Thread by @myhistorytales

Interesting history & trivia are hidden in places we rarely seek to find.

One such is names of trains in India! Many trains are very intuitively and intelligently named but we rarely give it a thought 🚂 🚂 🚂

Let’s explore some interesting Indian train names today 🧵

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First up, one of the longest journeys in india covering the expanse of the country from Jammu to Kanyakumari is named ‘Himsagar Express’ - aptly named to mean the one that connects snow(Him in Hindi) and Sagar(Ocean)

Beautiful one word to cover the riches India has to offer

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Next, the super fast trains that connect short distances across the country - Shatabdi Express . It is just named so as it was introduced for the birth centenary of Pandit Nehru and hence commemorated as Shatabdi (Shatam - 100 in Hindi/Sanskrit)

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Similarly for Gandhiji’s birth centenary in 1969, ‘Rajdhani Express’ trains were introduced connecting various Indian cities to Delhi. Rajdhani as you would know, just means Capital.

Today Rajdhani and Shatabdi are the most travelled set of trains

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Some trains are intelligently named after the resource we will get at the destination.

Kolkata to Dhanbad is named ‘Black Diamond Express’ after the coal mines ☺️

Bangalore to Kolar is named ‘Swarna Express’ after the Gold mines 😄

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India has had history of running trains with its neighbours!

Delhi-Lahore - Samjhauta Express
Kolkata - Dhaka - Maitree Express

Both Samjhauta and Maitree mean ‘Friendship’ in Hindi and Bengali respectively . Apt! 🚂🚂

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Some trains are so romantically named. The train that connects Mumbai to Mangalore is called the ‘Matsyagandha Express’ which means the ‘fragrance of fish’

This train runs along the western fishing coast & you are surely to get the fragrance along with some stunning visuals

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History is prevalent in so many train names. But see this beauty

Chennai - Coimbatore : Cheran Exp
Chn - Trichy : Cholan Exp
Chn - Madurai : Pandian Exp

The trains connecting Chennai to the 3 capitals of the 3 historic Tamil Kingdoms are aptly named after the kings themselves

We also have some Out of the box names!

The train 16031 from Delhi to Chennai is named Andaman Express

The 12617 train from Delhi to Ernakulam is named…. Yes you guessed it right… Lakshadweep Exp

Historically these were gateways to these islands & hence the names!! 🤯

The train connecting Kolkata to Guwahati is named Saraighat Express after the historic town of Saraighat north of Guwahati.

But the fun part is this is the easiest train number to remember !!

It’s 12345 😁

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Something so trivial as train names have a lot of interesting history and trivia behind them!! Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder 😁

What other interesting train names can you think of ? Share below 😄

RT if you liked this thread and follow for more fun stories 🙏🏻🚂🚂