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	Darjeeling Mail-WDP4 magic with 8 AC coaches
	Darjeeling Mail at Kamarkundu Junction

*Darjeeling Mail*
Overview
Service type	Superfast
First service	1 January 1878; 146 years ago
Current operator(s)	Eastern Railways
Route
Termini	Sealdah (SDAH); Haldibari (HDB)
Stops	6
Distance travelled	573 km (356 mi)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	12343 / 12344
On-board services
Class(es)	AC 1st, AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, Sleeper class, General Unreserved, Military coach
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	No pantry car
Observation facilities	Large windows
Technical
Rolling stock	LHB coach
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	130 km/h (81 mph) maximum, ; 57 km/h (35 mph) average with halts
Route map
Route map

Darjeeling Mail route

Legend

km

to Darjeeling on DHR

to Fakiragram

Bagdogra 17

11

Matigara

to Katihar

Bagdogra Airport

7

Siliguri

Change to DHR

5

Siliguri Town

Change to DHR

573/508/0

New Jalpaiguri

Change to DHR

Jalpaiguri main line

500

Ambari Falakata

490

Belakoba

482

Raninagar Jalpaiguri

Kishanganj 486

to New Bongaigaon

478

Mohitnagar

474

Jalpaiguri

452

Haldibari

Malda Town 338

India

Bangladesh

442

Chilahati

Farakka Barrage

Across Ganges

Chilahati–Darshana line

Bolpur 154

374

Parbatipur Junction

Barddhaman 102

278

Santahar

Hardinge Bridge

across Padma

Chord line

118

Darshana

and Main line

Bangladesh

India

114

Gede

Gede Branch line

Vivekananda Setu

across Hooghly River

to Howrah

Sealdah–Ranaghat line

0

Sealdah Main

Sealdah South

to Sealdah South lines

Notes:
1. The left side of a line is the post-partition route,
Whereas, the right side of the line is the pre-partition route as it stands today.
2. The Siliguri/New Jalpaiguri–Haldibari Line is common to both the old and new routes.

The 12343 / 12344 Sealdah-Haldibari-Sealdah Darjeeling Mail is one of the oldest running legendary trains in India which connects Kolkata With Haldibari via Barddhaman, Malda Town, New Jalpaiguri, and Jalpaiguri. This is a major train for Kolkata–Siliguri route. It is also the first train to run with AC electric loco WAP-7 in Sealdah to Haldibari stretch.^[1]

History

Run via East Bengal

During the British period all connections to North Bengal were through East Bengal.

From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps. The first lap was a 184.9 kilometres (114.9 mi) long journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River. The passengers would then avail a ferry across the river. The second lap of the journey was a 363.1 kilometres (225.6 mi) metre-gauge line of the North Bengal Railway that linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.^[2]

Later the 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) long Hardinge Bridge across the Padma came up in 1912.^[3] In 1916 the metre-gauge section north of the bridge was converted to broad gauge, and so the entire Calcutta – Siliguri route became broad-gauge.^[2] The route thus roughly ran: Sealdah–Ranaghat–Bheramara–Hardinge Bridge–Iswardi–Santahar–Hili–Parbatipur–Nilphamari–Haldibari–Jalpaiguri–Siliguri.

The Darjeeling Mail ran on this route in pre-partition days. Even after the partition of India it ran on this route for some years.^[4]^[5]

Ferry across Ganges (Post-partition)

With the partition of India in 1947, the major hurdle in connecting Kolkata and Siliguri was that there was no bridge across the Ganges in West Bengal or Bihar. A generally acceptable route to Siliguri was via Sahibganj loop to Rajmahal, then across the Ganges by ferry to Manihari Ghat on the other side, then to Kishanganj via Manihari, Katihar and Barsoi and finally through narrow gauge to Siliguri.^[6] In 1949 Kishanganj–Siliguri section too was converted to metre gauge, thus making the entire route a uni-gauge one.^[2]

Run via Farakka Barrage

In the early 1965s, when Farakka Barrage was being constructed, a more radical change was made. Indian Railways created a new broad-gauge rail link from Kolkata, and on a greenfield site south of Siliguri Town built an entirely new broad-gauge junction, New Jalpaiguri.^[2]

The 2,256.25 metres (7,402.4 ft) long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges. The rail bridge was thrown open to the public in 1971, thereby linking the Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop to Malda Town, Barsoi, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri and other railway stations in North Bengal.^[7]^[8] Since then Darjeeling Mail has been using the Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line.

In 2022, the train was extended till Haldibari station. However this extension was met with apprehension as it was thought that this extension will reduce the importance of the New Jalpaiguri station.

Coach composition

This train has 22 LHB coach^[9]

Legends
EOG/SLR	PC	MIL	H	A	HA	B	AB	G	K	E	C	S	D	GEN/UR
Generator cum luggage van	Pantry car or Hot buffet car	Military coach	First AC (1A)	Second AC (2A)	First AC cum Second AC	Third AC (3A)	Third AC cum Second AC	Third AC economy (3E)	Anubhuti coach (K)	Executive chair car (EC)	AC Chair car (CC)	Sleeper class (SL)	Second seating (2S)	General or Unreserved
	Loco and other service coach
	AC coach
	Non-AC coach