Duronto Express Trains

Characterized by the lively bright yellow-green-blue colored passenger coaches, the Duronto Express trains are the fastest long distance trains in India connecting the metros and the major state capitals. The word “Duronto” in Bengali means “Quick” and the special characteristic of this category of trains is that they require the shortest time to travel between the cities that they service. This is possible not only because of the high speed of the train but also because there are no stops in-between other than technical halts.

History

Introduction of high-speed trains between major cities has been on the cards of the Ministry of Railways for a long time.  However, it was in 2007 that the Delhi-Amritsar route was chosen for pre-feasibility study. In 2009, global consultants were appointed and in the Rail Budget of 2009-10, the Railway Minister announced the introduction of the premier class Duronto Express Trains to enable high speed rail travel

Passenger Services

Duronto Express trains claim to provide more passenger amenities than any other train service in India.

• There are four classes of accommodation; AC First Class (1A), AC Two Tier(2A), AC Three Tier(3A) and Three Tier Economy(3E). In some trains there is a fifth class ; the non AC Sleeper class.
• Fares are less than other superfast rail service like Rajdhani Express plying on the same route. The fare of Three Tier Economy (3E) is at par with fare of Garib Rath Express and only marginally more than standard AC 3 Tier fare.
• Cost of meals is included in the ticket.
• Side middle berths were introduced to increase capacity of each coach from 72 to 81 to reduce waiting lists and ticket costs.
• Other features like dustbins, fire extinguishers, better-designed bottle holders, switches, mobile charging points, sliding transparent doors between coaches are incorporated.

Other than better passenger amenities, Duronto Express trains have   features that have not been seen on other trains. Such as:

• Each Duronto coach is 24 metres long instead of the regular 22.3 metres.
• The distance between coaches has been reduced to 460 mm from the regular 960 mm
• Other features like dustbins, fire extinguishers, better designed bottle holders, switches, mobile charging points, sliding transparent doors between coaches are incorporated.
• The train is built of stainless steel instead of ‘corten steel’ making the coaches lighter by about 2 tonnes each and also anti-corrosive and more durable.
• The central  buffer coupler with increased load capacity makes the train safe from derailment
• Efficiency and Speed are guaranteed by having no intermediate stoppages other than technical stops. The average speed of the trains is 110kms/hour and can go up to 130 kms/hour on some routes.

Routes Covered

As of now there are 23 pairs of Duronto Express trains running on the following routes.

• Sealdah-New Delhi
• Mumbai-Jaipur
• New Delhi-Lucknow
• New Delhi- Allahabad
• Hazrat  Nizamuddin-Chennai
• Hazrat Nizamuddin- Pune
• Mumbai-Howrah
• Mumbai-Ahmedabad
• Mumbai-Nagpur
• Howrah-Yeshwantpur
• Ernakulam-Hazrat Nizamuddin
• Ernakulam-Mumbai
• Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin
• Secunderabad-Mumbai
• New Delhi-Howrah
• Delhi-JammuTawi
• Pune-Howrah
• Chennai-Coimbatore
• Howrah-Digha
• Puri-Howrah
• New Delhi-Bhubaneshwar
• Yeashwantpur-Delhi
• Mumbai-Indore

There are several more routes to be added in the near future as announced in the Rail Budget 2011-2012.