Jamshedpur, May 16: The Puri-New Delhi Neelachal Express is set to become a superfast train from July 1.
The Railway Board?s decision to give the train a status raise will help reduce travel time by around three hours, though at a price.
Railway sources in the Calcutta headquarters of South Eastern Railway (SER) said the chief passenger transport manager (CPTM) will issue a notification in this regard shortly.
For AC II and AC III travel, passengers will have to pay an additional Rs 30 as superfast charge while the same for sleeper and general classes are Rs 20 and Rs 10 respectively.
Senior SER public relations officer R.N. Mahapatra told The Telegraph that more trains would be given superfast status in the days to come but did not name any.
?Neelachal Express is an important train between Puri and New Delhi and the decision for its upgrade was taken by the Railway Board. The railway minister, in his budget speech, had also proposed to accord superfast status to several other mail and express trains,? the SER official said.
Apart from saving time, the promotion will also improve facilities aboard the Neelachal Express. ?The quality of food will be higher. Besides, passenger amenities and maintenance of the train will also improve after it is elevated to the status of a superfast train,? he added.
The Chhotanagpur Passenger Association welcomed the move but was not happy with the rise in sleeper class fares. ?Most passengers travel sleeper class. A hike of Rs 20 is too much,? said B.N. Pandey, a senior association member.