Train to Bandra flagged off

The Chandigarh-Bandra Express train which was flagged off in Chandigarh on Sunday. It will leave city every Sunday at 5.45 am for Bandra in Mumbai.  

Chandigarh, March 18
To increase the connectivity between Chandigarh and Mumbai, the the country’s commercial capital, the much-awaited first direct long-distance train from the city to Bandra was flagged off amidst much fanfare by local MP and Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal at the railway station here this morning.
On day one, the train ran to its full capacity of 422 passengers, indicating its popularity. Arvinder Kaur, a Mohali resident, said, “It was a long-pending demand. The train is of interest to tourists, businessmen and those who want to meet their relatives in the commercial capital.”
The new 18-coach train would connect religious, commercial and places of tourist importance like Gurgaon, Ajmer, Abu Road (Mount Abu) Ahmedabad, Vadodara. In view of the non-electrified sections, the train would take 27 hours to cover 1,605 km compared to the Paschim express link train, which takes about 29 hours.
According to information, no seat is available in the train up to May 31.
The express weekly train will run from the city every Sunday at 5.45 am to reach Bandra Terminus at 9.20 am the next day, and from Bandra Terminus it will start every Monday at 12.05 pm to reach Chandigarh at 16.20 pm the next day. The fare for the sleeper class is Rs 453, for AC 3-tier and AC 2-tier, it is Rs 1,219 and Rs 1,607 respectively.
Interacting with mediapersons, Bansal said the Chandigarh-Bandra train would shortly be made twice a week and added that the train from the city to Dibrugarh would also ply twice a week very soon. He said the double tracking of the Ambala-Dappar line would start soon and an amount of Rs 30 crore had been sanctioned for the same in the recent budget. He said the work on the underpasses near Mauli Jagran and Mani Majra Housing complex would also be started soon and four meetings had been held between the technical committee of the Railways and the Chandigarh Administration in this regard.
Expressing ignorance about the lukewarm response and the demand for the change in the timings of the Amritsar-Duronto Express train from evening to morning, he said he would take up the matter with the ministry in this regard.
The MP while informing about the new rail link from the city to Yamunanagar, said the Railways had already finalised the proposal and sent it to the Planning Commission for concurrence. He hoped that the new proposal would be cleared soon. Commenting on the upgradation of the railway station to world standards, he said the Railways was already facing financial crunch and the city has other priorities. He said the city was well connected by rail and air and the passengers require better facilities and more train connectivity from the city to other parts of the country.

Defending the Railway and the General Budget 2012-13, Bansal said the increase in fare was long needed to improve the services and it was in the interest of the commuters. He, however, refused to comment on the ongoing controversy involving the railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. On the general budget he ridiculed the opposition leaders for terming the budget as anti-people. He said the main emphasis had been given to the manufacturing sector to create more jobs for the unemployed. He said that he was surprised over the response to the budget by opposition leaders. He said on the one hand they do not want the subsidies worth Rs 1.88 lakh crore on the fertilizers and petroleum products to be waived off, on the other they were forcing the government to roll back the increase in taxes.

City Mayor Raja Bala Malik, divisional railway manager (DRM) and Sr Divisional Commercial Manager Ambal P K Sanghi and GM Singh, respectively, additional DRM, Pramod Kumar and senior officers Ambala Railways division were among those present on the occasion.