Prior to the introduction of the Rajdhani Express, the Deluxe Express was the premium category superfast trains of India. Fully air conditioned and superfast, they were given the highest priority in Indian Railways. There were two of them. One use to imply between Amritsar and Bandra, and another from Amritsar to Howrah. Both of them use to carry the ICF Rajdhani liveried coaches. Later with due course of time the Deluxe Express till Bandra was renamed as Paschim Express while the Deluxe Express till Howrah Express was renamed as Poorva Express. With due course of time, the fully Air Conditioned Poorva Express was stripped off from its name to accommodate additional Non-Ac Coaches and was subsequently terminated till New Delhi. And with the arrival of trains like Udyan Abha Toofan Express and Howrah Rajdhani Express, it lost its grandeur and subsequently its priority. It was relegated to Maroon Coaches first and then to Standard Blue ICF Coaches later before getting refurbished to LHB Coaches in 2013. Though it suffered with time, but its popularity never ceased. Due to its huge demand, Indian Railways introduced a second pair of Poorva Express on 1 August 1971 via Patna. Not only that, during its peak time it was one of the longest train with a load of 23 coaches and was use to be hauled by WDM-2 between Mughalsarai and Chittaranjan.
Coach composition
The train has standard LHB rakes with a max speed of 130 km/h. The train consist of 22 coaches:
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12381/12382 Poorva Express runs from via,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, to.
Locomotive
It is regularly hauls by a Howrah based WAP 7 equipped locomotive on its entire journey.
Train detail
Accidents and incidents
On 14 December 2014 the 12381 UP Howrah - New Delhi Poorva Express derailed at 8.27 am after leaving Howrah at 8.15 am. 11 sleeper coaches and a pantry car of the New Delhi-bound Poorva Express derailed at Liluah shortly after leaving Howrah station. There were no casualties or injuries to any passengers, railway officials said. The train was moving at a slow speed when it derailed, the officials said, adding that the reasons for the mishap were being examined. What saved the passengers was the speed of the train. "The Poorva Express was moving at 10 to 15 km/h when the accident occurred. The average speed of the train is 63 km/h, though it can travel at 120 km/h. Derailment at higher speeds would have been catastrophic," an official said.
