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New Delhi, May 19: Parked at Safdarjung Railway Station in the national capital, Indian Railways superfast Tejas Express received a red carpet welcome on Friday. The train will roll-out on Mumbai-Goa route on May 22 and can be spotted from a distance for its vibrant yellow and orange colours. The train has the capacity to run at the speed of 200 kms/hour and will cover the distance of over 600 kms in 8 hours 30 minutes.
It is a hi-tech train with features ranging from reclining chairs, infotainment, Wi-Fi to automatic doors, bio-vacuum toilets, on board hostess and stewards leaving a passenger with a memorable experience. Beating Gatimaan Express, which runs at a speed of 160 kms/hour from Delhi to Agra, Tejas Express is an enhanced version of the former with better facilities.
The 19-coach train including two power cars, two executive coaches and 15 non-executive coaches– was manufactured at Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala. “It took us nine months to make the train. The train has many enhanced features and has a shelf life of 35 years. The coaches are made by stainless steel with each costing Rs 3.25 crore. The interiors of the train was designed at the Rail Coach Factory,” said PC Gupta, a board member at the RCF.
With so many features on board, the train is likely to cost more than Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express. The fare has not been finalised yet.
Apart from usual seat colours, Tejas Express seats adorn soothing blue and yellow colours. The executive coach has 56 seats whereas chair car coach has 78 seats made by e-leather. The seats in the executive coach are like those in the flight with re-designed back rest. The seats are supplied by M/s Sutlej in Jalandhar.
For infotainment purpose, LCD screens are being put on every seat which can be upgraded for Live TV. There is a GPS based Passenger Information (PIS) display system to track the route of the train. It is also provided with USB charging facility.
Even though the train can attain the speed of 200 kms/hour, it will run at the speed of 110 kms/hour due to infrastructure available. In major section of the journey, the train will run at the speed of 80-90 kms/hour as it has to pass through Western Ghats. “The train will run at the speed of 110 kms/hour and will reach the destination in 8 hours 30 minutes. The enhanced features in the train makes it a special one,” said Railways spokesperson Anil Saxena.
The most attractive feature of the train is the automatic entrance door which is introduced for the first time in Indian Railways. The doors will be controlled by guard panel and the train will not begin the journey until all the doors are closed. The material for the same is supplied by Knorr Bremse.
For tight security and keeping a strict vigil on the passengers, every coach has six CCTV cameras — two in the passenger area and two at each door. The camera has a resolution of 1.3 Mps with day-night vision capability.
Before beginning its journey from Mumbai, the train was brought from Kapurthala to Delhi and was inspected by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Indian Railways will roll out three more such trains and the second one will ply on Delhi-Chandigarh route by November. “We are trying to enhance the features more. The sliding doors of each coach would be automated. The curtains would work on the click of a button,” Gupta said.
Tejas Express is likely to run on Anand Vihar-Lucknow route and Mumbai-Surat but the schedule is not fixed yet.
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