New timetable: 8 new Garib Rath; 178 trains speeded up

New Delhi, June 28: Introduction of eight new Garib Raths and 37 pairs of mail and passenger trains, speeding up of 178 trains between over two hours and less than 30 minutes and increase in the frequency of 15 pairs of train are the salient features of the new Railway Timetable, which will be operational from July 1.

Releasing all-India 'Trains At A Glance July 2007-June 2008' at a press conference here, Mr V N Mathur, Member Traffic, Railway Board, said Patna-Ernakulam Express (6360) will be speeded up by 255 minutes, which is the maximum for an express train.

The two trains, which have been converted into superfast services, are Bangalore-Patna Sanghmitra Express and Darbhanga-Bangalore Bagmati Express.

While the running time of Sanghmitra Express (2295/2296) has been reduced by 2 hrs 40 minutes and 1 hr 20 minutes respectively, the Darbhanga-Bangalore Bagmati Express (2777/2578) will save the passengers 2 hrs 15 minutes and 3 hrs 20 minutes respectively.

Similarly, 93 passenger trains will also be speeded up. The 408 Ambikapur-Durg Passenger will be accelerated by 315 minutes, which is the maximum for a passenger train in the new timetable.

Among the eight new Garib Raths, a spectacular success of the Railways providing airconditioned travelling at an affordable rate, are Tiruvananthapuram-Mumbai (bi-weekly), Secunderabad- Yesvantpur (tri-weekly), Jaipur-Bandra via Ahmedabad (tri-weekly), Kolkata-Patna (tri-weekly) and Bhubaneswar-Ranchi (tri-weekly).

The three other Garib Rath express trains are to run between Kolkata and Guwahati, New Delhi and Dehradun and Raipur and Lucknow.

In addition, the run of 24 trains will be extended and there will be an increase in frequency of 15 trains.

Mr Mathur said the decision to introduce eight new Garib Raths was in tune with the announcements made by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in his Budget 2007-08 and also because of the growing popularity of such trains. The four Garib Raths which are already operational run between Saharsa and Amritsar, Patna and Nizamuddin, Nizamuddin and Chennai and Nizamuddin and Bandra.

Pointing out that augmentation was a major focus area of the Railways, he said a total of 800 additional coaches would be pressed into service to augment the capacity of popular trains on a permanent basis.

As many as 211 coaches had already been attached on a permanent basis and more than 300 coaches on a temporary basis, he added.

Among the 24 trains which are to be extended are the Sealdah-Ajmer Ananya Express (extended till Udaipur), Kottayam-Thiruvananthapuram passenger (till Kanniyakumari), Jammu Tawi-Jaipur Express (till Ajmer), Secunderabad-Vijayawada Express (till Guntur), Delhi-Jammu Tawi Mail (till Udhampur), Tirupati-Guntakal passenger (till Hubli) and the Amritsar-Darbhanga Saryu Yamuna Express (till Jaynagar).

Further, the frequency of 15 trains has been increased. Among these trains which will now run seven days a week are New Delhi-Patna Rajdhani, New Delhi-Lucknow Gomti Express, Howrah-Guwahati Saraighat Express, Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore Express, Miraj-Belgaum Passenger and Machallipatanam-Tirupati passenger train.

Mr Mathur said all the new trains to be introduced with new rakes will have at least six second class unreserved coaches.

With regard to passenger amenities, he said the scheme to provide cushioned seats in unreserved second class compartments would become full operational by the year-end.

It is also planned to convert New Delhi-Patna Rajdhani and New Delhi-Guwahati/Dibrugarh Rajdhani into new LHB state of the art coaches.

He said during 2006-07, 78 trains were augmented to a 23-24 coach length. During 2007-08, 78 more trains have been identified for a similar augmentation of which 14 have already been given effect to.

Mr Mathur said a major objecive behind the introduction of new trains and speeding up of several other trains was to provide better rail connectivity to a large number of new developing regional centres.

Asked whether the speeding of trains would result in a compromise on the safety aspects, he said such an apprehension was unfounded as the speed had been increased within the existing permissible limit.

He also assured that steps would be taken to improve the punctuality of trains and catering onboard trains.

UNI