Indian Railways' Diwali gift — Rajdhani becomes faster, more affordable

The Railways on Friday announced that it will introduce the faster Delhi-Mumbai Special Rajdhani Express service thrice a week without flexi fare from October 16.

To fulfil the long-overdue demand of passengers and to provide faster and convenient connectivity to passengers between two metros, Delhi and Mumbai, Railways is introducing the new Special Rajdhani Express between Delhi and Mumbai from October 16, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement.

The ministry also said that the train would be introduced on an experimental basis for three months to gauge the response of the public to the concept of a flat increase in fares against the existing flexi-fare system.

Railways said that with the introduction of the new Rajdhani Express, the travel time will be reduced from about 15 hours, 50 minutes to 13 hours, 55 minutes. The train will stop at Kota, Vadodara, and Surat only. Railway officials said that to increase the maximum speed of the train to 130 km/h, it will be hauled by two WAP5 locomotives of 5,400 horsepower each. The transporter already runs two Rajdhanis and more than 30 mail or express trains between the two metro cities.

The Rajdhani Express will comprise one first AC, two 2AC, 12 3ACs, and one pantry car. The fares of the new special train would be 20 percent more than the base fares for the existing New Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani without any flexi fare. The fare for the special Rajdhani in 3rd AC and 2nd AC will be around 19 percent cheaper than the maximum flexi fare of 3rd AC in the Mumbai Rajdhani.

The Special Rajdhani Express will depart from Hazrat Nizamuddin on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 4:15 pm, reaching Bandra Terminus at 6:10 am. It will leave Bandra Terminus on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 4:15 pm and reach Hazrat Nizamuddin at 6:10 am.

On September 9, 2016, Railways introduced flexi fares for premier trains — Rajdhani, Duronto, and Shatabdi.

Under this, the base fare increases by 10 percent with every 10 percent of berths sold, subject to a prescribed limit. There was no change in the existing fare for 1AC and EC class of travel. But on December 19, Railways started to provide 10 percent rebate on any seat left vacant after the preparation of the chart.

With inputs from IANS.

Do you have an interesting story to share? Please write to us at [email protected]. To stay updated with more positive news, please connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.