Indian Railway introduced country’s first high-speed and feature rich train Tejas Express, aimed to provide a flight-like travel experience on the ground on 22 May.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday flagged off the train from Chatrapati Shivaji Station; runs between Mumbai and Karmali (Goa) five days a week during non-monsoon period and three days a week during monsoon by halting at Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Ratnagiri and Kudal stations, railway authority informed.
The train will depart Karmali at 2.30 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 23 and arrive at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai at 11 pm the same day. It will leave from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai at 5 am on every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 24 and arrives at Karmali at 1.30 pm on the same day. During the monsoon season, the train will depart from Mumbai on every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and will leave Karmali at 7.30 am on every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, said an official.
India’s first premium train will run at an average speed of 130kmph, has got all the ultra-modern amenities like on-board infotainment, wi-fi, CCTV, fire and smoke detection facilities, tea and coffee vending machine including many more. The train, manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, having automatic entrance doors with all the safety measures like suppression system, fire suppression system, smoke detection and fire detection. A GPS-based passenger information display system and a digital destination board has also been installed for the convenience of the passengers, he said.
“The 20 coach train will have one executive AC chair car with 56 seating capacity and 12 AC chair cars with 78 seat capacity of each coach. Tejas Express’s executive class fare is Rs 2,940 (with food) and Rs 2,540 (without food); for AC chair car the fare has been fixed at Rs 1,850 (with food) and Rs 1,220 (without food). Besides the railways has also planned optional on-board catering services”, added the official.
