Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off the fourth Humsafar clan of trains and first Antyodaya clan of trains through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan:

1.      Train No 14715/14716 Sri Ganganagar - Tiruchirappalli Humsafar Express (Weekly) (via Krishnarajapuram, Pune, Ahmedabad)

2.      Train No 22877/22878 Ernakulam - Howrah Antyodaya Express (Weekly) (via Salem, Katpadi, Visakhapatnam)

He also launched the following policies:

1.      New Catering Policy 2017.

2.      New partnership in Parcel Business with Department of Post.

Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital, Member Traffic Shri Mohd Jamshed, other Railway Board Members, Secretary Department of Post Shri Boyapati V. Sudhakar and other senior officials were also present on the occasion

Salient Features of Services / Policies launched:

Humsafar Express

Indian Railways introduced a new Humsafar Express between Sriganganagar and Tiruchchirapalli viz. 14715/14716 Sriganganagar-Tiruchchirapalli Humsafar Express (Weekly). The train service inaugurated on 27.02.2017 by Minister of Railways through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan, New Delhi. As announced in Railway Budget 2016-17, Humsafar Express are fully air-conditioned third AC service with an optional service for meals. Till date, 3 Humsafar Express trains have been introduced on Indian Railways.

The abstract schedule including timings, composition, stoppages etc. of the train service to be introduced is as under:

14715/14716 Sriganganagar-Tiruchchirapalli Humsafar Express (Weekly)

Days of run:  Ex-SGNR – Tuesday

                    Ex-TPJ – Thursday

●       One way distance: 3199 Kms.

Stoppages: Hanumangarh, Suratgarh, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Marwar Jn., Abu Road, Palanpur, Mahesana, Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat,  Vasai Road, Kalyan, Lonavala, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Miraj, Belgaum, Dharwad, Hubballi, Harihar, Davangere,  Birur, Arsikere, Tumakuru, Banaswadi,  Krishnrajapuram, Bangerpet,  Salem, Namakkal,  Karur

●       Composition of regular service: 3AC-16, Power Car-2, Pantry Car-1= 19 coaches

●       Primary Maintenance: Sri Ganganagar (NWR)

●       Nature of Service: Humsafar Express