Humsafar Express chugs out of Tirupati

Packed with hi-tech features, its fare is 20% higher

Comfortable journey: The express train started its maiden journey from Tirupati .

Humsafar Express, which is synonymous with delightful travel experience, is now plying between Jammu Tawi at the foot of Himalayas and Tirupati, at the foot of Tirumala Hills.

The train chugged out of Tirupati after it was flagged off remotely from Vijayawada by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu on Thursday, while local legislator M. Suguna, Legislative Council members Yandapalli Srinivasulu Reddy and Gounivani Srinivasulu and former member of National Women's Commission K. Santha Reddy waved the green flag locally. Additional Divisional Railway Manager Ch. Subbarayudu presided.

Feature-rich

The feature-rich train boasts of an LED screen display to show information about stations, train speed etc., besides announcement system, vending machines for tea, coffee and milk, charging ports for electronic devices, bio-toilets, vinyl sheets to give futuristic look on the exterior, better rakes for comfortable interiors, heating chamber and refrigerating box to keep the food warm/cold, side curtains on corridors and new khadi bed rolls. On the technology side, the train has fire alarm cum smoke detection, CCTV facility and GPS-based passenger information system. The fares of the Humsafar trains are pegged 20 per cent higher than the normal mail/express services.

Mechanised laundry

Another major facility inaugurated in Tirupati was the mechanised laundry, which has a capacity to clean 2,500 bed rolls a day. Under Swacch Bharat Swacch Rail Mission, the Railway Board sanctioned the scheme to improve the quality of linen supplied to passengers of AC coaches. South Central Railway has a similar facility at Kacheguda.