Started in 1979,[1] it was the first train connecting Pune to the capital city of New Delhi.

This nomenclature was adopted at the behest of S. Prakash Singh Ghai, a partner at 'Ghai Brothers', a pioneer firm of railway contractors around the time the train first hit the tracks.

The Ghai family hailed from the Pinanwal, a village in district Jhelum and settled in Pune post-partition.

Moreover, with the completion of Katra–Banihal section in 2018 December, the train is also expected to be extended to Srinagar, linking the important army setups in Kashmir with Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur and Southern Command headquarters in Pune.

There is strong demand to extend this train up to Miraj junction which will facilitate military personnel and tourists from Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur districts.