Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express flagged off

September 28th, 2009 - 9:50 pm ICT by IANS  

Kolkata, Sep 28 (IANS) The Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express, a non-stop train between the two cities, was flagged off Monday from Howrah railway station, officials said.
The train started its journey at 8.20 a.m. from platform no.22. It is scheduled to reach Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal in Mumbai at 10.30 a.m. Tuesday.

The bi-weekly Howrah-Mumbai Duronto will cover the 1,976-km distance in just 26 hours and 10 minutes. It will leave from Howrah station on Monday and Friday every week.

“It’s a very welcome initiative of the Indian Railways. The train will help a lot of passengers to reach Mumbai within a very short time span,” said Sunil Goyenka, a passenger of the train.

As the model code of conduct is in force in Maharashtra for the Oct 13 Assembly polls, the Election Commission (EC) directed that there should be no minister involved in the flagging-off ceremony of the train.

Following the directive, only railway officials were present during the occasion.

According to South Eastern Railway (SER) sources, compared to Gitanjali Express, Howrah-Mumbai Duronto will take almost five hour less time to reach its destination.

“Gitanjali takes 31 hours to reach Mumbai,” an SER spokesperson said, adding that the new fully air-conditioned train will have four different classes, including an AC three-tier economy class.

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