The 16317 / 16318 Himsagar Express is a weekly Express train of the Indian Railways running between Kanyakumari in India's southernmost state of Tamil Nadu to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra in Jammu and Kashmir- the northernmost state of India. It is currently the 35th longest running train service of world and third-longest-running train on the Indian Railways in terms of distance and time, surpassed by the 15905/06 Dibrugarh-Kanyakumari Vivek Express and 12507/08 Aronai Superfast Express . In 73 hours, the train covers a distance of 3790 km at a speed of 52 km/h, and transverses twelve of India's states halting at a total of 73 stations.
History
Krishnagiri MP Dr. P. V. Periasamy's demand promoted national integration from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir through direct train service on 19-03-1979 in parliament.
Route
16317/18 Himsagar Express runs via following stations and states:
TAMIL NADU
(Starts)
Kulitturai
KERALA
Kayamkulam
Ottappalam
ANDHRA PRADESH
TELANGANA
MAHARASHTRA
MADHYA PRADESH
RAJASTHAN
UTTAR PRADESH
Haryana
DELHI
HARYANA
Bahadurgarh
Narwana
Tohana
PUNJAB
Lehragaga
Sunam
Sangrur
Malerkotla
Ahmedgarh
Kila Raipur
Urmar Tanda
Dasuya
Mukerian
JAMMU KASHMIR
Kathua
Samba
Udhampur
(Ends)
Traction
Both trains are hauled by an Erode / Arakkonam-based WAP-4 electric locomotive from CAPE to SVDK.
Coach composition
The train has 20 LHB coaches comprising two Second AC (2AC), Six Third AC (3AC), six Sleeper class (SL), two Unreserved coaches (UR/GS), two Luggage rakes (SLR) and one Pantry car (PC).