Jamshedpur, Dec. 10: The pair of bi-weekly Superfast AC Winter Special Express trains between Howrah and Tatanagar introduced by South Eastern Railway (SER) on December 8 has received lukewarm response. The fully air-conditioned special train departed from Tatanagar with 250 seats vacant.
Railways introduced this special train to manage the rush at the ongoing marriage season and the year-end festive season which is round the corner. The next journey of the train is on December 12, but it hasn’t drawn the crowd it was expected to. The special train will run till December 30.
O P Sharma, Tatanagar station superintendent, said, “Though the response is not very good, we are hopeful that the more bookings will be made as people are still not aware of this newly introduced train. Once the winter vacations begin from December 21, the rush would increase.”
Kapil Adeshra, a businessman travelling to Howrah thrice a week says, “The timing of Steel Express suits us well. In Steel Express we have a choice for non-AC coach, which comes within our budget so why will we pay higher amount for AC coaches.”
Howrah-Tatanagar bi-weekly Superfast AC Winter Special Express leaves Howrah every Tuesday and Friday at 7.20 p.m. and reaches Tatanagar at 11.15 p.m. on the same day covering the distance in about four hours.
The down train leaves Tatanagar at 6.55 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday and reaches Howrah at 11:10 a.m. on the same day.
The fully-air conditioned superfast winter special trains comprise seven AC chair cars and one first AC chair car coach. The trains stop at Kharagpur, Jhargram, Chakulia and Ghatsila in both the directions.