atimaan Express, the fastest train in the country, is all set to roll out from the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station on April 5. In keeping with the prestigious project, Northern Railway is going all out to spruce up the otherwise shabby railway station to play the perfect host for Gatimaan.
The rather nondescript entry point to the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, one of the busiest in the city, has been transformed into a shiny grand entrance just in time for the launch of Gatimaan Express. “The station has been provided with a spacious porch to provide easy access for passengers to station premises,” Arun Arora, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi told The Hindu .
The old railway station now sports a brand new main concourse and on April 5, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will dedicate it to the nation at the launch of the inaugural run of Gatimaan Express.
“The main concourse has been provided with counters for platform tickets, enquiry, ‘May I Help You booths’ as well as offices for the station manager, ticket checking staff etc.,” Mr. Arora said.
A.K. Puthia, General Manager of Northern Railway, along with Mr. Arora and other senior railway officials carried out an intensive inspection of the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station on Saturday. Apart from the new main concourse, the railway station will soon get a new platform, work for which is on and was inspected by the officials.
The Gatimaan Express was initially scheduled to run between the New Delhi Railway station and Agra Cantt. Railway station — finishing the journey in 90 minutes. With many obstacles on the way, the magic figure of 90 minutes was getting impossible to achieve and the originating station was also changed from New Delhi to Hazrat Nizamuddin to cut down on travel time by 10 to 15 minutes, with the result that now the journey between Delhi and Agra will be covered in 100 minutes by the Gatimaan Express.
While the inaugural run of the train will start at 10 a.m. on April 5, the normal timing for the scheduled runs have been fixed at 8.10 am, when it will depart from Hazrat Nizamuddin, to reach Agra Cantt. at 9.50 am. The return leg of the journey will start at 5.50 pm from Agra Cantt. and the train will reach Hazrat Nizamuddin at 7.30 pm.
After the inaugural run in the morning, regular service of the train will begin the same evening on its way back to Delhi.
The train’s fare will be more than Shatabadi Express. It will run six days a week except Friday, when the Taj Mahal is closed.
Apart from being the fastest, the train boasts of many other facilities for passengers, including TV screens on all seats, passenger information system etc.
The Railways plans to run similar semi-high-speed services on other routes, which include Delhi – Kanpur and Delhi – Chandigarh.
The station, one of the busiest in the Capital, will be getting a brand new platform soon
