Bhubaneswar: Railway minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on Thursday flagged off Humsafar Express on Bhubaneswar-Krishnarajpuram-Bhubaneswar route through videoconferencing from Rail Board in New Delhi.
On the inaugural run, the Humsafar Express left Bhubaneswar at 2.30pm and, in the return direction, it would leave Krishnarajpuram at 11.15pm on Friday.
However, the regular service for the train would commence from Bhubaneswar from July 17 and from Krishnarajpuram on July 18. The 22833 Humsafar Express would leave Bhubaneswar at 12 noon on every Monday and reach Krishnarajpuram at 1 pm the next day. In the return direction, the 22834 Humsafar Express would leave Krishnarajpuram at 4:05 pm on every Tuesday and arrive at Bhubaneswar at 5:45 pm the following day.
The fully air-conditioned train with 16 AC three-tier coaches, two guard-cum-generator car and a pantry car would be very comfortable with extra fire safety mechanisms and detection systems. All coaches are having bio-toilets, CCTV cameras and odour control mechanisms. It will have stoppages at Khurda Road, Berhampur, Palasa, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Duvvada, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Ongole, Nellore, Gudur, Renigunta, Katpadi, Jollarpettai and Bangarpet.
The minister also laid the foundation stone for the mechanized laundry under build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model at Bhubaneswar railway station, besides launching the free Wi-Fi service at Sambalpur station.
The proposed mechanised laundry would be one of the biggest laundries of the Railways with 14 tonnes capacity and is scheduled to be commissioned by end of the current financial year, official sources said.
The Wi-Fi facility would soon be provided at Jagdalpur, Rayagada, Bramhapur, Bhadrak, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Srikakulam Road stations.