Shatabdi Express are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways. Shatabdi Express are day trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains were first introduced in 1988 and were named 'Shatabdi', meaning 'century', to commemorate the birth centenary of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The trains run at a maximum permissible speed of 110–150 km/h (68–93 mph) with the Rani Kamalapati–New Delhi Shatabdi Express achieving the maximum permissible speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) between Tughlakabad and Bilochpura Agra.
Anubhuti coach of Ahmedabad - Mumbai Central Shatabdi Express.
Interior view of an AC chair car coach
Exterior of a standard chair car coach
India has a system of express trains, operated by Indian Railways which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Railways of Government of India. As of 2023, it maintains over 108,706 km (67,547 mi) of tracks and operates nearly 3,000 express trains daily. According to the Ministry of Railways, express trains travel faster and have limited stops than ordinary passenger trains. Any passenger train with an average speed higher than 55 km/h (34 mph) is considered super-fast.
Rajdhani Express
Shatabdi Express
WP class steam locomotives helped express trains reach speeds of 100 km/h (62 mph) in 1947.
Introduced in 2019, Vande Bharat Express is the fastest express train in India.