The 12 new non-stop fast trains announced by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in her budget speech between select cities will take less time than even the Rajdhani express to complete their journey.

"This has been made possible as these trains, unlike the Rajdhani Express, will have no intermediate stoppages and run in much the same speed clocked by Rajdhani," said Railway Board member, Shri Prakash.

For example, he said, the new bi-weekly non-stop train between New Delhi and Howrah will take 16 hours to cover the journey, as against 17 hours taken by Rajdhani Express.

"The trains will, however, have technical stoppages at a few stations for facilitating staff and loco change but the "transit time will come down drastically ", he said.

All the 12 trains have been announced between cities where the volume of passenger traffic and demand is high.

These routes are also serviced by Rajdhani Express. However, talking to the media earlier Shri Prakash did not mention whether the tickets for these trains will come at a premium, saying "they are being worked out."

These trains have been christened as "Duronto" -- meaning non-stop-- and will comprise both AC and non-AC sleeper coaches.