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Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, October 4
India’s first private semi-high speed train—Tejas Express—was flagged off by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the Lucknow-Delhi route at 9:55 AM on Friday.
Tejas is the first private-run train which is being operated by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian railways.
Almost 400 passengers were on board in the maiden run of the train which has a capacity of 758 passengers. The commercial operation of the train would start from Saturday.
The train was bedecked with flowers and the passengers were given a red carpet welcome as the first corporate train started its journey with a puja and blowing of conches by pujaris.
The train will have only two stops— in Kanpur and Ghaziabad— and would be the fastest train between Lucknow and New Delhi covering the distance in 6 hours 15 minutes.
IRCTC has fixed the Lucknow to Delhi fare for AC chair car at Rs 1125 and that of executive chair car at Rs 2310. The prices are, however, dynamic and may vary on a day to day basis.
Features of Tejas:
• Reservation till five minutes before departure
• Rs 25 lakh free insurance for the passengers
• IRCTC would give Rs 100 as refund if train is more than one hour late and Rs 250 as refund if train is more than two hours late.
• Would run six days a week except Tuesdays
• No concession under any category
• Reservation would start 60 days in advance
• Will cover the Lucknow-New Delhi distance in 6 hours and 15 minutes
• 50 Chair char and 5 Executive class seats would be reserved for foreign tourists
• CCTV camera installed
• Smoke and fire detection system
• Sensor based automatic doors
• GPS-based passenger information display system
• Tea-coffee vending machine
• Free Wi Fi
• Special catering for passengers matching airline standards
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