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The Flying Ranee ('ranee' = queen) runs between Mumbai Central and Surat. The origin of the Flying Ranee was a BB&CI Weekend Special in 1906. This stopped running after April 24, 1914. The train was restarted as the Flying Queen on 1st May 1937 (at the inauguration ceremony the train was also referred to as the 'Flying Ranee, Queen of the West Coast'). This time it was aimed at business travellers and it did the Bombay - Surat route in 4 hours flat, hauled by an H class 4-6-0 with poppet valves. Speeds regularly averaged 50mph, in those days (and still) a remarkable performance. The train was again discontinued in 1939 owing to the war situation.
On 1st November 1950 the train again steamed off from Surat at 6am, this time as the Flying Ranee and has been running since then. The Flying Ranee was one of the few trains in India to have an observation car, and one of the earliest to have an on-train telephone service. Among other luxuries for this prestige train were a radio and gramophone located in the dining car. With an average speed of 80km/h, it was one of the fastest medium-haul trains in India until the late 1960s.
Around 1965 it was hauled by WP locos dedicated for this train. In June 1977 the train switched to electric traction, being hauled by a WCAM-1; this arrangement lasted even today with a WCAM-2P ocassionally taking charge. On Dec. 18, 1979, double-decker cars were added to the Flying Ranee's rake (the second such train in post-Independence India, the first being the Sinhagad Exp.). The rake today usually has 18 cars.