Humsafar Express to be launched today

Source: www.livemint.com

New Delhi: The Indian Railways will launch the AC III tier Humsafar Express (12595/96 via Basti and 12571/72 via Badni) on Friday as promised by the railway minister Suresh Prabhu in the railway budget this year. The first Humsafar Express, with 16 AC III tier coaches and two power cars, would run between Anand Vihar in Ghaziabad to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh from Friday onwards after Prabhu flags it.

The special service train made up entirely of AC III coaches will run for inter-city overnight journeys and has been designed specifically for middle-class passengers.

The train, which comes with an anti-graffiti vinyl coating similar to the Maharaja Express coaches, has been facilitated with numerous features meant to provide luxury to middle-class passengers such as CCTV, Global Positioning System (GPS)-based passenger information system, mobile and laptop charging points, integrated braille display for the visually impaired, smoke detection and suppression system and a high quality exterior and interior design among others.

In addition, the fully air-conditioned AC III service with an optional meals-on-wheels will come equipped with hygienic lavatories with odour flushing system, auto vending machine and a mini pantry with an oven and a fridge.

The fares of the train are set to be higher than the regular AC III tier coaches as the cost of building one Humsafar coach is Rs2.58 crore as compared to Rs 2.39 crore of a regular AC III coach, according to a statement by the ministry.

The first group of Humsafar coaches, including power cars, has been manufactured at Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.

The ministry has announced the implementation of 10 Humsafar trains in the new timetable and it plans to manufacture 10 rakes during the current financial year at its Raebareli facility and Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Punjab.