The South Central Railway will introduce premium superfast special trains on April 17.
The fully reserved service aims to meet the heavy demand for rail travel on popular routes during holidays and other busy seasons and is primarily targeted at passengers who are willing to pay premium fare for confirmed berths at the time of booking itself and enhanced standards of service. Keeping in view the likelihood of heavy rush of passengers on three continuous holidays on April 18, 19 and 20, the first premium superfast special (Train 02204) will leave Secunderabad at 11 pm on April 17 and reach Visakhapatnam at 8:50 am on the next day. The return train, train 02203, will leave Visakhapatnam at 9:10 pm on April 20 and arrive at Secunderabad at 7 am on April 21.
The trains will stop only at Rajahmundry and Samalkot. The train consists of 14 coaches (eight sleeper class, three AC-3 tier,one AC-2 tier and two SLRs).
The basic fare of this train is fixed at the corresponding Tatkal fare of the regular superfast trains. It is Rs 450 for sleeper class, Rs 1,180 for AC-3 and Rs 1,670 for AC-2 for travel between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam.
The fares will vary as per the demand and availability of berths. The rate will rise to an upper limit fare as the bookings increase. The fares applicable for each day, transaction will be indicated at the time of booking on IRCTC’s e-ticketing website.
SCR plans to extend the ‘Premium’ superfast special train services from Secunderabad to other long-distance destinations depending on demand.
The ‘Premium’ service is designed to be one of the fastest trains on this popular route. The 701 km distance between the two cities will be covered by this train in nine hours and 50 minutes, one hour and 25 minutes less than Garib Rath and two hours and 20 minutes less than Godavari Express.
The unique features of the ‘Premium’ train service are that no wait-listed tickets will be issued and no refund will be allowed except when the train is fully cancelled on railway account due to unforeseen circumstances. Adult fare will be charged for all passengers irrespective of their age and no concession will be applicable. Ticket modifications, issuance of duplicate ticket will not be entertained.
Booking of tickets can be done only through IRCTC’s portal on Internet. Tickets will not be issued manually at the reservation counters. However, vacant berths available after chart preparation will be offered at ‘current day’ booking counters at the train originating stations.
Additional Berths
In order to clear extra rush of passengers during summer, certain express trains will be temporarily augmented with additional coaches. The augmentation will make available 5,768 additional berths (208 AC-I cum AC-II berths, 3,328 AC-III berths, 2,016 sleeper class berths and 216 second class chair car seats) from April 5 to June 30.
Special Features
■ The Sec’bad-Vizag train will have only two halts
■ It will run faster than Godavari and Garib Rath
■ It will be a fully-reserved train
■ The fares will vary with demand and availability of accommodation
■ Children of all ages will be charged adult fare; no fare concession under any scheme
■ Tickets can be bought only online
■ No refund will be allowed except in case of train cancellation