Taj Express

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Train in India

title: "Taj Express" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["express-trains-in-india", "rail-transport-in-madhya-pradesh", "trains-from-jhansi", "rail-transport-in-delhi", "transport-in-delhi", "railway-services-introduced-in-1964", "1964-establishments-in-delhi", "named-passenger-trains-of-india", "1964-establishments-in-uttar-pradesh"] description: "Train in India" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Express" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Train in India ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rail service"]

Field	Value
name	Taj Express
image	TajExpress.jpg
caption	Taj Express standing on Agra Cantt Railway station
locale	Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh
first	1 October 1964
between New Delhi & Agra
operator	Northern Railway
start
stops	10
end	Jhansi Junction
distance	410 km
journeytime	7 hours
frequency	Daily
class	Executive Class
seating	2S & CC
sleeping	No
catering	No
gauge
trainnumber	12279 / 12280
speed	59 km/h average with halts
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The Taj Express was started in 1964 to serve tourists travelling from Delhi to Agra. It reduced the travelling time from over three hours to around two and a half hours. Taj Express was started along the lines of Deccan Queen, which ran as a high-speed commuter-special train between and CSMT Mumbai (ex Victoria Terminus Bombay), and provided a quick and comfortable journey between Agra and Delhi. It was a very popular train, especially among foreign tourists, before the Bhopal Shatabdi was introduced in 1988. The train was extended up to Gwalior in 1985 and then to Jhansi in 2006. It was named after Taj Mahal.

History

In 1964 Taj Express was introduced from to Agra. Running at 105 km/h, it brought down travel time on this route to 2h 35m. It was hauled by a WP-7003 steam engine. It was a train that was immensely popular with tourists, particularly foreigners, as it gave them ample time to visit the Taj Mahal and neighbouring monuments before returning to Delhi that evening. It was posted on Facebook page of Ministry of Railways, Government of India (Facebook confirmed that this is the authentic profile for this public figure.) on 1 October 2022: On this day in 1964, Taj Express, the then fastest train on the Indian Railways Network was introduced between New Delhi and Agra Cantt.
Surprisingly, the train did not run on Wednesdays. The Taj Mahal monument was then closed to tourists on Mondays and the one day off on Wednesdays was a direct financial loss. The Archaeological Survey of India then decided that the Taj Mahal would remain closed on Fridays for the public except for Muslims who could pray in the mosque between 12 noon to 2 P.M. The Taj Express still did not operate on Wednesdays.
In Oct, 1982 The Taj Express began using diesel locomotives (WDM-2).
In 1985, then-Railway Minister Madhavrao Scindia extended the Taj Express to Gwalior Junction. Journey time was 5hrs 20 min, leaving Hazrat Nizamuddin at 0710 am and reaching Gwalior at 1230 pm. The return timings were 1710 pm departure Gwalior and 2230 pm arrival Hazrat Nizamuddin. In 1989, the Wednesdays off was discontinued. The train, however, remained idle for well over four hours at Gwalior.
In 1986 The Taj Express began using electric locomotives.
1 July 2006, the train was extended to Jhansi.
4 January 2016, the train introduced LHB coach.
21 February 2018, the source for 12280 and destination station of 12279, changed from Hazrat Nizamuddin (NZM) to New Delhi (NDLS).
3 June 2024, three coaches of The Taj Express heading towards Jhansi got burnt after a fire broke out from one of its coaches. There are no injuries among all passenger.

Train info

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Locomotive	Ghaziabad (GZB)	WAP-5	WAP-7
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Train coaches	LHB rakes
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ENG	Luggage brake	AC Chair Car	Chair Car	General	Luggage brake
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Route

The train numbered 12279 goes from Gwalior Junction to New Delhi railway station, and train number is 12280 goes from New Delhi railway station to Jhansi. ::data[format=table title=""]

#	Station	Code	Average speed / hour	Zone	Address
1	New Delhi	NDLS	40	NR	Ajmeri Gate 110002, Delhi NCT
2	Nizamuddin, Delhi	NZM	70	NR	New Delhi 110013, Delhi NCT
3	Faridabad	FDB	80	NR	PIN 121003, Haryana
4	Mathura	MTJ	90	NCR	Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
5	Raja ki Mandi, Agra	RKM	30	NCR	Agra, Uttar Pradesh
6	Agra Cantt, Agra	AGC	60	NCR	Agra, Uttar Pradesh
7	Dhaulpur	DHO	60	NCR	Dhaulpur, Rajasthan
8	Morena	MRA	60	NCR	Morena, Madhya Pradesh
9	Gwalior Junction	GWL	70	NCR	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
10	Dabra	DBA	73	NCR	Dabra, Madhya Pradesh
11	Datia	DAA	26	NCR	Datia, Madhya Pradesh
12	Jhansi Junction	JHS	43	NCR	Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh
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Locomotive

As the whole route is electrified the train is generally hauled by WAP-7 from Ghaziabad for its whole journey. But occasionally it is also hauled by WAP-5 from Ghaziabad.

References

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::