At 110, Punjab Mail still runs strong

It started off as a ‘boat train’ to facilitate movement of troops, civilians and mail coming from Europe that needed to be transported to Peshawar and Lahore

Although there are diverse accounts of why the Bombay to Peshawar Punjab Mail began, when it began its run is pretty much consistent: June 1, 1912.

This makes Punjab Mail the oldest running train in India. What began as a six-coach ‘first class transport’ from Bombay to Peshawar is today a regular express train between Mumbai and Firozpur, yet with a history that is worth reiterating.

In the book Short History of Indian Railways by Rajendra B Aklekar, there is a chapter “Crime and Romance: A Murder Mystery, Robbers and Rail Romance”. Two of the most popular, historically significant trains are mentioned in this chapter: the Frontier Mail and the Punjab Mail.

Punjab Mail is described in the book as: “The Punjab Limited train started off on 1 June, 1912 from Ballard Pier Mole station as a ‘limited’ service on certain days only to Peshawar. The train started originating and terminating at Bombay VT (now Mumbai CST) from 1914. It, however, took several days to get there. Today, it is called the Punjab Mail and takes 36 hours to cover the 1,929 km between Bombay and Ferozepore.”

Even the Indian Railway Fan Club states that the Punjab Mail—it began as Punjab Limited under the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) made its inaugural run on June 1, 1912.

In the book Indian Railways: The Weaving of a National Tapestry co-authored by Bibek Debroy, Sanjay Chadha and Vidya Krishnamurthi, there is a description of why trains in those days—including the Punjab Mail which on its inaugural run was called Punjab Limited—were named, not numbered, as is the case nowadays. “Once upon a time, all locomotives were christened. That gave them character,” it says.

And although Punjab Limited was a very non-descript name, the significance of why it started is anything but. In a time when there were many different railway companies running trains on different route, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (which later became the Central Railway division after being inducted into the Indian Railway), introduced Punjab Limited for monopoly on the Mumbai-Peshawar route.

The Indian Railways: Weaving a National Tapestry book says that in the initial years when the Indian railway network was still at its nascent stage, some of the “famous trains” had “iconic value”.

About the Punjab Mail it says this: “The first such train was clearly the Punjab Mail, introduced between Ballard Pier (later from Victoria Terminus) and Peshawar (later to Firozpur) by GIPR in 1912.”

Punjab Mail originally began because it had “mail connections” with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) steamships coming into Bombay port of old. According to the Short History of Indian Railway, “the Mole station at the Ballard Pier was a wharf that was used to ferry cargo, soldiers and passengers alike from the steamships coming in from Europe to be taken to destinations in northern India, particularly Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore.”

Ballard Pier Mole station was also Punjab Limited’s originating station with Peshawar being its destination.

“On those days, it operated as Punjab Limited and operated from Ballard Pier (Mole Station) to Peshawar, covering a distance of almost 2500 km in forty-seven hours at a very respectable speed of fifty-three km per hour,” the book details about Punjab Mail’s run.

According to sources, and information collected from books and railway archives, there were initially six compartments in Punjab Mail—half for the passengers, and the rest for postal goods and mail.

Punjab Mail was an “extremely prestigious train” as it became exclusive because “all three passenger compartments were first class, with two berths in each cabin,” with its carriages “made out of special Burma teak” as described in the Indian Railways… book.

When the Punjab Limited started to run on all days, it was renamed Punjab Mail “and for a very long time was the fastest train in India.”

Yet, the Frontier Mail, which started 16 years after the Punjab Mail gathered popularity over time.

This is mostly because in early 1930s the Punjab Mail was “degraded” with the addition of “third class carriages”, although “second class passengers” and “servants” were permitted on it before that.

Punjab Mail was also overshadowed when Frontier Mail’s parent company, Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI), pushed for the Frontier’s run from Ballard Pier. From there, the Frontier Mail connected with the P&O steamships in winter months of September – December by taking over the cargo transportation, and later by using Bombay Port Railway tracks, and even GIPR’s track before moving on to its own.

Frontier Mail was also much more punctual than the Punjab Mail and had more exclusivity as it was faster and “more elitist”.

Yet, Frontier Mail is today called by a very bland-sounding name, Golden Temple Mail, while Punjab Mail, even though it has changed its number of coaches and overall built, is still iconic.

Today, the train takes 33 hours and 55 minutes to run the 1,928 km between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and the Firozpur Cantonment Junction with 52 stops, as detailed by indianrailinfo.com. It now runs on an electric engine, with a ‘pantry car’ and comes under the category of Indian Railway’s express train category with one air-conditioned First Class (with AC2 tier) coach, two second-class air-conditioned (AC2 tier) coach, six third-class air-conditioned (AC3 tier) coach, six sleeper class coaches, and five general second-class coaches that includes guard’s brake van, apart from the generator van.