HYDERABAD: The Ministry of Railways has approved the introduction of three new weekly express trains connecting Telangana with Rajasthan and the Northeast, regularising the services that earlier operated as special trains. The new services will commence from July, according to South Central Railway (SCR).
The newly introduced trains include the Hyderabad-Jaipur Weekly Express, Charlapalli-Agartala Weekly Express and Kacheguda-Sri Ganganagar Weekly Express. The move is expected to improve long-distance connectivity for passengers travelling between Telangana and northern as well as northeastern parts of the country.
The Hyderabad-Jaipur Weekly Express (17079) will commence services from July 24, departing every Friday at 7.50 pm, while the return service, Jaipur-Hyderabad Weekly Express (17080), will begin from July 26, departing every Sunday at 3.30 pm. The train will pass through major stations including Secunderabad, Kamareddi, Nizamabad, Nanded, Akola, Bhopal, Ujjain, Ratlam and Ajmer before reaching Jaipur.
Similarly, the Charlapalli-Agartala (17031) service will begin on July 27, departing on every Monday at 4.20 pm, while the return service from Agartala (17032) will commence from July 31, every Friday at 5.30 am. The train will connect Telangana with several important cities across Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam before reaching Tripura. Key stoppages include Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Bhubaneswar, Kharagpur, Guwahati and New Haflong.
In another development, the Railways announced the introduction of Train No. 17061/62 Kacheguda-Sri Ganganagar Weekly Express. The Kacheguda-Sri Ganganagar service will commence from July 25, every Saturday at 10 pm, while the return service from Sri Ganganagar will start from July 28, every Tuesday at 6.55 am. The train will run via Malkajgiri, Kamareddi, Nizamabad, Basar, Nanded, Bhopal, Jaipur, Bikaner and Suratgarh, providing direct connectivity between Telangana and several important destinations in Rajasthan.