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In a first, railways announces 40 ‘clone trains’; will begin service from Sep 21
This is the first time when clone trains will be deployed on the railways network. The reservation for the trains will begin from September 19.
The ministry of railways on Tuesday announced it will deploy 20 pairs of ‘clone special trains’ from September 21, in addition to the 310 special trains operating currently. This is the first time when clone trains will be deployed on the railways network. The reservation for these trains will begin from September 19.
This is the first time when clone trains will be deployed on the rail network. Earlier this month, the ministry had announced the deployment of ‘clone trains’ on routes where the occupancy is more depending on the waitlist for the trains.
The clone trains are based on the operation of special trains that are already running but with limited stoppages and faster transit time.
“Considering the huge demand for travel on specific routes, the Ministry of Railways has decided to run 20 pairs of Clone Special trains. These trains will run on notified timings and will be fully reserved trains. The stoppages shall be limited to operational halts,” the ministry said in a statement. The advance reservation period for the trains will be 10 days.
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“The clone trains will be operationalized on the routes having high patronage and demand. Clone trains have not been operated by the Indian Railways in the past. The clone trains being proposed, are based on the patronization of already operating Special trains with limited stoppages and faster transit time. The clone trains will be primarily 3 AC trains and run ahead of the already operating Special trains,” the ministry stated.
“Operation of clone trains will be widely publicized for the benefit of prospective passengers,” it added. The trains will operate at a higher speed than the existing special train.
19 pairs of Clone Special trains will run by utilizing Humsafar trains and one pair, the Lucknow-Delhi Clone special, shall run as Jan Shatabdi Express, the ministry said. The fairs of these clone trains will be similar to the Humsafar trains and Janshatabdi Express respectively, the statement added.
On September 6, the Indian Railways had announced it will deploy 80 special trains from September 12, in addition to the 230 special trains currently operating.
The Railways had suspended all regular passenger trains indefinitely on March 22 due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Earlier in June, the ministry had said passenger trains, including express and suburban services that were earlier suspended till June 30, will not operate till August 12. The 15 pairs of premium Rajdhani trains, connecting Delhi with different parts of the country, which began on May 12, and 100 pairs of long-distance trains, which began on June 1, will continue to function.
On August 11, the ministry clarified that all regular trains will continue to remain suspended but additional special trains will be operated based on the requirement.
