Indian Railways gives new ‘gold standard’ makeover to Rajdhani Express! Recently, train number 20839/20840 Rajdhani Express superfast train, which runs from Ranchi to New Delhi, has been flagged off with enhanced aesthetics and passenger comfort. The upgradation of the superfast Rajdhani Express train service has been done under project Swarna of Indian Railways. The Ranchi Rajdhani Express train has been provided with many modern features including LED lighting, modern toilets, CCTV cameras among many others features. The announcement of the train upgradation was made by the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Ranchi division through a tweet recently.
The Railway Ministry launched the project Swarna in a bid to improve the condition of superfast Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express train services. The idea behind the initiative was to improve passenger experience based on 10 parameters which include onboard cleanliness, punctuality, coach interiors, catering, staff behaviour, security, toilets, linen and on-board entertainment. In addition to these, real-time feedback is also taken as a part of the project Swarna. Under this train upgradation project, as many as 14 Rajdhani Express trains and 15 Shatabdi Express trains have been identified by the national transporter. For the development of the trains to Swarn standard or Gold standard, Indian Railways is spending up to Rs 50 lakh per rake.
The trains have been provided with many modern features such as vinyl wrapped anti-graffiti interiors, modern toilets, digital watches, new paint scheme, LED lighting, CCTV cameras, GPS-enabled passenger announcement as well as information system among others. Several Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains on key routes such as Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata have been revamped under Project Swarn. Indian Railways is also revamping its fastest train, the Gatimaan Express, under this project.
Meanwhile, Indian Railways has also rolled out its first upgraded Mail/Express train, the Kalka Mail, under its Project Utkrisht. This project aims at upgrading 140 rakes of Mail/Express trains at a cost of Rs 60 lakh each. In the second phase as many as 500 rakes will be upgraded.
