| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Mail train |
| Route | |
| Termini | Santahar Junction (pre-independence) Delhi (post-independence) Amingaon (pre-independence) Guwahati(later extended toDibrugarh in the post-independence era) |
| Distance travelled | 506.7 kilometres (314.8 mi)(pre-independence) 2,601 kilometres (1,616 mi)(post-independence) |
| Service frequency | Daily |
| Train number |
|
| On-board services | |
| Classes | General, Sleeper |
| Sleeping arrangements | yes |
| Catering facilities | Pantry car On-board catering E-catering.(post-independence) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) |
| Operating speed | 36 kilometres per hour (22 mph)(pre-1947) 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph)North East Express (post-independence) |
TheAssam Mail was one of the better knownmetre-gauge trains in theIndian Railways system that was there from the pre-independence days. The train was discontinued in 1986 with the completion of thebroad-gauge conversion of the metre-gauge line toDibrugarh.
Popularly known as 3 Up/ 4 Dn (Kalka Mail was 1 Up/ 2 Dn), it originally ran in the pre-independence days fromSantahar Junction, now in Bangladesh, to Guwahati.[1] It travelled along theSantahar–Kaunia line up toKaunia, then toLalmonirhat alongParbatipur–Lalmonirhat–Burimari line, crossing theTeesta. Thereafter, it took the now-defunctMogalhat–Gitaldaha route crossing theDharla over the bridge, part of which has since been washed away, on toGolokganj,Fakiragram Junction andAmingaon covering 506.7 kilometres (314.8 mi) in 14 hrs 00 mins at speed of 36 kilometres per hour (22 mph).
Passengers to and from Kolkata and the rest of India traveled between Kolkata and Santahar by broad-gaugeDarjeeling Mail or some other connection and then switched over to metre-gauge Assam Mail.[1]
After independence andpartition of India in 1947, the train travel to Assam stopped temporarily (possibly till 1950). When Assam Link Project connectedFakiragram toKishanganj Assam Mail started running along theKatihar–Siliguri line. It needed a loco reversal atSiliguri Junction and traveled along what is now theNew Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line. Assam Mail was converted into a two part train. It ran fromNew Delhi toDibrugarh (afterRajendra Setu andSaraighat Bridge came up), with the broad gauge part running up toBarauni from where the metre gauge part continued up to Dibrugarh. Passengers had to get down at Barauni and change trains.[1]
The metre gauge part of the Assam Mail from Barauni to Dibrugarh covered 1,369 kilometres (851 mi). It was one of the longer metre gauge runs in the country, running across the flood plains of theKosi, theDooars,Western Assam and finallyUpper Assam.[2] In 1986, when the Barauni–Guwahati line was converted into broad gauge the Assam Mail was renamed as theNorth East Express.[1] The new Superfast trainNorth East Express was introduced viaKanpur,Patna,Barauni,Kishanganj, Fakiragram Junction, covering 1,890 kilometres (1,170 mi) betweenNew Delhi &Guwahati in 33 hrs 15 mins at speed of 57 kilometres per hour (35 mph).