Rajya Rani Express

Rajya Rani trains are a series of express trains operated by Indian Railways to connect state capitals with other cities important for tourism, pilgrimage or business.

Rajya Rani Express

Mysuru Bengaluru Rajyarani Express, first Rajya Rani Express in India.
Overview
Main Operating(s)	State capital to important cities in the state
Other Operating(s)	Launched in 2011 (Between Bangalore and Mysore)[1][2]
Fleet	10
Parent company	Indian Railways
Dates of operation	1 July 2011–

History

The word "Rajya" means "State"^[3] and the word "Rani" means Queen^[4] in Sanskrit and several Indian languages. The Rajya Rani trains were announced by the railway minister in railway budget 2011.^[5][6] The first Rajya Rani train was started between Mysore and Bangalore by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and was flagged off on 1 July 2011 by K. H. Muniyappa, Minister of State for Railways.^[7]

Etymology

The train was named after Maharani Gayatri Devi, former princess of the state of Cooch Behar, Maharani of Jaipur.^[8] She was one of the world's 10 most beautiful women on the Vogue list. She shares space with the likes of Rabindranath Tagore (Kavi Guru Express) and Swami Vivekananda (Vivek Express) as the railways has named a series of trains as Rajya Rani Expresses to honour the late Rajmata of Jaipur.

On 22 May 2017, the Dadar-Sawantwadi Rajya Rani Express was named as "Tutari Express" to mark the centenary of Keshavasuta's famed poem titled "Tutari".^{[9] [10]}

Active Services

S.No.	Train No.	Sector[1]	Distance (km)	Date of introduction[2]
1	20659 / 20660[11][12]	Mysore – Bangalore	139	1 July 2011
2	11003 / 11004[13][14]	Dadar – Sawantwadi Road	497	1 July 2011
3	22861 / 22862[15]	Shalimar – Adra (Canceled)[16]	283	1 Oct 2011
4	22161 / 22162[17][18]	Bhopal – Damoh	291	12 Nov 2011
5	16349 / 16350[19][20]	Thiruvananthapuram (Kochuveli) – Nilambur Road	443	16 Nov 2011
6	18117 / 18118[21][22]	Rourkela – Gunupur	798	16 Nov 2011 (Started between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Later extended to Gunupur on 20 March 2017)[23]
7	15417 / 15418[24][25]	Alipurduar – Silghat	460	14 Feb 2012 (Started between Dhubri and Silghat. Later extended to Gugupur on 1 October 2016)[26]
8	22453 / 22454[27][28]	Meerut – Lucknow	459	11 March 2012
9	17611 / 17612[29][30]	Nanded – Mumbai CSMT	604	11 March 2012 (Started between Manmad and Mumbai CST. Later extended to Nanded on 10 January 2020)[31]
10	12567 / 12568[32][33]	Saharsa – Patna	214	18 March 2012

See also

• Rajdhani Express
• Shatabdi Express
• Duronto Express
• Tejas Express
• Kavi Guru Express
• Vivek Express
• Yuva Express