Jamshedpur : Buoyed over the overwhelming response from the passengers, the South Eastern Railway on Thursday notified extension of Santragachi-Pune AC Weekly Superfast train for another two months. The all-AC weekly superfast special train running between the two destinations via Tatanagar was introduced on February 4. The run was scheduled on June 26. Based on the response it has been extended till August 28.
” The decision for extension of the train was taken keeping in view the huge rush of passengers in that long distance train. We have extended nine to and fro trips of that train for the convenience of passengers,” said a spokesperson of SER adding that if required the running of the train will be further extended after August 28.
The Santragachi-Pune AC Special (02822) leaves Santragachi at 6.30pm and reachTatanagar at 10pm every Saturday.
It will stop for five minutes at Tatanagar and reach Pune at 2.45am on Monday. From Pune, the train (02821) leaves at 10.30am every Monday, arrive at Tatanagar at 2.15pm on Tuesday and after a five-minute halt it proceed to reach Santragachi at 6.15pm the same day.
The special train with three AC- 2 tier , eight AC 3-tier coaches and two SLR ( (sitting-cum-luggage rake) will have stoppages at Kharagpur, Tatanagar, Chakradharpur, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Bilsapur, Raipur, Durg, Nagpur, Bhusaval and Panvel stations.
Meanwhile, in an another notification issued on Wednesday, the SER also extended the running of Tatanagar-Visakhapatnam Express till August 28. The train was introduced in December last year as a winter special.
According to a schedule released by SER today, the Up train ( 08189) from Tatanagar will leave every Friday. The train will leave the originating station on Fridays at 1 pm and it will reach Visakhapatnam at 5.25 am the next day. The return train ( 08190 ) will leave Visakhapatnam at 5.45 pm on every Saturday. The train will reach Tatanagar at 10.45 am the next day.
According to officials at the computerised ticket reservation counters at Tatanagar, trains for destinations like Mumbai and New Delhi and those in the south are witnessing a huge rush. “Keeping this in view, passengers have already booked their tickets well in advance for different tourist destinations,’ said an official.