In the late 1850s, the
British Government in India decided to relocate their capital from
Calcutta to
Shimla during the summer months to protect the European population from the intense heat of the Bengal plains. To facilitate the annual migration of British officials, their families, and accompanying staff between the imperial capital at Calcutta and the summer capital in Shimla, the
East Indian Railway Company inaugurated a train service on July 1, 1866. Departing from Howrah Railway Station, the service was designated as 1 UP (Up Line) / 2 DN (Down Line), known as the
East Indian Railway Mail. Initially, this service operated exclusively between
Howrah and
Delhi. The extension of the
Ambala –
Kalka railway line in 1891 enabled the East Indian Railway Mail to extend its route to Kalka. The subsequent opening of the
Kalka – Shimla route on November 7, 1903, facilitated the further extension of the train service to Shimla, involving a gauge change at Kalka. Passengers traveling to Shimla from Kalka transitioned from a broad gauge train to a narrow gauge East Indian Railway Mail for the final leg of the journey. Notably, both Howrah and Kalka stations featured internal carriageways along the platforms to allow the Viceroy and other dignitaries to access their rail coaches directly. The carriageway at Howrah remains in use between Platforms 8 and 9, while the carriageway at Kalka has been repurposed into a platform. On July 10, 2011 this train was involved in a derailment at Malwan station in
Fatehpur district that killed 70 and injured 300. Utkrisht rakes were introduced on the train on October 2, 2018, making it the first train in
Indian Railways to do so. The train was renamed to
Netaji Express on January 21, 2021, in honor of
Netaji Subash Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary. On July 14, 2025, the train was upgraded with modern
Linke-Hoffman Busch coaches, making it the first passenger train to continue its slip service with LHB coaches. ==Timings==