2 weeks Ago
The fully non-AC economy train is the second direct train between Saharsa and Mumbai after Bandra Terminus Humsafar Express Bihar’s Saharsa, considered the heart of Mithila, is all set to get a new weekly train—Amrit Bharat Express—offering direct connectivity to the financial capital of India, Mumbai. The fully non-AC economy train is the second direct train between Saharsa and Mumbai after Bandra Terminus Humsafar Express. The new train—05595—will start on Thursday at 11.
40am and reach Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 11.30pm on Friday, as per the booking schedule available with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The train will complete the journey in close to 36 hours and will cost Rs 1,045 for a passenger.
The future travel schedule of the train is not available for bookings as of now, except for the inauguration day. Close to 250 train tickets were available for the train as of Thursday morning. Also, there are no details of the journey from Mumbai.
On its way, the Amrit Bharat Express will connect Khagaria, Salauna, Hasanpur, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur, Sonpur, Patliputra in Patna, Danapur, Ara, Buxar, Mughalsarai, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Manikpur, Satna, Jabalpur, Itarsi, Bhusaval, Jalgoan, Nashik, Kalyan and Thane. Not just Saharsa, but passengers from other parts of Bihar will also get an additional train for reaching Mumbai. People from Bihar travel to Mumbai in search of better prospects and employment.
A direct train will ease their journey and will offer more opportunities. The term of the Bihar assembly is ending in November and the state will go for polls towards the year end. Humsafar is the only other direct train between the two stations.
Special trains operate on a need basis, but a regular direct train will ease the journey for the commuters—mostly from the low-income class. Currently, a special train—SHC LTT special train—is also operational between the two stations, offering travel in second AC class as well. The third AC travel between Saharsa and Mumbai, in Humsafar, costs Rs 2,385 for each passenger.
“The Amrit Bharat train was introduced keeping in mind the needs of the locals. Say if four members of a family of a daily wager have to travel from Bihar to Mumbai, they need to pay little over Rs 4,000 with the Amrit Bharat. In the third AC of the Humsafar train, the cost would be around Rs 10,000," a Railways ministry official said, seeking anonymity.
The official explained that such a train was important as sometimes, the journey becomes very expensive for low-income class groups who find AC-class coaches financially out of reach. Similarities with Vande Bharat The Amrit Bharat train, in a lot of ways, resembles the luxurious Vande Bharat trains. The colour scheme of the Amrit Bharat trains has been kept orange and grey, similar to Vande Bharat sleepers and chair cars.
The train comes with a public address and passenger information system, along with an emergency system to connect with the loco pilot. This is the first such addition in sleeper and general classes. This facility was introduced by the Railways in the Vande Bharat trains.
Both the sleeper and general class coaches of the Amrit Bharat train have a foldable snack table, mobile holder, and foldable bottle holder. The seat and berth design have been improved for a comfortable ride. Each coach has four toilets—two Indian-style and two Western-style ones.
The trains were designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. The first Amrit Bharat train was launched in 2024. Based on the learning of operating two such trains, Indian Railways introduced 12 improvements in the latest train—semi-automatic couplers, modular toilets with new type of construction materials, strong pillar and partition, emergency talk back features, EP assisted brake system and newly designed seats and berths.
The pantry car is in a new design, continuous lighting system like Vande Bharat, fire detection system, gangways, external emergency lights, charging sockets along with mobile phone holders are the key features of Amrit Bharat 2.0. The train will have 22 coaches.
The Amrit Bharat train can operate at a potential speed of 130 kmph..
