Bhubaneswar: The state's first Memu (mainline electric multiple unit) train rolled out between Berhampur and Cuttack on Friday. The train, which can accelerate and decelerate faster, will replace the Berhampur-Cuttack-Berhampur passenger.

An official in the East Coast Railway (ECoR) said that the 12-coach rake, where each coach will have a capacity of 110 passengers, has been made by the Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab. ECoR runs Memu trains on Visakhapatnam-Palasa route in Andhra Pradesh while this is the first such train for Odisha.

The train number will be changed to 68434/68433 Berhampur-Cuttack-Berhampur Memu instead of 58434/58433 Berhampur-Cuttack-Berhampur Passenger. The new train will run six days a week as per the old schedule of the Berhampur-Cuttack-Berhampur Passenger.

On Saturday, the train will run as Berhampur-Khurda Road Memu Special from Berhampur to Khurda Road at 9.30pm. On Sunday, it will run as Khurda Road-Berhampur Memu Special from Khurda Road to Cuttack at 11.45pm.

Divisional railway manager of Khurda Road division Braj Mohan Agarwal said that the ECoR had decided to introduce the Memu train before the rath yatra. "We managed to introduce it before the annual rath yatra and selection of other routes on which Memu train will run is also on progress. These trains have a potential for average speed increment up to 20km per hour in comparison to the conventional passenger trains," said Agarwal.

Railway officials said that the train will not consume extra time for engine reversal as the train have two engines on two ends.