Frequent travellers between Patna and Bangalore would be a relieved lot.

They would no longer have to depend on the Sanghamitra Express. Union railway minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched the weekly Patna-Bangalore Premium Special Express (22353/22354) from Bangalore City station on Thursday through video-conferencing. The train was flagged off from Patna Junction.

The weekly train would reduce passenger rush on the Patna-Bangalore route, as earlier only the Sanghamitra Express was available. Started on the pattern of the Rajdhani Express, it stops at a limited number of stations compared to the Sanghamitra Express.

The Sanghamitra Express used to stop at 35 stations. This premium train would halt at five stations - Cheoki, Jabalpur, Nagpur, Vijyawada and Chennai Central. It has also reduced travel time from 48 to 43 hours.

Travelling on the first premium train, passengers, naturally, expressed their happiness.

Quamar Mumtaz (19), a resident of Madhubani and a student of HMS Institute of Technology, Bangalore, said: 'It is better than the Sanghamitra Express. The best part is that with every seat there is mobile charger, which was not there in other trains. Though the ticket rates are higher but it feels good to travel on a premium train, which takes less time.'

On Thursday, the train departed at 2.45pm from platform number one with 540 passengers on board. Senior officials of East Central Railway (ECR), including general manager A.K. Mittal, divisional railway manager, Danapur, N.K. Gupta and chief commercial manager Mehboob Rab, were present with Rajya Sabha member C.P. Thakur.

Chhapra resident Naveen Kumar Dubey (24), who works in a private company, said: 'It was really difficult to get a ticket for Bangalore owing to availability of only one train. However, after launch of this new train, I am sure we would not face problems.'

There is, however, a sharp difference in the normal rates of ticket between the Sanghamitra Express and the premium train. For 2AC, 3AC and sleeper class, the rates of Sanghamitra were Rs 3,310, Rs 2,235 and Rs 865, respectively. The corresponding rates in the premium train are Rs 3,725, Rs 2,600 and Rs 1,040, respectively.

On the difference in fares, ECR chief public relations officer Arvind Kumar Rajak said: 'The basic difference between premium train other trains is that the fare of the former fluctuates like air tickets. If you purchase a ticket 10 days in advance, the fare would be less and if you will buy tickets two days in advance, the rate would be higher.' ?