Great news for rail enthusiasts: Indian Railways, in an attempt to bring back the magic of steam-hauled trains, has put into service its renovated heritage steam loco Azad WP 7200 for the Palace on Wheels train! The steam locomotive was put into service for a trip from Delhi Safdarjung railway station to Patel Nagar railway station on the Ring Railway circuit. The steam-hauled luxury tourist train was flagged off by Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani in the presence of other senior officials of the Railway Board and the Northern Railways. Palace on Wheels, as the name suggests, is a luxury tourist train, one of the oldest luxury trains of Indian Railways.
Also known as Azad, the steam loco WP 7200 was built in the year 1947 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, USA. The name Azad was given as it was brought to India in 1947, which was also the year of country’s independence. The pride of steam locomotives, the bullet-nosed WP locomotives were the centerpiece of broad gauge passenger train operations of the Indian Railways network for a very long period of time till the year 1995 when they were finally retired. The heritage steam locomotives, thereafter, were revived by a committed railway team. Now, the steam locomotives undergo regular maintenance and overhauling at the national transporter’s steam centre, Heritage Steam Shed in Rewari, Haryana. Interestingly, Indian Railways undertakes the running of heritage steam train trips on popular tourist sections from time to time.
A few months back, for the first time, Indian Railways started a time-tabled weekly commercial steam train service between Garhi Harsaru and Farukhnagar section of Northern Zonal Railways, after the steam traction phased out almost 25 years back. This was done to boost tourism-related activities across the region, attracting tourists and steam enthusiasts to visit these places for a steam engine hauled train ride.