Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off India’s third and Western Railway’s second Private train run by IRCTC – Kashi Mahakal Express between Varanasi and Indore, on Sunday through video conferencing from Varanasi. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, Minister of State for Railways Suresh C. Angadi and several other dignitaries were present at the function. The regular run of this train will commence from 20th February, 2020 on the eve of the auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri.
According to a Press Release issued by WR CPRO Ravinder Bhakar, out of the three Corporate trains introduced by IRCTC, two are on W. Rly, the first of which is the Ahmedabad – Mumbai Tejas Express while the second one is the newly introduced Kashi Mahakal Express which consists of two pairs of trains and will run on two routes. One of the train will be a Weekly service while the other will be a Bi –Weekly service. Train No. 82402/82401 Indore – Varanasi Express will run via Lucknow – Kanpur (Bi-weekly) and Train No.82404/82403 Indore – Varanasi Express will run via Allahabad – Kanpur (Weekly).
The train on its journey will connect three Jyotirlings namely Omkareshwar (Near Indore), Mahakaleshwar (Ujjain) and Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi) besides also connecting the industrial and educational hub of Indore and Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh enroute. The train will provide a host of facilities and services to the passengers on-board including high quality vegetarian food, on-board bedrolls and housekeeping services and on-board security services.
Besides, IRCTC is also offering attractive packages linked with Kashi Mahakal Express from Varanasi/ Alalhabad/Lucknow/ Kanpur. Every passenger travelling in the train will be covered with a complimentary travel insurance of Rs. 10 lakhs during the journey. Bookings for the train will be exclusively available on IRCTC website www.irctc.co.in and its mobile app ‘Irctc Rail Connect’. The passengers can also get their tickets booked through authorized agents and online travel partners of IRCTC.
The train will have an advance reservation period of 120 days. The current booking will be available to the passengers on the platform itself after preparation of first chart, 4 hours to 5 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train. IRCTC is further facilitating the passengers by allowing automatic full refund of the train fare in case of cancellation of the train for both waitlisted as well as confirmed e-tickets.
The details of these new trains are as under:-
• Train No 82402/82401 Indore – Varanasi Express via Lucknow – Kanpur
Train No 82402 Indore – Varanasi Express will depart from Indore at 10.55 hrs every Wednesday & Friday and will arrive Varanasi at 06.00 hrs the next day. The first service of this train will commence from 21st February, 2020. Similarly, Train No 82401 Varanasi – Indore Express will depart from Varanasi at 14.45 hrs every Tuesday & Thursday and will arrive Indore at 09.40 hrs the next day. The first service of this train will commence from 20th February, 2020. The train will consist of AC 3-tier & Pantry car coaches. This train will halt at Ujjain, Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Bina, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow & Sultanpur stations in both directions.
• Train No 82404/82403 Indore – Varanasi Express via Lucknow – Kanpur
Train No 82404 Indore – Varanasi Express will depart from Indore at 10.55 hrs every Monday and will arrive Varanasi at 05.00 hrs the next day from 24th February, 2020. Similarly, Train No 82403 Varanasi – Indore Express will depart from Varanasi at 15.15 hrs every Sunday and will arrive Indore at 09.40 hrs the next day from 23rd February, 2020. The train will have AC 3-tier & Pantry car coaches. This train will halt at Ujjain, Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Bina, Jhansi, Kanpur & Allahabad stations in both directions.