Focusing on the upliftment of weakest sections of the society, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday unveiled a new train–Antyodaya Express–for the common man, with the focus on clean India.
The Antyodaya Express will run on the Southern Railway line–Mumbai-Tatanagar route.
The train will provide facilities similar to that of first class. The train, equipped with luxury items such as cushioned seats, aluminium composite panels, and LED lights will facilitate the passengers in unreserved coaches.
“The facilities provided in Antyodaya coaches are similar in first class. Our government's focus is on Aam Aadmi (common man) so we launched the product with many facilities for them,” Prabhu said.
But what about the travel fare. If we get facilities similar to first class, do we need to pay similar fare or more?
The fare structure is not clear yet. But, according to reports, “the fare structure will be 10-15 per cent higher than the regular fare”.
A first in general class, the train is equipped with bio-toilets for zero discharge of effluents and toilet occupation indication lights with better visibility from compartments.
Apart from modern equipment, Antyodaya also focusses on ‘Clean India’ and ‘Save Electricity’ movements as the train has LED lights and enhanced capacity dustbins.
In the Budget, It was announced that the government would launch four new passenger services. Meanwhile, two train services, Humsafar and Antyodaya have been unveiled and two others, Tejas Express and Uadaya Express, are expected to be unveiled soon.