Gatiman Express, the much awaited first semi-high speed train is likely to be flagged off By Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu next week with much fanfare from here.
The Delhi-Agra Gatiman Express, the first train in India to run at a speed of 160 kmph, is expected to cover the 200 km distance in 110 minutes and will have train hostess.
All the preparations including trial runs are complete and now the train will be launched next week most probably on April 5, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
He said the Gatiman will have best possible services matching the flight services in catering.
Since the fare will be 25 per cent higher than Shatabdi Express, catering services in Gatiman Express will also be better.
Like flights, there would be hostesses on the train and catering will also match the standard of airliners and passengers will be greeted with flowers.
Both Indian and continental cuisine will be served. Passengers will have an assortment of food to choose from. There will be wholewheat upma, mini dosa, Kanjeevaram idli, fresh cut fruits, aloo kulcha with swiss roll, roasted dry fruit and chicken roll. Chicken sausages with Spanish egg white omelette and date walnut slice cakes will also be served in bone china crockery.
The train will have a high-power emergency braking system, automatic fire alarm, GPS-based passenger information system and sliding doors in the coaches.
The fare for chair car in fully air conditioned Gatiman Express has been fixed at Rs 690, while a passenger will be required to spend Rs 1,365 for travelling Executive Class. In Delhi-Agra Shatabadi Express, the chair car fare is Rs 540 and Rs 1,040 for Executive Class.
Equipped with a 5,400 HP electric locomotive, the train will have 12 coaches.
Indian Railway plans to roll out such trains on 9 more routes including Kanpur-Delhi, Chandigarh-Delhi, Hyderabad-Chennai, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Goa-Mumbai and Nagpur-Secunderabad.
