Three of Mamata Banerjee’s 12 ‘Duronto’ trains will start operating in the second week of August, two of them from Kolkata. The non-stop, point-to-point expresses

will run twice a week between Howrah and Delhi, Howrah and Mumbai, and Delhi and Pune.

“The Delhi-Pune and Howrah-Mumbai Durontos will be entirely airconditioned. The Howrah-Delhi train will have non-AC sleeper coaches too,” said a senior ministry official.

But for a couple of “technical halts” to change crew or take supplies, these will not stop anywhere, and will take at least two to three hours less than today’s fastest trains. The Kolkata Rajdhani (via Gaya) currently does the 1,447 km between Delhi and Howrah in under 17 hours, stopping at six stations. The fastest train between Kolkata and Mumbai, the Geetanjali Express, takes 31 and a half hours with 21 stops.

The next two of these non-stop trains could well be Sealdah-New Delhi and Kolkata-Amritsar, sources said.