Suresh Prabhu Flagged off First Humsafar Express from Gorakhpur via Video conference

Suresh Prabhu Flagged off First Humsafar Express from Gorakhpur via Video conference

Indian Railways’ new train, Humsafar Express, was flagged off from Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu via video conferencing in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi on December 16, 2016. The first Humsafar Express, with 16 AC III tier coaches and two power cars,

would run between Hamsafar ExpressAnand Vihar in Ghaziabad to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The special service train made up entirely of AC III coaches will run for inter-city overnight journeys and has been designed specifically for middle-class passengers. The first group of Humsafar coaches, including power cars, has been manufactured at Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.

Features of the Train

♦ The train would provide various luxury to middle-class passengers such as CCTV, Global Positioning System (GPS)-based passenger information system, mobile and laptop charging points, integrated braille display of seat number for the visually impaired, smoke detection and suppression system and a high quality exterior and interior design among others.

♦ The train also comes with an optional meals-on-wheels equipped with hygienic lavatories with odour flushing system, auto vending machine and a mini pantry with an oven and a fridge.

♦ The fares of the train are higher than the regular AC III tier coaches as the cost of building one Humsafar coach is Rs2.58 crore as compared to Rs 2.39 crore of a regular AC III coach. The fare will be charged based on dynamic fare system as in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto.

♦ At the time of Railway Budget 2016,  the government had decided to launch four new trains—Humsafar, Antyodaya, UDAY and Tejas.