Mumbai: AC Tejas Exp runs full house on resumption

Segmental bookings led to more number of passengers taking the train on Sunday

After being forced to halt operations post restarting in October last year, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express was back with a bang on Sunday as it carried a total of about 1,600 passengers (both ways) on the first day of resuming services with COVID-19 protocols in place. The train will run for four days a week - Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday - with halts at Andheri, Borivli, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara and Nadiad.

Passengers travelling by the train on the first day of resuming services were a happy lot

Asked about the COVID-19 protocols being followed inside the train, Rahul Himalian, group general manager of IRCTC's western zone said, "There are 14 key points that we abide by in addition to the Standard Operating Procedure, which is already in place. These include fogging and disinfection inside train coaches at originating stations, sanitising passengers' travel bags, thermal scanning, distribution of sanitisation kits at the time of boarding."

He added, "There is also continuous cleaning during the course of the journey, thermal scanning and medical check-ups of staff, which includes monitoring them through the Aarogya Setu app, training them based on COVID-19 protocols, wearing facemasks, head nets and gloves at all times, no exchange of seats, disinfection of vacated seats, cleaning of door and washroom handles and other points of contact at regular intervals, checking passengers' Aarogya Setu app and regular awareness announcements."

"The train has eight chair car coaches and two executive car ones, with a total carrying capacity of 738 passengers. However, due to halts enroute, there were segmental bookings between Ahmedabad-Surat, Surat-Vapi or Mumbai, as a result of which the train carried about 800 passengers each way," Himalian added.

The IRCTC had earlier restarted operations of the Tejas Express from October 17, 2020 but had to stop it due to low occupancy. However, with more and more people travelling now, the train has started to get a good response. The train fare now includes charges both for food and drinking water.

Meanwhile, passengers travelling by the train were a happy lot. "Had an amazing experience travelling with IRCTC's Tejas Express on Sunday. Great hospitality and amazing services made the journey a memorable one. It was a soothing experience," said passenger Stuti Rathi.

"Initially I was reluctant to take the AC train now, but the staff were very co-operative and all passengers were provided with COVID-19 kits and sanitisers. Common contact points were being cleaned frequently," another passenger AN Shah said.

Oct 17
When services were resumed last year before being stopped due to poor response