Passengers heading to Rangoon could transfer to a steamer after a short boat ride from the rail station at Howrah to the pier at Outram Ghat.
[2] In E. M. Forster's novel A Passage to India, the train that Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested took to get to Chandrapore was, most likely, the Imperial Indian Mail.
[3] In the 1890s, there was a single mail train operating between Bombay and Howrah running through Jabalpur and Allahabad (now Prayagraj).
The special trains connected directly with the mail steamers at Bombay and also carried a limited number of First Class passengers, completing the journey to Howrah in 43 hours.
The Imperial Indian Mail was the best-known edition of these Postal special trains and commenced operations in November 1926.
The weekly service departed from the Ballard Pier Mole railway station in Bombay on Fridays about 7 hours after the inbound steamer was signaled.
This service also marked the first time in India that bedding, cushions, blankets and other bedroom equipment were provided to the passengers.
The train operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway had a similar composition for the passenger coaches.