Trains lead to UP and Lalu's Bihar

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007 Lalu’s largesse is set to soothe three states in particular this year: Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The trio have cornered about two-fifths of the 32 new pairs of trains and eight AC trains for the poor called ‘garib raths’ announced on Monday. While Maharashtra has got two intra-state trains, six long-distance ones and two garib raths, UP has got four intra-state, five long-distance and one garib rath. Bihar has been given two intra-state trains, three long-distance trains and two garib raths. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have got three trains each. Railway minister Lalu Prasad also announced garib raths between West Bengal and Assam and between Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai. The other states that will benefit from new trains are Orissa, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajastan. Existing popular trains would get an additional 800 coaches as well. In some trains, AC III tier coaches would be increased from 78 to 84, in AC II tier from 44 to 48 and in AC first class from 18 to 22. Every new train would get six unreserved second class coaches instead of the four at present. The minister also intends to add more unreserved second class coaches to existing trains. The run of 23 trains are also being extended and the frequency of 14 increased. These include New Delhi-Patna-Rajdhani Express (daily), Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore Express (daily), Patna-Bangalore Express (6 days) and New Delhi-Lucknow Gomti Express (daily). In the next five years, most metre-gauge lines would be converted to broad-gauge. Passengers can also expect the high-speed passenger corridors becoming a reality, where trains would run at a speed of more than 300 kmph. Mumbai’s suburban trains will be expanded with the second phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project; about 150 new suburban trains will be launched. Commuters in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata can expect AC metro-trains and escalators at major stations. “We are also planning to run more tourist trains on the lines of Palace on Wheels. Rajastan will run a second such train in public-private partnership; Punjab and Karnataka are also interested. Maharashtra’s Deccan Odyssey has been very successful too”, Railway board chairman J P Batra told ET. The Railways are also planning to use the anti-collision devices made by Konkan Railway.