india

Updated: Sep 12, 2019 08:09 IST

Hotel bookings, taxi services and baggage pick-and-drop are some of the facilities proposed by the Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for passengers of the Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express.

IRCTC officials said that the services being offered on the train will redefine the experience of train travel. People can enjoy the ride from the second week of October. “Being one of the busiest route, we are starting our first-ever train operation from Lucknow-Delhi route. Initially we are plying two pair of trains that would hit the track from October second week onward,” said Mahendra Pratap Mall, chairman and managing director (CMD) IRCTC while addressing a press conference on the premium train. However, some officials also hinted that the train may start from October 2.

IRCTC officials said that passengers will be given the facility to get their baggage collected from home and delivered to their destination.

Schedule

The train will leave Lucknow at 6:10am and reach New Delhi at 12:25pm. “The journey duration is shorter than that of Swarn Shatabdi—the fastest train on the route at present. The train will have two halts—Kanpur and Ghaziabad. The train would leave Delhi at 4:30pm and reach Lucknow at 10:45pm. It will not run on Tuesdays,” he added.

Online booking only

The booking can only be done through IRCTC website and not through a ticket booking window. Officials said the IRCTC mobile app could also be used for booking up to 60 days in advance.

Fare

There is no concession, either for senior citizens or accreditation card holders. The fare is not fixed and will fluctuate according to the demand. “Like airways, the train will have different fares for lean, busy and festive seasons. Though we haven’t chalked out the fares yet, but they are likely to be up to 50 percent of that of airways,” said Ashwini Srivastava, chief regional manager, Lucknow, IRCTC.

Booking and cancellation

Passengers can go for current bookings up to five minutes before the scheduled departure.

There will be no tatkal or premium tatkal quota applicable on the train. Besides, there is also an option for group booking that can be done three days in advance. In case of cancellation, full refund on confirmed or waitlisted e-tickets would be done and no cancellation fee would be charged. A waitlisted ticket can be cancelled up to four hours before department at Rs 25 per passenger.

Food and beverages

Passengers would get high quality beverages onboard. The food is compulsory and would be charged at the time of booking. Free coffee and tea vending machines would be available. The services would be provided through portable trolleys. Passengers would be served a welcome tea, breakfast and snacks and evening tea and dinner on the return journey.