Commissioning of Main Concourse at Hazrat Nizamuddin Station Along
with Enhanced Passenger Amenities and Executive Lounge at Agra Cantt
Gatimaan Express will Run on All Days of Week Except Friday
Train Hostesses to Provide Hospitality Services On-Board
Attractive Guided Tour Packages
In
keeping with the budgetary proposal, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar
Prabhu flagged off India’s first semi high-speed train Gatimaan Express capable
of running at a maximum speed of 160 kmph, at a ceremony held at Hazrat Nizamuddin
Railway station today i. e. 05.04.2016. The launch of this train heralds a new
era of high speed rail travel in India. Railway Minister has emphasized about
increasing the speed of both passengers and goods trains in budget speech.
Mayor, Delhi Shri Subash Arya, Shri Maheish Girri, Member of Parliament (Lok
Sabha) were the distinguished guests on the occasion. Senior Railway
officers include Shri A.K.Mital, Chairman, Railway Board, Members Railway
Board, Shri A.K.Puthia General Manager, Northern Railway and Shri Arun Arora
Divisional Railway Manager, Northern Railway, Delhi. Following the inaugural
run today i.e. 05.04.2016 from H. Nizamuddin, regular services will commence in
the return direction i.e. from Agra Cantt. on the same day and from 06.04.2016
from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station.
While
speaking on the occasion Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said
that launching of Semi high speed Gatimaan Express was a big achievement for
Indian Railways and had fulfilled the dream of Hon’ble Prime Minister. He
further added that Indian Railway shell run more Gatimaan trains on different
sectors and this would enhance tourism in India. He said it was their aim to
increase average speed of all passengers and freight trains and Indian Railway
have already started working on mission “Raftaar” and would be accomplished in
5 years time.
Powered by a 5500 HP electric locomotive, the non-stop train
will have two Executive AC Chair Car and eight AC Chair Car coaches. The
coaches to be used in Gatiman Express train are new LHB coaches with enhanced
passenger amenities are turned out by RCF/Kapurthala. The coaches have been
fitted with bio toilets and are fit to run at 160 kmph. The fare for chair car
in fully air conditioned Gatimaan Express has been fixed at Rs 750, while for
Executive Class it will be Rs 1,500.
The onboard catering on this train is being
organized by Railways’ PSU, namely Indian Railway Catering & Tourism
Corporation (IRCTC). IRCTC has made arrangements for deploying train hostesses
also on board the train. This train will see improve catering and will have
options for different kinds of cuisines. Another unique feature of this train
is free of cost on board entertainment facility. Under this facility,
passengers can view various entertaining videos during travel on their Smart
Phones, Tablet or Laptops even without internet connection through Wi-Fi. In
conjunction with this train, IRCTC has also arranged two different Agra guided
tour packages to coincide with the Time Table of this Gatimaan Express. One
package is for the full day whereas the other package is for two days, the
details of which could be seen at www.irctc.co.in.
On this occasion Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu also
inaugurated a new Executive Lounge constructed by IRCTC at Agra Cantt. Railway
Station through remote from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. Having
a seating capacity for 75-80 persons, to be launched in phases, the lounge is
located on Platform No-1 of Agra Cantt station. Modeled
like on airport lounges, the lounge at Agra Cantt station provides a range of
complimentary and paid facilities such as meals on order, channel music, hot beverages (tea/coffee) and soft
drinks, round the clock Wi-Fi facility, luggage racks for in-house passengers,
wheel chairs, recliners, TV, train information display, Business Centre with
fax, printers, desktops, newspapers and magazines, clean toilets and shoe
shiners.
The
services of the Executive Lounge will be available to passengers at a nominal
entry fee of Rs.100 for two hours and Rs 50 for per additional hour. It
includes the usage of Wi-Fi, toilets, recliners and browsing of newspapers and
magazines apart from unlimited tea/coffee and soft beverages. Additional
services such as the Wash & Change, meals and facilities at Business Centre
are chargeable. Rate for wash and change is Rs 75. IRCTC also plans to provide
more such executive lounges at Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Howrah,
Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jammu.
Minister
of Railways also commissioned the Main Concourse with enhanced facilities for
passengers at Nizamuddin railway station. The renewed main concourse has been provided with counters
for platform ticket, Enquiry, May I help you booth as well as offices for
Station Manager, Ticket Checking staff, etc. It has been provided with a
spacious porch area for easy access of station premises to passengers. This
beautiful main concourse is expected to provide better aesthetics and
convenience to rail passengers.
Schedule Of Regular Run Of 12050/12049 Between H. Nizamuddin And
Agra Cantt. ‘Gatiman’ Express (Six Days A Week Except Friday) Train
The 12050
H. Nizamuddin- Agra Cantt. ‘Gatimaan’ Express (Six Days A Week Except Friday) Train
will depart from H. Nizamuddin at 08.10 a.m.
from 06.04.2016 to reach Agra Cantt. at 09.50 a.m. the same day. In the
return direction, the 12049 H. Agra Cantt.- H.
Nizamuddin ‘Gatiman’ Express (Six Days A Week Except Friday) Train will
depart from Agra Cantt. at 05.50 p.m. from
05.04.2016 to reach H.
Nizamuddin at 07.30 p.m. the same day. The 12050/12049
H. Nizamuddin- Agra Cantt.- H. Nizamuddin ‘Gatiman’ Express (Six Days A Week
Except Friday) train will have two Executive AC Chair Car & eight AC
Chair Car coaches.
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AKS/MKV/MN/AK