Bhubaneswar, July 13: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu today flagged off Humsafar Express, a fully air-conditioned train, from the railway station here. The minister took part in the programme through video conferencing.
Prabhu also laid the foundation stone for a mechanised laundry at Bhubaneswar station and inaugurated free Wi-Fi service at Sambalpur station.
A railway official said the express train between Bhubaneswar and Krishnarajpuram near Bangalore will leave the Odisha capital every Monday at 12 noon and will reach its destination at 1pm next day. On its return journey, the train will leave Krishnarajpuram at 4.05pm on Tuesdays and reach Bhubaneswar at 5.45pm the next day.
"The train is equipped with improved passenger amenities and facilities such as bio toilets, closed-circuit television cameras and odour control mechanism. The coaches are equipped with fire detection and safety mechanism apart from passenger announcement system," said a railway official.
The mechanised laundry is going to be one of Indian Railways' biggest with 14-tonne capacity and is set to be commissioned by the end of this financial year. A railway official said the quality of bedroll linen was expected to significantly improve and enhance passenger satisfaction.
"The laundry will be built in the build, own, operate and transfer model and the contract has been awarded to a Hyderabad-based agency at Rs 85.55 crore for a period of 10 years," said a railway official.
The Wi-Fi service at Sambalpur railway station has been commissioned by Central PSU RailTel and Internet major Google for high speed Internet service to the passengers. Sambalpur is the fourth station in the state after Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri to have free Wi-Fi service.
Eight other stations in the state - Balasore, Bhadrak, Berhampur, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Jharsuguda, Khordha Road, Rayagada and Rourkela - would also be provided with the Wi-Fi service shortly. While Union ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan took part in the programme from Delhi during the flag-off ceremony, state tourism and culture minister Ashok Chandra Panda, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Kumar Patasani and Bhubaneswar North legislator Priyadarshi Mishra were present at Bhubaneswar railway station.
