2703/2704 Falaknuma Express (12703/12704 from December 2010) is a superfast

Superfast Mail/Express

Superfast Mail/Express trains are faster Express rail service of India with Superfast charge levied over Mail/Express charges. Superfast trains make small number of stops, unlike Mail/Express and hence cover the same distance in marginally lower time span, as compared to their counterparts...

 train of The Indian Railways

Indian Railways

Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....

  connecting Howrah to Secunderabad

Secunderabad

Secunderabad popularly known as the twin city of Hyderabad is located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh north of Hyderabad. Named after Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Secunderabad was founded in 1806 AD as a British cantonment...

. The train belongs to the South Central Railway. It runs daily and connects important stations such as Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada

Vijayawada

Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about from the state capital Hyderabad.Vijayawada literally...

 and Guntur

Guntur

Guntur , is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located to the north and west of the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately to the south of the national capital, New Delhi and south east of state capital, Hyderabad. Guntur is the fourth largest city in Andhra...

. It is a fast alternative to other trains such as East Coast Express and Visakha Express

Visakha Express

The Visakha Express is an express train of the Indian Railways connecting Secunderabad to Bhubaneshwar , which runs daily. The train numbers are 17015 and 17016. It belongs to the South Central Railways. Train number 17016 leaves Secunderabad at 1700 hrs and arrives at Bhubaneshwar the next day ...

. Compared to the other trains on the Sec'bad to Howrah/Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

, it covers lesser distance as it runs via the Nalgonda

Nalgonda

Nalgonda is a town and a municipality in Nalgonda district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its name is derived from two Telugu words Nalla and Konda . Nalgonda in the past is referred to as Nilagiri. During the period of Bahamani kingdom, it had been renamed as Nallagonda...

, Guntur

Guntur

Guntur , is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located to the north and west of the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately to the south of the national capital, New Delhi and south east of state capital, Hyderabad. Guntur is the fourth largest city in Andhra...

 route.

The train is named after The Falaknuma Palace

Falaknuma Palace

Falaknuma Palace is one of the finest palaces in Hyderabad, India belonging to the Paigah State but later owned by the Nizams. It is located on a 32 acre, 19400 square meters area. It is located in Falaknuma, 5 km. from Charminar was built by Nawab Vikar-ul-Umra, the then Prime Minister of...

, Hyderabad, India. It covers a distance of 1545 kilometers in about 26 hrs, with 21 halts in between. The train departs from Howrah Junction at 07:25 hours and arrives in Secunderabad

Secunderabad Railway Station

Secunderabad Railway Station , also referred as Secunderabad Junction, is a major intercity rail station and a commuter rail hub in the Hyderabad Urban Area. It is located in the city of Secunderabad and falls under the South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways...

 at 09:35 hours the next day. From Secunderabad, the train departs at 16:00 hours and arrives in Howrah at 17:45 hours the next day.

Route

The train halts at the following places: Nalgonda

Nalgonda

Nalgonda is a town and a municipality in Nalgonda district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its name is derived from two Telugu words Nalla and Konda . Nalgonda in the past is referred to as Nilagiri. During the period of Bahamani kingdom, it had been renamed as Nallagonda...

, Miryalguda

Miryalguda

Miryalaguda is a town in Nalgonda District of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the home town of a key commercial center, town, mandal & revenue divisional head quarter in the region of Telangana. This town is well developed with Underground Drinage System, Sagar Water for...

, Guntur

Guntur

Guntur , is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located to the north and west of the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately to the south of the national capital, New Delhi and south east of state capital, Hyderabad. Guntur is the fourth largest city in Andhra...

, Vijayawada

Vijayawada

Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about from the state capital Hyderabad.Vijayawada literally...

, Eluru

Eluru

Eluru is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the headquarters of West Godavari district and has a population of 5,15,343 approximately. Eluru is situated on the national highway NH 5 connecting Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam and about east of state...

, Tadepalligudem

Tadepalligudem

Tadepalligudem is a town and a municipality in Andhra Pradesh, India.It is situated in the middle of West Godavari District, nearly 50 km from the district headquarters, Eluru. It is a rapidly growing business town in the lap of nature, surrounded by beautiful fields and canals...

, Rajahmundry

Rajahmundry

Rajahmundry is a city and municipal corporation of the Andhra Pradesh state in India. It is located east of the state capital, Hyderabad, on the banks of the River Godavari. Known as the Cultural Capital, Rajahmundry is noted for its intense Veda culture and intellect...

, Samalkot, Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...

, Vizianagram, Srikakulam Road, Palasa, Ichhapuram, Berhampur

Berhampur

Brahmapur , nicknamed "The Silk City", is a city located in the eastern coastline of Ganjam district of the Indian state of Orissa, about south to state capital, Bhubaneswar.It is also dubbed as "The Dance City" of Orissa after Prince Dance Group and Harihar Das made the state famous in India's...

, Balugaon

Balugaon

Balugaon is a town and a notified area committee in Khordha district in the state of Orissa, India.-Geography:Balugaon is located at . It has an average elevation of 76 metres .-Demographics:...

, Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

, Cuttack

Cuttack

Cuttack is the former capital of the state of Orissa, India. It is the headquarters of Cuttack district and is located about 20 km to the north east of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. The name of the city is an anglicised form of Kataka that literally means The Fort, a reference to the...

, Bhadrak

Bhadrak

Bhadrak is a city and a municipality in Bhadrak district in the state of Orissa, India.-Demographics: India census, Bhadrak had a population of 1,33,4000. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Bhadrak has an average literacy rate of 73.86, higher than the national average of...

, Balasore

Balasore

Balasore is a strategically located city in the state of Orissa, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar, in eastern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It is best known for Chandipur beach. It is also the site of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defense...

 and Kharagpur

Kharagpur

Kharagpur is an industrial city in India. It is located in the Midnapore West district of the state of West Bengal.Kharagpur was chosen as the location of the first campus of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology . The IITs are the premier technical education institutes in India and...

. The train has a scope for speeding up. For instance, 2703 takes about 100 min from Eluru

Eluru

Eluru is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the headquarters of West Godavari district and has a population of 5,15,343 approximately. Eluru is situated on the national highway NH 5 connecting Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam and about east of state...

 to Vijayawada

Vijayawada

Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about from the state capital Hyderabad.Vijayawada literally...

, which is a distance of 60 km. Amongst all trains in the Howrah to Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

 section, it(12703) covers the distance in the minimum time(6hrs 20 min)

Loco Links

It gets a WDP4 (Krishnarajapuram shed) loco in the Secunderabad to Vijayawada section and a Lallaguda based WAP-4 locomotive for the Vijayawada to Vishakapatnam section. Then it gets a Santragachi based WAP-4 locomotive for the Vishakapatnam to Howrah section. The same links are in either way.

Classes

The train usually has a 1AC and 2AC combo coach(added in Sep'09), 1 AC 2-Tier Coach, 2 AC 3-Tier Coaches, 14 Sleeper Class Coaches, 1 Pantry Car, and 3 General Compartments and 2SLR's. A rake of the Falaknuma Express consists of 24 Coaches.
It shares its rakes with the Narayanadri Express

Narayanadri Express

The Narayanadri Express, No. 12733/12734, is a superfast train of Indian Railways, connecting Secundrabad to Tirupati. The train belongs to the South Central Railway. It runs daily, via Guntur....

. One can see the Tirupati-Secunderabad

Secunderabad

Secunderabad popularly known as the twin city of Hyderabad is located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh north of Hyderabad. Named after Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Secunderabad was founded in 1806 AD as a British cantonment...

-Howrah boards in the rakes.

Fares

The IRCTC handles the online ticket booking for this train. The table below shows the fares of different classes per one traveler. One can find high difference in the fares of different classes. Example, the fare of Ac - First class is 2743, while the fare of Non AC - Sleeper Class is only 442.

Class	Fare (in rupees)	Fare (in US$)
AC - First Class	2743	$ 61.61
AC - Second Class	1623	$ 36.46
AC - Third Class	1187	$ 26.66
Non AC - Sleeper Class	442	$ 9.93

External links

• Falaknuma Time Table