Goa-Mumbai double decker starts; 960 capacity, Fare Rs 835/-
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 06 December 2015 20:58 IST
A double decker train from Goa to Mumbai was flagged off today afternoon with around 400 passengers.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar flagged off the train from Madgao at around 4.15 pm.
The journey from Madgao to Kurla station in Mumbai will take around 12 hours.
The train has eight AC chair car coaches with 120 seats each, meaning a capacity to carry 960 passengers.
“Nearly 50 per cent passengers on an inaugural day is quite a good response and it will help the tourists immensely”, Baban Ghatge, senior manager, public relations told goanews.com.
Almost 250 passengers boarded from Madgao while 150 more till Ratnagiri, he informed.
The first double decker train on the Konkan railway route will run thrice a week, with the first train expected to leave on Wednesday, 9 December from Lokmany Tilak Terminus, Mumbai.
The fare will be Rs 835.
One such attempt of double decker made last year did not get good response at the time of Chovoth festivity.
“But that was a premium fare equivalent to the air fare”, said Ghatge.
The flag off ceremony was also attended by North Goa MP Shripad Naik, St Andre MLA Vishnu Wagh and Panaji MLA Siddharth Kuncalienker, besides the railway officials.
The AC Double Decker Express Train No. 11085 will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at about 5:30 am and will reach Madgao at about 5:30 pm on the same day.
Similarly in Up Direction, Train No. 11086 will leave Madgao on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at about 6 am and will reach Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at about 5:10 pm on the same day.
This train will halt at Thane, Panvel, Khed, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Kankavali, Sawantwadi Road, Thivim and Karmali in both the directions.
correct up direction train no. 11086 will leave monday or tuesday ?
12 hours journy is discomfort with seating. it has to change the status of train expresss to super fast express and journy time to be completed in 9 hours for good responce
THIS TRAIN SHOULD RUN AT NIGHT FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE. BECAUSE EARLY MORNING IT IS DIFFICULT TO CATCH THE TRAIN TIME IN LTT.