Railways Diwali gift for passengers: Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani now cheaper, faster
New Delhi: Commuters on the Delhi-Mumbai route have another reason to rejoice this Diwali as Railways is introducing a new faster and cheaper Rajdhani.
The special train will not only decrease travel time by two hours, but will cost passengers Rs 600-800 less than the two other Rajdhanis already on the route.
The train will run from the Hazrat Nizamuddin station in Delhi to the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai and will be introduced to the sector on October 16.
"The special Rajdhani will initially run for three months -- from October 16 to January 16 -- for three days a week. The idea was to reduce the travel time by two hours with the current infrastructure and rolling stock. The trials have been successful," said Mohammad Jamshed, Member of the Railway Board.
Presently, the route is served by the August Kranti Rajdhani and the Mumbai Central-New Delhi Rajdhani.
While the August Kranti Rajdhani takes around 17 hours to traverse the distance between the national capital, the Mumbai Central-Delhi Rajdhani covers it in just under 16 hours. Neither halts at Bandra.
The new train will take just under 14 hours to run between the two cities and will have three stops -- Kota, Vadodara and Surat.
Jamshed said the train will be beneficial for travellers as it will reach the respective destinations at around 6:00 am, giving them more time to spend in the city as well as helping them avoid suburban peak hour traffic.