Didi's Rakhi gift to women: Ladies special train to Palwal

As a Rakhi gift for women, the Railway Ministry will launch a 'Ladies Special' train from the city to Palwal in Haryana on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan on August 5.
    
"An EMU train with nine coaches will run on weekdays from Delhi to Palwal and return exclusively for women," a senior Railway Ministry official said.

The train will leave New Delhi in the morning and return in the evening. The special train will take about an hour to reach the destination.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to flag off the ladies special train on August 5, sources said.
    
The train will be escorted by women RPF squad for the safety purpose, the official said, adding "the squad will strictly monitor any unauthorised entry into the train during its journey".
    
There was a longstanding demand for a ladies special train in the region seeing the considerable number of working women travelling in suburban trains.

To cater to the needs of women employees during office hours, Banerjee had announced to launch ladies special trains in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata suburbans in her budget speech.

While ladies special suburban trains are already running in Mumbai, Banerjee recently flagged off a similar train in Kolkata.

The Railways have also decided to launch the ambitious non-stop Duronto trains.
    
According to sources, Duronto trains would be launched in Delhi-Howrah, Delhi-Pune and Howrah-Mumbai sectors in the first phase.

Currently, Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala is manufacturing stainless steel coaches for Duronto trains.
    
There would be a total of 12 such fast trains to be introduced in due course across the country as per the Rail Budget proposal.

The flagging off ceremonies of Duronto trains is likely to take place simultaneously in all three sectors.