By IANS,
Mumbai: Maharashtra and Mumbai have benefited substantially from Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s budget Friday that has proposed new services both in the suburban and long-distance sectors.
On the Central Railway and Western Railway, nine new trains have been announced:
1. Tirupati-Amravati Express (bi-weekly) via Akola, Nizamabad, Gooty, Dharmavaram.
2. Nagpur-Kolhapur Express (bi-weekly) via Kurduwadi, Lathur Road, Purna, Akola.
3. Pune-Nanded Express (weekly) via Latur.
4. Ranchi-Pune Express (bi-weekly) via Bilaspur.
5. Chennai-Shirdi Express (weekly) via Bangalore.
6. Nagpur-Bhusawal Express (tri-weekly) via Itarsi-Khandwa.
7. Mumbai-Chandigarh Express(weekly) via Phulera-Ringus-Gurgaon-Kurukshetra.
8. Bhuj-Dadar Express(bi-weekly).
9. Udaipur-Bandra(T) Express (tri-weekly) via Ratlam.
Five new trains shall pass through various points on the Central Railway:
1. Ahmedabad-Yesvantpur AC Express (weekly) via Hubli, Bijapur.
2. Bhavnagar-Kochuvelli Express (weekly) via Panvel, Madgaon.
3. Porbander-Kochuveli Express (weekly) via Panvel, Madgaon.
4. Howrah-Nanded Express (weekly).
5. Hyderabad-Darbhanga Express (weekly) via Muri-Jharsuguda-Nagpur.
Two new daily trains under the Rajya-Rani EXPRESS, connecting state capitals with important towns have been announced:
1. Sawantwadi Road-Mumbai Express.
2. Manmad-Mumbai Express, via Nashik.
The state has got three new Duronto services:
1. Allahabad-Mumbai AC Duronto (bi-weekly).
2. Pune-Ahmedabad AC Duronto (tri-weekly).
3. Mumbai Central-New Delhi AC Duronto (bi-weekly).
The frequency of two existing Durontos has been increased to cater to the growing rush of passengers:
1. Mumbai CST-Howrah Duronto Express from 2 days to 4 days.
2. Nagpur-Mumbai CST Duronto Express from 3 days to daily.
A new Shatabdi Express has been announced between Pune and Secunderabad.
A new AC double-decker service will be introduced on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector.
A Janam Bhoomi Gaurav tourist special train will run on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Lothal-Bhavnagar-Alang-Gir-Diu-Junagad-Rajkot-Mumbai route.
The journeys of five existing train services have been extended on various sectors:
1. Solapur-Gadag Express to Hubli.
2. Jabalpur-Nagpur Express to Amravati.
3. Mumbai-Allahabad Express to Faizabad via Jaunpur, Shahganj.
4. Hyderabad-Wadi Passenger to Gulbarga.
5. Hubli-Bijapur Passenger to Solapur.
Similarly, the frequency of four trains has been increased in various directions:
1. Nagpur-Ahmedabad Express from weekly to bi-weekly.
2. Jaipur-Pune Express from weekly to bi-weekly.
3. Mumbai CST-Mangalore Express from 3 days to daily.
4. Surat-Amravati Fast Passenger from 2 days to 3 days.
On the critical Mumbai suburban sector, Banerjee has announced 47 additional services on the Thane-Vashi, Thane-Panvel, Borivali-Virar, Andheri-Virar, Bandra-Virar and Churchgate-Borivali sections.
Besides, she has proposed to increase 107 suburban services in the Mumbai area from the present 9 car EMUs to 12 car EMUs.