Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will flag off the first ‘Duranto’ non-stop train between Chennai and New Delhi on September 14 from Chennai Central station.
The train is expected to take 28 hours to complete its journey, about 20 minutes less than the time taken by Chennai Rajdhani, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
The new train will run twice a week and have one first AC, two second AC, three third AC and 10 sleeper class compartments, besides a pantry car.
He said a Duranto train between Sealdah and New Delhi is also likely to be flagged off before Durga Puja from Kolkata.
The Duranto trains announced for Maharashtra will be flagged off thereafter but they have to wait till the completion of the Assembly elections in the state because of the model code of conduct.
The maintenance of the Duranto rake has been outsourced on PPP mode to private players, who will be allowed to display their advertisement inside the coaches.
Explaining the unique features of this type of trains, he said these will have no stoppages in between and will have only two or three technical halts.
These trains will travel as fast as Rajdhani express and being non-stop, will take less time to cover the distance.
Duranto trains will have new-age stainless steel coaches having distinct colour.
