In what could bring cheers to thousands of passengers, Indian Railways will soon start a Rajdhani superfast express train on the Delhi-Mumbai route.
The first Rajdhani to pass through Central Railways zone will cover Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Kalyan, Nasik, Jalgaon, Khandwa, Bhopal, Jhansi, Agra, and Hazrat Nizamuddin. This will be the first Rajdhani on the route that will pass through Madhya Pradesh, instead of Gujarat.
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal disclosed this during an informal interaction with journalists in Delhi.
"We will soon flag off another Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani which will be the first Rajdhani to pass through Central Railways zone. This was a request from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis," Goyal said.
At present, there are two Rajdhani trains running between Delhi and Mumbai — one from Mumbai Central and the other from Bandra Terminus. The current fleet size of Rajdhani trains on the railway network is 23.
Goyal, on Wednesday, declared that Train 18 would run from Delhi to Varanasi. The run-time of the train would be eight hours, which is about one-and-a-half-times faster than the fastest train on the route. Goyal said the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was running campaigns to sensitise people on the Train 18 route.
The train has a number of features to enhance passenger comfort, which include interconnected fully-sealed gangways, automatic doors with retractable footsteps, GPS-based passenger information system, modular toilets with bio-vacuum systems, rotational seats that can be aligned in the direction of travel, roller blinds, diffused LED lighting and differently-abled-friendly toilets.
Sources suggest that the first commercial run of Train 18 would begin next week just ahead of the Kumbh Mela.
ADDED FACILITIES
- The train has a number of features to enhance passenger comfort, which include interconnected fully-sealed gangways, automatic doors with retractable footsteps, GPS-based passenger information system and modular toilets with bio-vacuum systems.
