The Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express, the Indian Railways’ first train to be run by its subsidiary IRCTC, will be flagged off by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on October 4.
“Tejas Express will be flagged off on October 4. But the time is yet to be finalised by the CM’s office,” said Ashwani Srivastava, chief regional manager, IRCTC, Lucknow.
The inaugural run would be on October 4. The commercial run of the Delhi-Lucknow train would begin from the same day, whereas the Lucknow-Delhi train’s commercial run would begin the next day.
As per schedule, the train will leave Lucknow at 6:10am and touch New Delhi railway station at 12:25pm, covering the distance in six hours and 15 minutes. The journey time is lesser than the Swarn Shatabdi — currently the fastest train on the route.
Tejas Express will have just two halts — Kanpur and Ghaziabad. On its return journey, the train would leave Delhi at 16:30 and reach Lucknow at 22:45 hours. The train would operate six days a week (except Tuesday).
Bookings could be done only via IRCTC’s website—www.irctc.com, and not through ticket windows. Officials said IRCTC’s mobile app—‘irctc rail connect’ could also be used for the purpose. Those looking to get their berth reserved can do so 60 days in advance, whereas in regular trains the advance booking period is of 120 days.