servants of British passengers. The Deccan Queen was introduced on June 1, 1930, by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the forerunner of Central Railway.

It was the first deluxe train connecting two important cities of the region, and was aptly named after Pune, known as the Queen of Deccan, Udasi said. "The people of both the cities are happy with its impeccable record of punctuality. The train has become an institution binding generations of intensely loyal passengers," Udasi added.

(With inputs from agencies.)