Indian Railways News

Indian Railways News

WR to Dedicate Dhola Jn–Mahuva & Rajula Road–Rajula City Sections on Bhavnagar Division as Green Corridors

Taking another major step towards ‘Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat’, Western Railway is further moving ahead in this direction by converting and dedicating the Dhola Jn–Mahuva (excluding Dhola) section of 126.5 kms and Rajula Road–Rajula City section of 7.5 kms on the Bhavnagar Para Division of Western Railway into the Green Corridors with effect from 26th January, 2018 i.e. on the eve of Republic Day of Union of India.

All the trains plying on these sections will be provided with bio-toilets which will ensure 100% zero discharge of human waste on tracks.

THE BENEFITS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEN CORRIDOR:

  • The Green Corridor is a commitment to clean environment under the ‘Swachh Rail – Swachh Bharat’ initiative.
  • Trains in the Green Corridor will be fitted with bio-toilets, which ensure zero discharge of human waste on the rail tracks thereby improving cleanliness and hygiene.
  • The Green Corridor is aimed at contributing towards the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ initiated by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
  • Bio-toilets store the discharge in a bio digester tank, which has anaerobic bacteria, fitted underneath the train coach in a small space.
  • The bacteria have the ability to convert human faecal matter into water and small amount of gases like Methane.
  • A total of 6 trains consisting of 66 coaches ply over Dhola Jn – Mahuva and Rajula Road – Rajula City section.

Western Railway had earlier converted and dedicated the Porbandar – Wansjaliya section (33.7 kms) and Okha – Kanalus section (141 kms) as Green Corridors with zero discharge human waste from coaches in the November, 2016. These two sections were the first Green Corridor in Western Railway and the second over Indian Railways. Now, Western Railway has again proved to be a frontrunner in taking initiatives in the direction of Clean India, Green India & Swachh Bharat.

मुंबई, 25 जनवरी, 2018 – पश्चिम रेलवे द्वारा 26 जनवरी, 2018 से ढोला जं.-महुवा तथा राजुला रोड-राजुला सिटी खंड ग्रीन कोरिडोर के रूप में समर्पित

‘स्वच्छ रेल – स्वच्छ भारत’ की तरफ एक और कदम बढ़ाते हुए पश्चिम रेलवे ने ढोला जं.-महुवा (ढोला सहित) के 126.5 किमी खंड तथा राजुला रोड-राजुला सिटी के 7.5 किमी खंड को 26 जनवरी, 2018 से ग्रीन कोरिडोर के रूप में समर्पित कर अपनी उपलब्धियों में एक नया अध्याय जोड़ा है। इन खंडों से गुज़रने वाली सभी ट्रेनों में बायो-टॉयलेट उपलब्ध कराये जायेंगे, जिससे ट्रैक पर मानवीय मल-मूत्र की शून्य निकासी सुनिश्चित की जा सकेगी।

ग्रीन कोरिडोर के लाभ एवं विशेषताएँ

  • ग्रीन कोरिडोर स्वच्छ रेल – स्वच्छ भारत पहल के अंतर्गत स्वच्छ वातावरण हेतु एक प्रतिबद्धता है।
  • ग्रीन कोरिडोर की ट्रेनों में बायो-टॉयलेट लगे होंगे, जो ट्रैक पर मानवीय मूल-मूत्र की शून्य निकासी सुनिश्चित करेंगे, जिससे स्वच्छता एवं स्वास्थ्यकर वातावरण में वृद्धि होगी।
  • ग्रीन कोरिडोर माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेन्द्र मोदी द्वारा शुरू की गई ‘स्वच्छ भारत अभियान’ की संकल्पना में अपना महत्त्वपूर्ण योगदान देगा।
  • बायो टॉयलेट बायो डाइजेस्टर टैंक में मल-मूत्र एकत्र करती है, जिसमें एनॉबिक बैक्टीरिया होते हैं। इसे ट्रेन कोच के नीचे कम स्थान में लगाया जाता है।
  • बैक्टीरिया मानवीय मल-मूत्र को पानी तथा कम मात्रा में मिथेन जैसी गैस के रूप में परिवर्तित कर देते हैं।
  • ढोला जं.-महुवा तथा राजुला रोड-राजुला सिटी खंडों से कुल 6 ट्रेनें गुज़रती हैं, जिनमें 66 डिब्बे होते हैं।

पश्चिम रेलवे ने शुरुआत में नवम्बर, 2016 में पोरबंदर-वंसजालिया खंड (33.7 किमी) तथा ओखा-कानालूस खंड (141 किमी) को कोचों से मानवीय मल-मूत्र की शून्य निकासी सुनिश्चित कर ग्रीन कोरिडोर के रूप में समर्पित किया था। ये दो खंड पश्चिम रेलवे पर पहली तथा सम्पूर्ण भारतीय रेल पर दूसरी ग्रीन कोरिडोर थे। अब इस पहल के द्वारा पश्चिम रेलवे ने स्वच्छ भारत, हरित भारत एवं स्वच्छ भारत की दिशा में पुनःअपने अग्रणी होने का परिचय दिया है।

Regulation of Train Services due to Traffic-Cum-Power Block in Adra Division of SER

Due to six hours of Traffic-cum-Power Block on both Up and Dn line between Jhantipahari & Indrabil stations from 10.30 hrs to 16.30 hrs and between Chandrakona Road & Garbeta Stations from 09.30 hrs to 15.30 hrs in Midnapur-Adra Section of Adra Division on 28.01.2018 (Sunday) for launching of Limited Height Subways, the following trains will be regulated as under:

Cancellation of Trains

  • 08628/08627 Ranchi-Howrah-Ranchi Special will remain cancelled on 28.01.18.
  • 68090/68089 Adra-Midnapur-Adra MEMU Passenger will remain cancelled on 28.01.18.
  • 58601 Kharagpur-Adra Passenger will remain cancelled on 28.01.18.

Short Termination/Short Origination of Trains

  • 58026 Hatia-Kharagpur Passenger will be short terminated at Adra and will short originate as 58025 from Adra. Similarly, 58025 Kharagpur-Hatia Passenger will be short terminated at Chandrakona Road and will short originate as 58026 from Chandrakona Road. Therefore, services of this pair of train will remain cancelled between Adra-Chandrakona Road-Adra on 28.01.18.
  • 58604 Gomoh-Kharagpur Passenger will be short terminated at Adra on 28.01.18. Thus, service of 58604 will not be available between Adra-Kharagpur on 28.01.18.

Rescheduling of Train

  • 22876 Purulia-Kharagpur Intercity Express will be rescheduled to leave Purulia at 13.55 hrs instead of 11.55 hrs on 28.01.18.

Regulation of Train

  • 12551 Yesvantpur-Kamakhya Express leaving Yesvantpur on 27.01.18 will be controlled for 15 minutes between Hijli and Chandrakona Road.

GM/SCR Undertakes Annual Inspection of Mudkhed-Malkajgiri Section

Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, South Central Railway undertook inspection of Mudkhed-Malkajgiri Section of Hyderabad Division today i.e., 24th January, 2018. He was accompanied by Shri Arun Kumar Jain, Divisional Railway Manager, Hyderabad Division. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav commenced the Annual inspection with safety check at a Bridge between Shivangaon-Umri stations of Hyderabad Division. The General Manager inspected Umri Railway station and inaugurated 7.5 HP Solar Pump at station which will save 122.53 Kw units per annum. He also planted saplings at station premises towards green initiative. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav inspected first Energy Efficient Railway Colony (Umri) on SCR and inaugurated a new over head water tank pipeline system for colony. At Dharmabad, the General Manager inspected railway station and inaugurated Railway Protection Force (RPF) Out Post at station.

At Basar, Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav inspected station, circulating area, platforms and passenger amenities available at the station. He also inspected facilities specially designed for divyang passengers and advised officials to maintain cleanliness. Shri G. Vittal Reddy, Hon’ble MLA met General Manager and discussed on rail developmental issues on his region. He inspected a major bridge on Godavari River between Basar-Navipet stations. He also inspected Manned Level Crossing Gate between Navipet-Jankampet stations which has been indigenously designed with green ambience and appreciated the gatemen and staff for maintaining such beautiful greenery at the LC Gate. He also inaugurated ‘Solar System’ for water motor pump and lighting at LC Gate. Later, he inspected Gang and interacted with trackman and awarded all the members in Gang No. 13 for performing their duties with dedication.

At Nizamabad, the General Manager extensively inspected station premises, circulating area, passenger amenities, Health Unit, Running Room etc. He checked the quality of food served to the staff in Running Room. He inaugurated website developed for the crew of Hyderabad Division and Fully Air-conditioned 12 bedded additional running room with Meditation and Recreational facilities. Shri B. Ganesh Gupta, Hon’ble MLA, Nizamabad (Rural) and Shri Baji Reddy Govardan, Hon’ble MLA, Nizamabad (Urban) met Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav and discussed various issues related to their constituencies. Several public representatives also met the General Manager and submitted their representations. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav interacted with media personnel at Nizamabad Railway Station and briefed on plans relating to up gradation of Nizamabad Railway Station and other rail developmental plans in Hyderabad Division. He also planted saplings at Running Room premises as part of green initiative.

Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav reviewed the developmental plans of circulating area on both sides and extension of Foot Over Bridge at Kamareddi Railway and inaugurated live remote monitoring system of LC Gate from Station Manager’s room. He unveiled Audio Visual Compact Discs on installation, maintenance and operation of Electrically operated lifting barrier during his inspection. Smt. M. Padma Devender Reddy, Hon’ble MLA & Deputy Speaker, Telangana met the General Manager at Mirzapalli station and discussed on rail developmental plans pertaining to her constituency. Shri S. Ramalinga Reddy, Hon’ble MLA, Dubbaka also met the General Manger at Wadiaram Station and discussed rail developmental plans in his region.

Shri Ram Kripal, Commissioner of Railway Safety; K. Siva Prasad, Principal Chief Engineer; Shri N. Madhusudana Rao, Principal Chief Operations Manager; Shri Vijay Agarwal, Chief Administrative Officer (Construction); Smt Purna M Cherla, Financial Advisor & Chief Administrative Officer (G); Shri Arjun Mundiya, Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer; Shri V.M.Srivastava, Principal Chief Signal & Telecommunications Engineer; Shri A.A.Phadke, Principal Chief Electrical Engineer; Shri P.K.Sahu, Chief Commercial Manager (C&PS); Shri Sanjay Sankrityayan, Chief Security Commissioner and other Officials also accompanied the General Manger and conducted department wise inspection.

First Ever IRCTC Executive Lounge on SCR opened at Vijayawada Railway Station

The first Executive Lounge on South Central Railway is commissioned at Vijayawada Railway Station (Platform No. 1) today i.e., 24th January, 2018 in the presence of Shri R. Dhananjayulu, Divisional Railway Manger, Vijayawada Division; Shri M.V.S. Ramaraju, Addl. Divisional Railway Manager, Vijayawada Division; Smt. G. Sumana, Addl. Divisional Railway Manager, Vijayawada Division and Shri D. Narasing Rao, Group General Manager, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The initiative has been jointly under taken by South Central Railway and IRCTC.

The Executive Lounge is equipped with a host of facilities to provide comfortable waiting facility for the rail commuters. The lounge includes facilities like free Internet, Soft Beverages, Hot beverages like Tea/Coffee, News Papers / Magazines, TV / Instrumental Music, Wash Room, Locker / Luggage rack etc. A separate waiting room is provided for lady passengers. The entry charges to the Executive Lounge will be Rs. 150/- (one hundred and fifty only) for first two hours and each additional one hour will be charged at Rs. 50/- (fifty only).

Other paid services of the Executive Lounge, which covers an area of 370 square metre done with Mezzanine Floor, includes a Shower Room which along with a Shower Kit (tooth brush, paste, tongue cleaner, shaving razor, shaving foam, bath soap and bath towel) will be accessible for use at a charge of Rs. 150/- (one hundred and fifty only). The Combo Break-fast will be served at Rs. 150/-, the Snacks Combo at Rs. 150/-, Lunch and Dinner Combos (Veg. / Non Veg.) at Rs. 250/- & 275/- per person. It is planned to provide facilities like ‘Business Centre’ (Printing / FAX etc), concierge service, travel desk etc in due course.

104 Special Trains announced to various Destinations from Tirupati to clear extra rush during Summer

In order to clear extra rush of passengers during Summer season, 104 Special Trains will run from Tirupati to Kakinada Town, Nagarsol and  H.S.Nanded as detailed below:-

Train No. 07942/07941 Tirupati-Kakinada Town-Renigunta special trains (34 services):

Train No. 07942 Tirupati – Kakinada Town  Jansadharan special train will depart Tirupati  at 19:00 hrs on 4th , 11th , 18th & 25thMarch ;1st , 8th , 15th , 22nd & 29th April; 6th , 13th , 20th  & 27th May, 3rd , 10th , 17th & 24th June, 2018 (Sundays)  and arrive Kakinada Town at 05:30 hrs on the next day

In the return direction, Train No. 07941 Kakinada Town-Renigunta Jansadharan special train will depart Kakinada Town at 19:00 hrs on 5th , 12th , 19th & 26th March; 2nd , 9th , 16th , 23rd & 30th April; 7th , 14th , 21st  & 28th May; 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th June, 2018 (Mondays)  and arrive Renigunta  at 06:00 hrs on the next day.

Enroute, these special trains will stop at Renigunta, Sri Kalahasti, Gudur, Nellore, Ongole, Tenali, Vijayawada, Eluru, Tadepalligudem, Rajahmundry and Samalkot in both the directions.

These special trains consist of General Second Class and Luggage cum Brake van coaches.

Train No. 07417/07418 Tirupati-Nagarsol-Tirupati weekly Special Trains (36 services):

Train No 07417 Tirupati – Nagarsol weekly Special Train will depart Tirupati at 07:30 hrs on 2nd , 9th , 16th , 23rd & 30th March; 6th , 13th , 20th  & 27th  April; 4th , 11th , 18th & 25th May; 1st , 8th , 15th , 22nd & 29th June,2018 (Friday) arrive/depart Secunderabad at 20:15/20:25 hrs on the same day and arrive Nagarsol at 11: 55 hrs on the next day.

In the return direction, Train No.07418 Nagarsol – Tirupati weekly Special Train will depart Nagarsol at 22:00 hrs on 3rd , 10th , 17th , 24th & 31st March; 7th , 14th , 21st & 28th April; 5th , 12th , 19th & 26th May; 2nd , 9th ,16th , 23rd &30th June,2018 (Saturday), arrive/depart Secunderabad at 11:55/12:05 hrs on the next day and arrive Tirupati at 04:00 hrs on the second day.

Enroute, these special trains will also stop at Renigunta, Gudur, Nellore, Ongole, Tenali, Guntur, Sattenapalli, Piduguralla, Nadikudi, Miryalguda, Nalgoda, Cherlapalli, Begampet, Lingampalli, Shankarpalli, Vikarabad, Zahirabad, Bidar, Bhalki, Udgir, Latur Road, Pangaon, Parli, Gangakher, Parbhani, Manavat Road, Selu, Partur, Jalna and Aurangabad stations in both directions.

These special trains will consist of AC II Tier, AC III Tier, Sleeper Class and General Second Class Coaches.

Train No. 07607/07608 H.S.Nanded-Tirupati-H.S.Nanded Special Trains (34 services):

Train No 07607 H.S.Nanded – Tirupati Special Train will depart H.S.Nanded at 18:45 hrs on 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th March; 3rd , 10th , 17th, 24th  April; 1st , 8th, 15th , 22nd , 29th May, 5th, 12th , 19th and 26th  June, 2018 (Tuesdays) arrive/depart Secunderabad at 00:10/00:40 hrs on the next day and arrive Tirupati at 14.00 hrs.

In the return direction, Train No 07608 Tirupati – H.S.Nanded Special Train will depart Tirupati at 15:45 hrs on  7th, 14th, 21st & 28thMarch; 4th , 11th , 18th, 25th  April; 2nd , 9th, 16th , 23nd , 30th May, 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th  June, 2018 (Wednesdays) arrive/depart Secunderabad at 04:35/04:55 hrs on the next day and arrive H.S.Nanded at 11:30 hrs.

Enroute, these special trains will also stop at Mudkhed, Dharmabad, Basar, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Malkajgiri, Kazipet, Warangal, Khammam, Vijayawada, Tenali, Ongole, Nellore, Gudur, Sri Kalahasti and Renigunta stations in both directions.

These special trains will consist of AC II Tier, AC III Tier, Sleeper Class and General Second Class Coaches.

SBI Caps to evaluate Monetisation of Indian Railways’ Transmission Assets

SBI Capital Markets will evaluate Indian Railways’ Overhead Equipment (OHE) network for Electrical Traction as the state-run transporter is exploring the monetisation of its transmission assets.

Expecting to raise about Rs 25,000 crore from monetistion of these assets, the Railways has asked SBI Caps to study its transmission and distribution network for valuation and submit a report next month.

Railways has about 25,000 km of electrified routes involving OHE through which electric locomotives draw power for running trains and an action plan finalised by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has envisaged the complete electrification of the network by 2020-21.

The plan entails drastic reduction on the expenditure on fossil fuels by shifting to complete electrification of the rail routes across the country.

Accordingly, the electrification of about 24,400 km of railway tracks by 2020-21 at an estimated cost of Rs 35,000 crore is expected to reflect on the forthcoming budget.

“The decision to monetise the transmission assets has been taken with the aim of raising resources from within and depending less on gross budgetary support (GBS),” a senior Railways official said.

As per the plan, the Railways is discussing with the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), a Power Ministry subsidiary, to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for this purpose.

The SPV will raise funds from the market for the Railways and the public transporter will pay a fixed price as lease amount to the SPV. However, the operation and maintenance of the electric lines will be with the Railways.

The state-run transporter is expecting that the funds from transmission assets will give a boost to its capacity expansion plans without depending on the GBS.

The valuation of OHE infrastructure, the amount of lease and other related issues will be dealt with in the SBI Caps report, the official said.

The plan outlay of the Railways in the Budget 2018-19 is likely to go up from Rs 1.31 lakh crore to 1.46 lakh crore for the next fiscal.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the budget on February 1, the last full budget of the present govermnent ahead of the general elections in 2019 amid rising global crude oil prices and dipping Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is likely to stick to its fiscal consolidation commitments though there are expectations that the budget would lighten the tax burden of the middle class.

The Railways component of the main budget is expected to boost infrastructure investments in order to step up the growth momentum.

Mumbai, Bengaluru Suburban Rail Networks may get Rs.50,000 Crore push in the Union Budget

The railways ministry may soon announce India’s largest ever investment in suburban rail infrastructure to revamp the overloaded networks in Mumbai and Bengaluru at a cost of more than Rs 50,000 crore. The mega plan does not entail any burden on the exchequer or passengers as railways would sell its prime land parcels to raise funds, a senior official told. “A self-funding model is being worked out, as part of which private developers and operators will also be engaged,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Once approved by the cabinet, this will be the second largest greenfield rail development project to be undertaken by the Narendra Modi government after the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor plan.

“Rail infrastructure in both cities is overburdened and creaking. We are planning to build elevated corridors along existing rail lines, given the lack of land, to increase capacity,” the official said. “Stations would be upgraded to airport-like terminals where arrivals and departures would be separate.” A 160-km long network has been planned for Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka. The state is set to go to the polls later this year.

If the plan is approved, Rs 12,000 crore will be spent on laying new rail lines and rebuilding stations in Bengaluru. “The projects under this plan won’t be part of the railway plan outlay that will be announced in the upcoming budget. A separate outlay plan will be drawn for these,” the official said.

Mumbai’s suburban trains carry about 7.5 million passengers every day. The local trains are packed to 2.6 times of their carrying capacity on average. Since independence, the passenger load on Mumbai’s suburban rail system has grown more than eight times while train capacity has grown only three times. Bengaluru’s suburban rail network, too, is counted among the busiest in the world.

The Railways can tie up with the concerned state and city governments to form joint ventures for suburban operations. Local governments need to be involved in financing suburban rail travel. We do need to better allocate resources for much-needed public transport like suburban rails, especially in dense urban centres. Going forward, there would be ample scope to revamp local train services and levy reasonable user charges as well, an official mentioned.

Global investors welcome to participate in Indian Railways upgrade: Piyush Goyal

Goyal, who is in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting, said there is a huge scope for innovations in railways including in signalling systems for which latest technologies of the world are being brought in.

Promising a major technological and modernisation upgrade at railways, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said there are plans to equip the entire rail network with Wi-Fi and CCTV system and foreign investors are welcome to participate in this growth story.

Goyal, who is in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting, said there is a huge scope for innovations in railways including in signalling systems for which latest technologies of the world are being brought in.

“Currently age old systems are there which even cause safety issues. We are working on a major upgrade for them,” Goyal told PTI in an interview in Davos on the sidelines of the WEF.

“We will also consider putting in place WiFi and CCTV networks for entire rail network to make Indian railways at par with the best in the world in terms of safety as well as public convenience,” the railway minister said.

Goyal said the government wants to make the track safety systems very robust with the use of technology and it has already started the bullet train project.

“The first has been launched and we want to put in place a web of bullet trains across the country. There are programmes on tables for dedicated freight corridors and you can expect huge changes in railways space in coming future. A lot of programmes are on table,” he said.

Goyal said railways is also inviting foreign investors. “The kind of huge orders we talking about for various modernisation and technology upgrade projects, I’m sure everyone would like to participate. Two factories are being already set up in Bihar,” he said.

Railway track doubling up to Lumding via Goalpara will be ready 2020: Chairman/Railway Board

Work on doubling of railway track till Guwahati and Lumding will be completed by 2020, even as introduction of new trains in this region is not expected to happen till the doubling project is completed on account of overutilization of existing lines. Speaking to the media here today, Chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said that electrification of railway track till Guwahati will also be completed within two years, while the Bogibeel Bridge is expected to be opened by June this year.

“Work on doubling is on. Doubling has been sanctioned till Lumding via Goalpara and work will be completed by 2020. Doubling work till Guwahati will also be completed by 2020,” he said.

Lohani added that capacity utilization of existing rail tracks in the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) zone is very high. The utilization rate is 160 per cent in the New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati section, 130 per cent in the Goalpara line and 150 per cent in the Guwahati-Lumding section.

As such, introduction of new trains to and from the North East is unlikely till doubling work is completed.

Lohani said that Indian Railways is carrying out projects worth Rs.58,000 crore in the region, including on electrification and doubling of rail tracks.

“Electrification of rail tracks will be carried out till Guwahati within two years,” he said.

He added that work on Bogibeel Bridge is nearing completion and it is expected to be inaugurated by June this year.

NFR’s project expenditure in the last fiscal was Rs 7,100 crore but it is expected to come down to around Rs 5,500 crore this year. The fall will be mostly on account of problems in Manipur where work on new projects was disrupted for around two months this fiscal due to agitations.

Lohani said that freight from NFR has fallen on account of NGT’s rules regarding mining of coal in this region.

New Tejas Train on Delhi-Chandigarh route likely to start running from March 2018

DRM/Ambala, Dinesh Sharma told on Wednesday that the new Tejas Train is likely to start plying in March between Delhi-Chandigarh once the coaches arrive from RCF, the coach manufacturing unit of Indian Railways.

More than a year after the railway ministry announced the introduction of the premier Tejas train on the Delhi-Chandigarh route, the new train is likely to start operations in March, said officials of the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala and Northern Railway on Wednesday. The introduction of Chandigarh-Delhi Tejas was announced in 2016. The duration from Chandigarh to Delhi would be around three hours.

DRM/Ambala told on Wednesday that the train was likely to start plying in March once the coaches arrive from RCF, the coach manufacturing unit of Indian Railways. RCF officials, too, confirmed that work had reached the final stages. “We hope to hand over 19 coaches of the Tejas train to Northern Railway as work is expected to be finished by then,” said senior PRO Manjeet Singh of RCF. He, however, said that it was up to Northern Railway to decide how many coaches they want on the Chandigarh-Delhi sector.

The first Tejas train was started on the Mumbai-Goa route by Northern Railway In 2016. The railways has already announced the timetable. The Tejas (22425) will leave Delhi at 9.40 am and reach Chandigarh at 12.40 pm. The same train (22426) will leave Chandigarh at 14.35 pm and reach New Delhi at 17.30 pm. The new train, which will run six days a week, is expected to have nine chair cars, one executive chair and other coaches. The fare would be announced only after the final dates are announced.

The Tejas would include bio-vacuum toilets (less water consumption and hygienic), automatic plug door, LCD, GPS-based passenger information display system. The railways listed 29 facilities, which the Tejas would have on offer for the passenger

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