The 12229 / 12230 Lucknow S. F Mail is an Daily Mail train of Superfast Express category of Indian Railways running between Lucknow and New Delhi on a daily basis. It is numbered 12229 when starting from Lucknow and terminating at New Delhi, 12230 from New Delhi to Lucknow. It has received an ISO 9000 certification after Bhopal Express. Lucknow Mail is the first LHB train of Indian Railways running permanently with 24 coaches (22 coaches+2 EOG).
Lucknow Mail originally had 29 Up and 30 Down numbers before rationalisation of number schemes. With the new rationalisation scheme the train was assigned with service numbers 4229 from Lucknow and 4230 from New Delhi. In the 2005–06 railway Budget, it was elevated to superfast category without withdrawing any previous intermediate stops. During the tenure of Mamata Banerjee as Railway Minister a new five digit numbering scheme was introduced and present numbers 12229 and 12230 were assigned to Lucknow Mail.
Journey
The down train (#12230) departs New Delhi at 22:05 usually from Platform 16 and reaches Lucknow at 06:45 the following morning. The up train (#12229) departs Lucknow at 22:00 usually from Platform 1 and reaches New Delhi at 06:45 the following morning. The train boarding station was changed on 15/11/2018 from Lucknow Charbagh to Lucknow Junction Now on 15/08/2024 the boarding station is changed back to Lucknow Charbagh.[1] The Time table is as follows: