All you need to know about India’s fastest Train

Breaking all it’s previous speed records, the Indian railways have come up with India’s fastest train, Gatimaan which will run from Hazrat Nizamudin to Agra. Running at 160 KPH, it is the fastest train of our country and was flagged off by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu from Nizamudin Station.

Here is all you need to know about India’s fastest train:

1. India’s fastest train completed its maiden journey from Delhi to Agra in 100 minutes as compared to about 2-3 hours that other trains take to cover the distance.
2. Gatimaan Express will run six days a week, except Friday, in both directions. The train will leave Nizamuddin station at 8:10am and will reach Agra at 9:50am. From Agra, the train will start its return journey at 5:50pm and will reach Nizamuddin at 7:30pm. This means, a tourist looking to visit the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort can actually do it in a day trip from Delhi.
3. There are two executive chair car coaches and eight AC chair car coaches. There is a provision for hotspot infotainment and the railways has prepared special menu too for its passengers. There will be two sets of menu for vegetarian and non-vegetarian passengers apart from cakes and wafers. In vegetarian menu, a passenger can choose between South Indian and Punjabi food and in non-vegetarian there will be continental dishes and sausages.
4. Equipped with 5,400 HP electric locomotive ‘WAP 5’, and balanced draft gear couplers for a smooth ride, the train has two Executive AC Chair Car and eight AC Chair Car coaches, not seen in any other trains in the country so far. The new LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) coaches are fabricated at Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala.
5. Tickets will be priced at Rs 750 for AC CC and Rs 1,500 for executive CC. This is around 50% higher than the tariff for Shatabdi Express — Rs 515 for AC CC and Rs 1,010 for executive CC travel. The train will be run with 10 coaches, including eight air-conditioned chair car (AC CC) coaches and two executive class bogies, with a total of 715 seats.
6. The coaches are fitted with bio-toilets. Each coach costs a phenomenal Rs 2.5 crores.There will be TV screens on each seat, like in flights.
7. The on board catering on this train is being organized by railway PSU namely Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). IRCTC has made arrangement for deploying train hostesses also on board the train.
8. The tariff for the full-day package, which includes visit to the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, lunch at a local restaurant, AC vehicle for sightseeing and time for shopping, has been fixed at Rs 2,100 for an Indian adult and Rs 2,000 for a child (5-11 years). For foreigners, it is priced at Rs 3,900 for an adult and Rs 2,000 for a child.
9. The two-day package includes guided tours to the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Itmad – Ud – Daulah, Mehtab Bagh, Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandra, with buffet lunch and dinner, stay in a 5-star hotel, AC vehicles for sightseeing and entry tickets to the monuments. The package has been priced at Rs 14,500 (single occupancy), Rs 10,800 (double occupancy) and Rs 10,300 (triple occupancy). For child with bed (5-11 years), the tariff has been fixed at Rs 7,000 and for child without bed (5-11 years), it is Rs 3,800. For the foreigners, the tariff is Rs 17,600 (single occupancy), Rs 13,900 (double occupancy) and Rs 13,400 ((triple occupancy). For child with bed (5-11 years), the rate has been fixed at Rs 7,000 and for child without bed (5-11 years), it is Rs 3,800.
10. The original idea to run the train from New Delhi station and make it reach Agra in 90 minutes or even in 105 or 110 minutes has been abandoned. In fact, when starting from New Delhi, the flagship train was making little improvement on time from the existing Bhopal Shatabdi. So Railways chose the safe bet of starting it from Nizamuddin station so that it reaches Agra in 100 minutes.

 

So next time you want to visit Taj Mahal, you could take this desi-bullet train.