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* [[Mumbai]] - [[Nagpur]] (2289 U, 2290 D)
* [[Mumbai]] - [[Nagpur]] (2289 U, 2290 D)
* [[Howrah]] - [[Yesvantapur]] (2245 U, 2246 D) (Weekly) Inaugurated on 3 January 2010 by Union Minister Of State For Railway Minister K H Muniyappa.
* [[Howrah]] - [[Yesvantapur]] (2245 U, 2246 D) (Weekly) Inaugurated on 3 January 2010 by Union Minister Of State For Railway Minister K H Muniyappa.
* [[Ernakulam]] - [[Hazrat Nizamuddin]] (2283 U, 2284 D) (Weekly) Inaugurated on 7 March 2010 by Union Minister Of State For Railway Minister E Ahamed.
* [[Secunderabad Railway Station|Secunderabad Junction]]- [[Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station|Hazrat Nizamuddin]] (2285 U, 2286 D) (Bi-weekly) Inaugurated on 14 March 2010<ref>{{Deccan Chronicle
* [[Secunderabad Railway Station|Secunderabad Junction]]- [[Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station|Hazrat Nizamuddin]] (2285 U, 2286 D) (Bi-weekly) Inaugurated on 14 March 2010<ref>{{Deccan Chronicle
|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/secunderabad-delhi-duronto-flagged-969}}</ref>
|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/secunderabad-delhi-duronto-flagged-969}}</ref>

Revision as of 11:21, 8 April 2010

Duranto Express train from Nizzamuddin to Pune

Duronto (Bengali: দুরন্ত; "quick") Express trains are a set of specialized rail services by Indian Railways like Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express trains. These are the non-stop point to point rail services introduced for the second time in the history of India.[1] The Sampark Kranti trains being the first which were introduced during the railway budget by the then rail minister Mr. Nitesh Kumar during 2004-2005. However due to poor patronage, these trains which anyway had only technical halts were given commercial stops.

These services connect the metros and major state capitals of India. Introduced in the Indian Rail Budget 2009-10, these trains run non-stop from source and destinations with some technical and crew halts in the journey. The Duronto express trains are projected to be the fastest trains in India.

Background

Further information: High-speed rail in India and Fastest trains in India
The Rajdhani Express train

The fastest train in India is the Bhopal Shatabdi Express[2] which runs at a maximum speed of 150 km/hr[3]. But the Ministry of Railways (India) wanted to introduce the service of high speed rail in India.In 2007, the ministry, choose the 500-kilometre stretch between Delhi and Amritsar for a pre-feasibility study.[4] The cost for setting up the Delhi-Amritsar corridor is estimated to be around Rs 25,000 crore.On 19 January 2009, the former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said that his ministry was in the process of appointing global consultants for introducing the high-speed trains on certain routes.Besides the Delhi-Amritsar route, Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulam and Howrah-Haldia.[5] But, this High Speed rail service for India is expected to be completed on a long run. Meanwhile,[6] the new Railway minister of India, Mamata Banerjee announced the introduction of the reasonably high speed rail service, Duronto, in the Indian Rail budget 2009-10.[7]

Serving Destinations

The Duronto trains are to ply between the Metro Cities of India. During the inaugural announcement of these services in the Railway Budget 2009-10 (made on 3 July 2009), 12 weekly, bi-weekly and tri-weekly Duronto trains[8] were announced. In the next rail budget of 24 February 2010, ten more Duronto were announced. They are projected to enter service within a year of their announcement:

Proposed

  1. Indore - Mumbai Central Indore Duronto (Bi-weekly)
  2. Indore - Bhopal - Mumbai Central Special Duronto (Weekly)
  3. Kolkata - Amritsar (Bi-weekly)
  4. New Delhi - Ernakulam (Weekly)
  5. Yeshwantpur (Bangalore) - Delhi (AC) (Weekly)
  6. Mumbai-Secunderabad AC (Bi-weekly)
  7. Pune –Howrah AC (Bi- weekly)
  8. Mumbai-Ernakulam AC (Bi-weekly)
  9. Indore- Mumbai AC Special (Bi-weekly)
  10. Jaipur-Mumbai AC (Bi-weekly)
  11. Chandigarh - Amritsar
  12. Chennai – Coimbatore
  13. Puri - Howrah
  14. Howrah- Digha

Controversies

Due to strong protest lodged by the MPs from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh[15] for the negligence of their state in allotting the Duronto services, the Union Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee (as of 2009) made an announcement of two more Duronto Services which are as follows:[16]

Passenger Services

With four different classes of accommodation, the Duronto trains would provide more passenger facilities than any other train service on Indian Railways.The livery of these trains is painted splashes of colors.[17] A pantry car would also be provided in the train where the cost of the meal is included in the ticket.[18]

Fare

The fares for the Duronto trains are less than other prestigious super fast rail services such as the Rajdhani Express which ply the same routes. The fare in the new "Economy" AC 3-tier class (similar to that of Garib Rath Express)[18] of the Duronto is Rs.50 less than the fares of the standard AC 3-tier class.[19] The fares include food and catering costs.

The AC3 tier economy class introduced Side Middle Berths (SM), increasing the capacity of each coach from 72 to 81 passengers. This enables the trains to carry more passengers and consequently reduce waiting lists on these busy routes. However, the class was discontinued from the New Delhi-Sealdah Duronto Express after passenger protests.

Efficiency and Speed

The Duronto Expresses are one of the fastest trains in India. These trains run faster than Rajdhani Express[20] trains which hold the record of the fastest long-distance trains in India.This has been made possible as these trains, unlike the Rajdhani Express, will have no intermediate stoppages and run in much the same speed clocked by Rajdhani.For example, the new bi-weekly non-stop train between New Delhi and Sealdah will take 16 hours to cover the journey, as against 17 hours taken by Rajdhani Express.The trains will, however, have technical stoppages at a few stations for facilitating staff and loco change but the transit time will come down drastically.The trains will adhere to the speed limit of 160 kmph {non stop}.[17] The Chennai Duronto is projected to run at a speed of 130 kmph.[21]

On board Amenities

The Duronto services would consist of five classes[19] of accommodation namely First AC, Two-tier AC, Three-tier AC, Economy Three-tier AC (similar to that of Garib Rath Express[18]) and Non AC Sleeper Class (Available in Mumbai-Nagpur Duronto and Howrah-Yeshwantapur Duronto). The Rakes comprise ICF coaches used in the Rajdhanis and Garib Raths earlier.Each Duronto coach is 24 metres long[17], compared to the regular coach length of 22.3 metres. The distance between coaches is less too - 460 mm instead of the regular 960 mm.[17]

Besides safety and hygiene features like dustbins and fire extinguishers, the coaches have sleeker designs for bottle holders and switches, mobile charging points, sliding transparent doors between coaches, and LED night lamps instead of regular fluorescent lights.[17]

The train is built of stainless steel (which makes the coaches lighter by about two tonnes each), which is lighter, anti-corrosive and more durable than the conventional 'cotton steel'. An important safety feature is the central buffer couplers whose enhanced load capacity makes the train derailment-proof.[17]

References

  1. ^ "First ever non-stop train service 'Duronto' introduced". Economictimes. Times of India. 3 Jul 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  2. ^ "India's fastest train, the Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi". Times of India. 15 February 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  3. ^ "The speed of Bhopal Shatabdi at 150km/hr". The Hindu. Feb 09 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Bullet Trains Expected in India". Rediff. May 3, 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  5. ^ "India plans High Speed rail Service for Railways". Rediff. January 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  6. ^ "Duronto' trains to fulfil need for speed". Times of India. 4 July 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  7. ^ "Non-stop point-to-point long-distance trains introduced in the Budget". Rediff. July 3, 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Duronto' trains for metros". Deccan Chronicle. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  9. ^ "Mamata flags off Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto train". Indian express. 18 September 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  10. ^ "Chidambaram flags off bi-weekly Chennai-Delhi Duronto Express". The Hindu. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  11. ^ "Pune Duronto from 29 September". Indian Express.com. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  12. ^ "Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express flagged off". Yahoo News. 28 September 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  13. ^ Template:Deccan Chronicle
  14. ^ a b c {{ |url=http://sify.com/finance/mamata-flags-off-three-new-duronto-express-trains-news-default-kd5ukdjcdbh.html%7Ctitle=Mamata flags off three new Duronto Express trains}}
  15. ^ "Railway Minister announces 5 new trains for A.P." The Hindu. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  16. ^ "Two more 'Duronto' trains". The Hindu. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  17. ^ a b c d e f "Kolkata-New Delhi Duronto Express!". My News.in. 19 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  18. ^ a b c "Details of Duronto Express". 8 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |news paper= ignored (help)
  19. ^ a b "Accommodation classes in Duronto Trains". The Hindu. Sep 16 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009. In the last before para before subheading-Passenger amenities {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Duronto Trains Will Be Faster Than Rajdhani". India TV. 03 Jul 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Duronto blazing new tracks". The Hindu. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
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