Godavari Express

Godavari Express (గోదావరి ఎక్స్‌ప్రెస్)

12727 HYB bound Godavari Express at Marripalem near Visakhapatnam
Overview
Service type	Superfast Train
Status	Operating
Locale	Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
First service	1 February 1974
Current operator(s)	South Central Railway
Ridership	Classic Sleeper - 864 Third Class - 192 Second Class - 96 First Class - 18 Total - 1170
Route
Start	Hyderabad Deccan
Stops	18
End	Visakhapatnam Junction
Distance travelled	710 km (440 mi)
Average journey time	12 hours,25 minutes
Service frequency	Daily
On-board services
Class(es)	Sleeper, Ac 1,2,3 General
Catering facilities	No Pantry car, Paid Food service is available
Observation facilities	Large windows in all carriages, cleanliness
Baggage facilities	Below the seats
Technical
	Two
Track gauge	Broad (1,676 mm)
Operating speed	57 kilometres per hour (35 mph)
Route map The route map of Godavari Express showing most of the stops en route.

Route map
The route map of Godavari Express showing most of the stops en route.

The Godavari Express is one of the most prestigious trains of South Central Railway and runs between Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. It was introduced as the Waltair-Hyderabad express on 1 February 1974 with the train numbers being 7007 and 7008. Its current train numbers are 12727 and 12728. The extremely high demand for this train, especially for the air-conditioned coaches of the train has resulted in the inauguration of a fully air-conditioned Garib Rath and the introduction of a Duronto. Despite the two new trains, the demand for the Godavari Express is so high, that sometimes an unreserved coach is replaced with an extra Classic Sleeper or Third Class coach. The train is considered the best way between the two cities and is maintained very neatly by the South Central Railway. Proposals on extension of this train up to Bhubaneshwar were strongly opposed by both passengers and politicians as earlier, another train, namely Visakha Express was extended to the city considerably increasing its journey time. The Godavari Express serves the purpose of connecting the cities of four coastal districts in Andhra Pradesh to the state capital, In united Andhra Pradesh, now the capital of Telangana Hyderabad. The train stops at four stations in the Visakhapatnam district, six stations in the East Godavari district, three stations in the West Godavari district and Vijayawada in the Krishna district.

On 1 February 1974, the Indian Railways announced the first railway service between Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad, with the Waltair-Hyderabad Express. The train was run on a daily basis and would depart Visakhapatnam at 5:30 pm and arrive in Hyderabad at 6:45 am, the next morning. On the return journey, it would depart Hyderabad at 5:15 pm and arrive in Visakhapatnam at 6:45 am the next morning. As the train provides rail connectivity to at nine stations in the deserted cities of East and West Godavari districts, it was officially named Godavari Express. It was regularly hauled by a steam locomotive and had 17 coaches. It reached its highest speed of 50 km/h between Samalkot and Rajahmundry. A slip service was introduced in the train during 1975, and the train was run up to Kakinada. Five more coaches were added, as a result. The train also entered a Rake Sharing Agreement or RSA with the Simhadri Express which ran between Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry. However, in 1980, both the slip service and the RSA were cancelled as the Simhadri Express was extended up to Bhimavaram and the Kakinada-Secunderabad Goutami Express was introduced.