To clear the extra rush of passengers during the forthcoming Holi festival and to ensure better convenience to the passengers, Western Railway has decided to run Holi Special trains between Bandra (T) – Jaipur & Bhagat Ki Kothi, Surat – Muzaffarpur and Udhna - Madgaon o­n special fare.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, the details of these special trains are as under:

·Train No 09005/09006Bandra Terminus – JaipurSuperfast Special Train o­n Special Fare(2 trips)

Train No.09005 Bandra Terminus – Jaipur Superfast Special Train will leave Bandra Terminus o­n Friday, 26^th March, 2021 at 11.15 hrs and will reach Jaipur at 05.35 hrs, the next day.Similarly, Train No. 09006 Jaipur – Bandra Terminus Special Train will leave Jaipur o­n Saturday, 27^thMarch, 2021 at 13.00 hrs and will arrive Bandra Terminus at 06.30 hrs, the next day.

The train will halt at Borivali, Vapi, Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Ratlam, Nagda, Ramganj Mandi, Kota and Sawai Madhopur stations in both directions. The train will have AC 3-tierandSleeper Class coaches.

·Train No. 09143/09144  Bandra (T) – Bhagat Ki Kothi Superfast  Special Train o­n Special Fare (2 trips)

           Train No. 09143 Bandra Terminus – Bhagat Ki Kothi Superfast Special train will depart from Bandra Terminus at 21.45 hrs o­n Thursday 25^th March, 2021 and will reach Bhagar Ki Kothi at 13.15 hrs. the next day. Similarly, Train No. 09144 Bhagat Ki Kothi - Bandra Terminus Superfast Special train will depart from Bhagat Ki Kothi at 16.25 hrs o­n Friday, 26^th March, 2021 and arrive Bandra Terminus at 07.35 hrs. the next day.

The train will halt at Borivali, Vapi, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Abu Road, Jawai Bandh and Pali Marwar stations in both directions. The train will have AC 3-Tier and Sleeper Class coaches.

·Train No. 09049/09050 Surat - Muzaffarpur Special train o­n Special fare (2 trips)

Train No. 09049 Surat - Muzaffarpur Special train will leave Surat at 07.40 hrs o­n Friday, 26^th March, 2021 and reach Muzaffarpur at 04.30 hrs o­n Sunday. Similarly, Train No.09050 Muzaffarpur - Surat Special train will depart from Muzaffarpur at 20.10 hrs o­n Sunday, 28^thMarch, 2021 and will arrive Surat at 17.05 hrs o­n Tuesday.

The train will halt at Vadodara, Ratlam Ujjain, Maksi, Biyavra Rajgarh, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Bina, Jhansi, Gwalior, Agra Cantt, Tundla, Kanpur Central, Lucknow, Faizabad, Ayodhya, Shahganj, Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia, Chhapra and Hajipur stations in both directions. The train will have AC 2 Tier cum AC 3 Tier, Sleeper Class and Second seating coaches.

·09067/09068Udhna – Madgaon Superfast Special Train o­n Special Fare (2 trips)

Train No. 09067 Udhna – Madgaon Superfast Special Train will leave Udhna at 16.00 hrs o­n Friday i.e. 26^th March, 2021 and will reach Madgaon at 09.30 hrs, the next day. Similarly, Train No. 09068 Madgaon – Udhna Superfast Special Train will leave Madgaon at 12.00 hrs o­n Saturday i.e. 27^thMarch, 2021 and will arrive Udhna at 04.25 hrs, the next day.

The train will halt at Navsari, Valsad, Vapi, Vasai Road, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Khed, Chiplun, Sangmeshwar, Ratnagiri, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal, Sawantwadi Road, Thivim and Karmali stations in both directions. The train will have AC 3 Tier and Sleeper class coaches.

The booking of Train No. 09143 will open o­n 23^rdMarch, 2021 andTrain No. 09005, 09049 & 09067 will open o­n 24^th March, 2021 at nominated PRS counters and IRCTC website. All the above trains will run as fully reserved trains o­n special fare.

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-          - Progress of upcoming Gandhinagar and Habibganj Railway Stations reviewed.

-          - Tirupati and Nellore Railway stations of SCR are a part of the station redevelopment project.

Redevelopment of railway stations across India is a priority agenda of Ministry of Railways, Government of India. This agenda is being driven with full force by the Government with the participation of private players as a part of PPP projects.

As part of this agenda, work o­n redevelopment of 123 stations is in progress. Out of this, IRSDC is working o­n 63 stations and RLDA is working o­n 60 stations. As per current estimates, total investment needed for redevelopment of 123 stations along with real estate development is about Rs 50,000 crore.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, reviewed the progress of Habibganj and Gandhinagar Railway station. Hon’ble Minister appreciated the work being done for redevelopment of these Railway Stations with facilities at par with Airports and as Multi Modal Hubs and commercial development harmonious with the city development.

During review, Hon’ble Minister gave his valuable suggestions regarding future projects of station development/redevelopment. He advised that lessons learnt during the redevelopment of these station redevelopment projects o­n Indian railways should be taken in view during design / construction of future projects. He also suggested that while the station looks beautiful, we should strive for use of better materials, as we proceed further.

Habibganj Railway Station is the railway station o­n Indian Railways being redeveloped under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The station is being redeveloped by IRSDC. The redeveloped station will have features like ‘segregation of passengers based o­n arrivals and departures’ leading to congestion free movement at Concourse and Platforms. The station will have ample sitting arrangement at Platforms, Concourse, Lounges and Dormitories and retiring Rooms, adequate Parking along with Divyang friendly amenities like Lifts, Escalators, Travelators. The station will have latest Safety, Security and Information features (Fire Safety, CCTVs, PA systems, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition(SCADA), Access control, Scanning Machines, modern Signage and information displays). The station is being developed as per LEED ‘Green Building’ norms with use of Solar energy, Energy-Efficient Equipment, wastewater treatment for reuse.

Gandhinagar Railway Station is being developed by Gandhinagar Railway and Urban Development(GARUD), an SPV formed with equity contribution of Government of Gujarat and IRSDC in the ratio of 74:26 respectively. The project is first of its kind in India with an exclusive 5-star Hotel Building over LIve Railway Tracks. The station has column free platform roof spanning 105 meters, which is largest in Indian Railways. The station has been redeveloped with all modern amenities for better passenger experience.

At present, works for redevelopment of stations have been initiated in Nagpur, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus & Ajni stations in Maharashtra; Habibganj & Gwalior Stations in Madhya Pradesh; Gandhinagar & Sabarmati station in Gujarat; Ayodhya & Gomti Nagar stations in Uttar Pradesh; Safdarjung & New Delhi stations in Delhi; Tirupati & Nellore stations in Andhra Pradesh; Dehradun in Uttarakhand; Amritsar in Punjab; Ernakulam in Kerala and Puducherry in Union Territory of Puducherry.