If the proposals of the Eastern railway are to be accepted by the railway board, then the cancellation of the Legendary Toofan express would indeed be a sad day for many veteran rail fans and passengers.

Toofan is perhaps the best example of how politicians and bureaucrats destroy great trains to make way for their pet trains and promoting new trains for political mileage instead of improving existing services.
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The cancellation of this train would be the final act of humiliation for this once-great train.

The average railfan today might at most make fun of this train by calling it a 'crawler' or how its schedule is the complete opposite of its name. But the name 'Toofan' was given to this train for a very good reason.

Introduced on September 1st, 1926, the 7/8 Howrah Delhi express was easily the fastest train between Howrah and Delhi in terms of speed, with the journey time being longer than the Punjab mail (present day Kalka mail) only because Toofan took the longer and slower route via Agra.

But from 1930, when it was diverted via Ghaziabad (instead of Agra), Toofan was the fastest train between Howrah and Delhi. The train became so famous because of its speed, that the general public started calling it 'Toofan' express, which became its official name soon. Movies, plays and songs were created, based on the Toofan express. It was indeed the pride of the East Indian Railway and the envy of the other railways.

Today, the once-fastest train between Howrah and Delhi, has been reduced to a crawler with well over 100 stops, and has been diverted through the longest route possible (Toofan used to go via the Grand Chord and Tundla-Ghaziabad until the 1950s).

May be cancellation is a better end for this train, than continuing as the crawler it is now. Better to be remembered as a legend, than being the centre of ridicule.