Golden Temple Mail

Golden Temple Mail train board
Overview
Service type	Mail/Express
Locale	Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi & Punjab
First service	1 September 1928; 95 years ago (1928-09-01)
Current operator(s)	Western Railways
Route
Termini	Mumbai Central (MMCT) Amritsar Junction (ASR)
Stops	35
Distance travelled	1,893 km (1,176 mi)
Average journey time	31hrs 40mnts
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	12903 / 12904
On-board services
Class(es)	AC 1st Class, AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, Sleeper class, General Unreserved
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	Available
Observation facilities	Large windows
Baggage facilities	Overhead racks
Technical
Rolling stock	LHB coaches
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	59 km/h (37 mph) average including halts
Route map

The 12903 / 12904 Golden Temple Mail is a mail train belonging to Indian Railways that runs daily between Mumbai Central (MMCT) in Maharashtra and Amritsar Junction (ASR) in Punjab. It is named after the famous Golden Temple at Amritsar. The train is operated with modern LHB coaches from 29 September 2020. The train ran as the Frontier Mail between 1928 and 1996, ferrying passengers arriving by Steamer from Europe directly from Ballard Pier in Bombay to the city of Peshawar on India's North-West Frontier before the Partition of India.^[1]

It operates as train number 12903 from Mumbai Central to Amritsar Junction and as train number 12904 in the reverse direction.

History

The Golden Temple Mail was until September 1996 known as Frontier Mail. Prior the Partition of India, it would run up to Peshawar on India's frontier with Afghanistan from which it derived its name. During the autumn months between September and December, the train used to depart from the Ballard Pier Mole station. This was for the convenience of the British who arrived in India by steamer. The Frontier Mail also finds a place in romanticised biographies of film actor Prithviraj Kapoor who is believed to have travelled to Bombay from his hometown of Peshawar by the Frontier Mail in 1928 to act in films. Hunterwali, probably India's first action heroine, has acted in the film Miss Frontier Mail. The Frontier Mail was the first air conditioned train in the Indian Peninsula, when it got an air-conditioned compartment in 1934. The radio facility was provided for the first time in the Golden Temple Mail.

Coaches

The 12903/04 Golden Temple Mail has one AC First cum AC 2 Tier, two AC 2 tier, five AC 3 tier, eight Sleeper class, two General unreserved coaches, two General cum baggage coaches. It also has one Railway Mail service coach, one Pantry car & one High Capacity Parcel Van.

Service

The Golden Temple Mail runs between Mumbai Central and Amritsar Junction. It is a daily service covering the distance of 1891 km in 32 hours 15 minutes as 12903 Golden Temple Mail averaging 58.64 km/h and 31 hours 55 minutes as 12904 Golden Temple Mail averaging 59.25 km/h.

1955 Crash

A train operating the service collided with another train in 1955, killing one and injuring 34.^[2]

Traction

It is now regularly hauled by a Vadodara Loco Shed based WAP-7 locomotive from end to end.

Route and halts

The train runs from Mumbai Central via Borivali, Surat, Vadodara Junction, Ratlam Junction, Nagda Junction, Kota Junction, Sawai Madhopur Junction, Gangapur City, Bharatpur Junction, Mathura Junction, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Ghaziabad Junction, Meerut City, Saharanpur Junction, Ambala Cantonment Junction, Ludhiana Junction, Phagwara, Jalandhar City Junction, Beas Junction to Amritsar Junction

Gallery

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  Sleeper Non-AC LHB coaches of Golden Temple Mail.
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  AC 3 tier LHB coach of Golden Temple Mail.
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  AC 2 tier LHB coach of Golden Temple Mail.
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  Vadodra based WAP-7 locomotive for Golden Temple Mail.
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  12903 Golden Temple Mail older coach HA1
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  12903 Golden Temple Mail earlier used coaches
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  Golden Temple Mail – previously used AC 3 tier coach
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  Previously used Mail coach of Golden Temple Mail