Three 'Duronto' trains likely to run from August: Mamata

KOLKATA: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday promised to fulfill all budget committments within one year and announced the likely start of 'Duronto' non-stop train services between select cities from next month.

Three of the Duronto trains - Delhi-Pune, Mumbai-Howrah and Howrah-Delhi - are likely to start running from August, Mamata said.

"The idea is ready and only the colouring of the trains is being done," she said. The trains will take two hours less than the Rajdhani Express to reach their respective destinations at a lesser fare.

The trains will have only operational stoppages, she noted.

Twelve "Duronto" trains were announced by her during the presentation of the budget on July three. She later also announced two "Duronto" trains to Delhi from Secunderabad and Nagpur while replying to the debate on the budget in the Lok Sabha. These trains will comprise both AC and non-AC sleeper coaches.

Bannerjee also flagged off the first ladies special EMU train services at Howrah station here. She also announced that three faster parcel train service - Tughlaqabad-Howrah, Tughlaqabad -Chennai and Tughlaqabad-Mumbai will run from August.