With 550 on board, third Shatabdi chugs out of Chandigarh station

Nearly 24 years after the first Shatabdi between New Delhi and Chandigarh and 19 years after the second such train, the Chandigarh-New Delhi Shatabdi Express was flagged off by Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal amidst much fanfare, from the Chandigarh Railway Station on Monday.

Decked up in flowers,the train rolled out of the Chandigarh Railway station at 11:40 am with about 550 passengers on board. This will be the third Shatabdi to run between the national capital and Chandigarh, Bansal's Lok Sabha constituency.

It will ply non stop between Chandigarh and Delhi taking 12 minutes less than the other two trains, that have three stoppages on the way. The latest Shatabdi has nine chair car coaches with a capacity of 702 passengers and one executive coach with a capacity to accommodate 56 people. A seat on the chair car will cost Rs 513 while the fare for the executive class is Rs 1080. The train is equipped with LHB coaches that would provide more facilities to the passengers including more led space and a jerk free journey.

Except for Sunday, the train will run for six days in a week. It is technically the first Shatabdi to originate from and terminate at Chandigarh: the other two begin their journey at Kalka in Haryana but halt in Chandigarh.

The latest Shatabdi will depart from Chandigarh at 11:40 am to reach New Delhi at 3 pm the same day. Its return journey will begin from New Delhi at 7:15 pm to reach Chandigarh at 10:35 pm on the same day. At present, the morning Shatabdi leaves Chandigarh at 6.53 am and reaches Delhi at 10.25 pm and it departs from Delhi at 7.40 am and reaches Chandigarh at 11.05 am. The evening train departs from Chandigarh at 6.23 pm and reaches Delhi at 9.55 pm while it leaves Delhi at 5.15 pm and reaches Chandigarh at 8.40 pm.

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