The much-hyped train was announced in the 2011-12 budget
The adage “Old wine in a new bottle” will be apt to describe the much-hyped Duronto AC Express between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam, the launch of which has been delayed by more than a year.
The rake of the decades-old Rajadhani Express has been sent to the Lallaguda workshop for a major overhaul and vinyl-wrapping to give it a ‘Duronto look', according to reliable sources. Even this may take about a month by which time the summer heat may subside.
It may be recalled that the Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Duronto was announced in the 2011-12 budget by the then Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee. The launch has been delayed for want of a dedicated rake. The present Rajdhani rake allotted to the Duronto, made by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perambur, was in service for more than 20 years.
The Railways had suddenly decided to replace all Rajdhani rake with the LHB rake. The LHB rake, procured for Durontos, are coming in handy for this purpose.
There are around 30 Duronto Expresses running at present. Some of them are Day/Intercity type (below 700 km) Durontos and Sleeper Class Durontos, which are running mostly with conventional coaches. Many of the ICF conventional Durontos got new rakes. Almost all the AC Durontos are running with LHB rake only. All long distance AC Duronto (11 of them), except Lokmaya Tilak Terminus-Allahabad and Pune-Nizamuddin, are running with LHB coaches only.
Now Secunderabad -Visakhapatnam, Chennai-Madurai and Chennai-Trivandrum, all AC Durontos, will get old Rajadhani rake.
The Secunderabad-Vskp Duronto will be the third Duronto of SCR. The other two Secunderabad-LTT and Secundrabad-Nizamuddin have brand new LHB rake. One fails to understand why Visakhapatnam should be given old Rajdhani rake. New ICF rake can be allotted pending allotment of LHB rake, feel railway activists from the city, who have been closely monitoring the developments.
Why LHB rake?
One may wonder why so much fuss over LHB rake. The Linke Holfmann Bush (LHB) coaches are manufactured with German technology. LHB coaches, costing Rs.1.5 crore to Rs.2 crore each, are superior to conventional coaches and can run at maximum speed ranging between 160 and 200 km/ph. They are anti-telescopic and cannot turn turtle in the event of any derailment or collision.
LHB coaches have an improved suspension system and offer superior comfort. LHB coaches are fitted with microprocessor controlled high capacity air conditioning system, which gives passengers better comfort during summer and winter season. These coaches have capacity to accommodate about 72 passengers in each AC-3 coach as against 64 passengers in other AC-3 conventional coach.
The noise level of LHB coaches is hardly 60 decibels while it is around 100 decibels in conventional coaches. The disc brake system of LHB coaches is superior to that of conventionally used thread brake system.
Keywords: Duronto Express, old rakes, Duronto look, Linke Holfmann Bush (LHB)
Its a obvious stepmother treatment from the Ministers who hail from the Northern states.The revenue from Southern states are more than what they get from Northern states as people here buy tickets for traveling unlike the gundas in Northern states.Although ICF is in chennai the shape of choaches in Guruvayur,Brindavan and Kovai exp trains are pathetic.The projects in southern states are moving in snails pace as there is no enough funding. For a project worth 350 crores the budject allotment is only 50 crores which means it would not be completed on time.very few new trains are introduced every budget, though the demand is very high for southen bound trains.Mr. Mukul Roy if you are reading this , then you should really change the situations if not for us but for your fellow Hindi and Bengali Bondu's who are staying here in Southern states for their job oppertunities.
Always Southern railway is given old coaches despite ICF being at
chennai. Even chennai to coimbatore duranto has got very old coaches.
Don't know when this scenario is going to change !!!
Such is the fate of Vizag in East Coast Railway division and also at the
centre level. Trains between Hyderabad and Vizag record the highest
level of occupancy. Many DRMs (divisional managers) accept that its a
profitable route but no action has been done to tap the economic
potential of this route. Whilst many trains run empty all throughout the
years in WB/Bihar just to please the bosses... wat a pity!
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