Tejas Express, India’s first private semi-high speed train, has been flagged off by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on the Lucknow-New Delhi route on Friday.
The Tejas Express will be the first train of Indian Railways that will be fully run by its subsidiary Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
The Indian Railways, as part of the ministry of railways’ 100 days action plan approved in June, has decided to hand over certain rakes for private operations as the national transporter seeks to increase its revenue.
The commercial run would start from Saturday onwards.
Here’s more about Tejas Express’ schedule, fare and menu:
Schedule
Tejas Express, train number 82501, will leave Lucknow at 6:10am and reach New Delhi Railway station at 12:25pm.
On its return journey, train number 82502 would leave Delhi at 3:35pm and reach Lucknow at 10:05pm.
It will cover the entire distance in six hours and 15 minutes. The journey time of the train is lesser than the Swarn Shatabdi — currently the fastest train on the route.
The train would run six days a week, except Tuesday.
Fare
The journey from Lucknow to New Delhi for IRCTC’s Tejas Express will cost Rs 1,125 for AC chair car and Rs 2,310 for executive chair car.
And, from New Delhi to Lucknow passengers will have to spend Rs 1,280 for chair car and Rs 2,450 for executive chair car.
The price for chair car tickets from Lucknow to Kanpur will be Rs 320 and for executive chair car, it will be Rs 630. Those travelling from Lucknow to Ghaziabad will have to pay Rs 1,125 for chair car and Rs 2310 for executive chair car.
The chair car fare between Delhi and Kanpur will be Rs 1,155 and for executive chair car it will be Rs 2,155.
Fares, however, may vary along all sections since the train will operate on the flexi-fare scheme.
Menu
Passengers can choose combo meals onboard—catering charges of Rs 185 for chair car and Rs 245 for executive chair car are included in the ticket prices—for the full length of the journey from Lucknow to Delhi.
The maximum charge from New Delhi to Lucknow will be Rs 340 and Rs 385 respectively.
Passengers will be offered refreshments right after boarding. They can choose tea or coffee (pre-mix kit) with cookies on chair car and premium cookies on executive class. They can opt for pre-packaged nimboo pani with cookies on chair car and flavoured lassi on executive class.
For breakfast, passengers can choose from a vegetarian combo of two pieces of vegetable cutlets with poha. They can also opt for two pieces of vegetable uttapam with vermicelli and coconut chutney for all. The other combo includes two pieces of medu vadas and suji upma and coconut chutney.
For passengers who prefer non-vegetarian food, masala omelette and sautéd vegetables will be available onboard. In all these combos, additional cornflakes, sugar sachet and milk will be provided to executive class passengers.
Passengers can also order additional items such as branded mishti or mango dahi, two pieces of brown bread, butter, tomato ketchup, branded fruit juice, tea or coffee kit, salt and pepper and mouth freshener.
Just before the end of the journey, passengers will be served light refreshments like small masala samosa or branded cookies with tea or coffee premix; additional muffin or a slice of cake for those travelling in executive class.
