The much-hyped Garib Rath — a fully air-conditioned train to be flagged off by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on the Saharsa-Amritsar route on Wednesday — is yet to catch the fancy of the people.
Till Tuesday evening, only 85 seats had been booked in the three-tier AC coaches. The response was equally poor for the AC chair car, which had only 25 bookings.
According to AK Chandra, chief public relations officer, East Central Railway, the Saharsa-Amritsar Garib Rath has 18 coaches — including 12 three-tier AC coaches, four AC chair cars and two for handicapped. While a standard three-tier AC coach has 64 berths, a Garib Rath has 75 berths. Also, the latter’s chair car has 102 seats, 32 more than the conventional one.
But despite the dismal bookings, Samastipur Divisional Rail Manager V Sri Hari told the Hindustan Times that the bookings would pick up gradually.