The South Central Railway (SCR) has launched Vijayawada-Dharmavaram Tri-Weekly Express train (No.17215) connecting the AP Capital and the Rayalaseema region.
Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu along with Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha and Minister of State for Science and Technology Sujana Chowdary, Railway Board Chairman A.K. Mittal and other board members flagged off the train online from Rail Bhavan, New Delhi, on Tuesday.
11 coaches
SCR General Manager Ravindra Gupta, Vijayawada Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Kumar, Chief Mechanical Engineer Arjun Mundiya, Chief Commercial Manager (Passenger Amenities) Sarjana Rao, Chief Passenger Traffic Manager Shiva Prasad and other officials participated in the programme at the Vijayawada railway station.
The new train, to be operated on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, will start at 11.10 p.m. from Vijayawada and reach Dharmavaram at 10.45 a.m. the next day. It will halt at Guntur, Narasaraopet, Vinukonda, Markapur Road, Giddalur, Nandyal, Dhone, Gutti and Anantapur stations.
In the return direction, the train (No.17216) will leave Dharmavaram at 5.50 p.m. and reach Vijayawada at 6.50 a.m. the next day. The Dharmavaram-Vijayawada train will be operated on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
The train will have 11 coaches - one air-conditioned two-tier, two AC three-tier and six sleeper class coaches besides two generator-cum-brake vans.
Speaking on the occasion, Suresh Prabhu said the new train would ease traffic on the route.
The train has been scheduled in such a way that it would provide overnight journey in both directions covering Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Kurnool and Anantapur districts in Rayalaseema, the SCR officials said.
