Video: Inside the luxurious Mumbai-Goa Tejas Express, flag off from CST on May 22

 

The highly-awaited Tejas Express, which boasts of several modern amenities like Wi-Fi and LED TVs, will start its maiden journey from Mumbai to Goa after being flagged off by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on May 22.

The train is expected to reach CST in Mumbai on May 20 and commence its maiden journey two days later. It will be inaugurated by Prabhu remotely from Dadar on Monday.

The 19-coach Tejas train will have Wi-Fi, bio-vacuum toilets and GPS-based passenger information display system. Besides smoke and fire detection systems, each coach is also equipped with six high-resolution CCTV cameras with night vision capabilities.

Manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, the coaches will have automatic entrance door, a first in non-suburban train in Indian Railways.

Both executive class and chair cars will have seats with improved couplers, which will make the journey jerk-free and comfortable at high speeds. Each seat will have an LED TV with its very own touch control system, headphone socket and USB charging functionality.

There will be tea/coffee vending machines and snack tables in each of the new designed coaches. Like Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, catering service will be a part of Tejas’ fares. The cuisine will be curated by celebrity chefs.

They will also get reading lights and individual call-bells, both of which will be located under the luggage rack.

Even though the train is capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 kmph, it’s top speed will be limited to 160 kmph due to track limitations. As a result, it will cover the journey from Mumbai CST to Karmali in Goa in eight and a half hours.

The Tejas Express will run five days a week, departing from CST at 5 am and reaching Karmali at 1.30 pm. During the return journey, it will leave Karmali at 2.30 pm and reach CST at 11 pm.

Since the train is equipped with better facilities, the fare will also be slightly higher as compared to normal mail/express service, Prabhu said while inspecting the new Tejas coaches at Delhi’s Safdarjung station.

Although the exact fare has not been disclosed, it is expected to be around 30 percent more than that of other premium trains like Shatabdi.

The state-of-the-art Tejas Express trains were announced in last year’s Rail Budget. After launching on the Mumbai-Goa route, the train will be pressed into service on the Delhi-Chandigarh and Delhi-Lucknow routes.

Inside Tejas Express: