Service type Duronto Express Current operator(s) South Central Railway End Visakhapatnam Junction | First service 12 July 2012 Start Secunderabad Junction | |
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Locale Andhra Pradesh, Telangana | ||
The Visakhapatnam–Secunderabad Duronto Express is a superfast AC express train of the Indian Railways, announced in 2011-12 Railway Budget by Mamata Banerjee, the then Minister of Indian Railways, connecting Secunderabad (SC) to Visakhapatnam (VSKP). It is the fastest way between the two cities and will consist of 18 coaches. The budget originally proposed the German engineered Linke Holfmann Bush coaches, designed for an operating speed up to 160 km/h and tested up to 180 km/h. However, due to a shortage of these LHBs, the train old rake of a Rajdhani express train was vinyl wrapped and given the duronto look. On 30 June 2012, the Indian Railways announced that the train will be flagged of on 6 July. It was however flagged off from Visakhapatnam on 12 July 2012.
Contents
Pre-Introduction
The Hindu had confirmed that the train will be given LHB rakes, as the classic ICF rakes would not be suitable to the speeds of the train. On 24 April, however, the old rake of the Bangalore Rajdhani Express was sent to Lallaguda a major overhaul and vinyl-wrapping.
On 27 May, nearly five air-conditioned ICF coaches in Duronto livery were spotted outside Secunderabad Junction. They belonged to the South Central Railway, but the windows of the AC II tier compartments had smaller windows, unlike most SCR trains that had large windows in all AC coaches.
Post-Introduction
On 30 June 2012, the Indian Railways, during a press conference at the Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad, the building housing the Zonal Headquarters Office of the South Central Railway, announced that the train will be officially flagged off on 6 July. However, the train did not start on 6 July. On 11 July2012, a well decorated empty rake of the train was sent on a test run to Visakhapatnam. The train finally left Visakhapatnam towards Secunderabad on its maiden journey on 12 July 2012.
Overview
The train runs with a single stop between the two cities cover the distance of 701 km (436 mi) in 10 hours, 25 minutes. It is the fastest train between the two cities. The train has a technical stop at Vijayawada Junction, where the locomotive gets reversed and the water tanks in each coach of the train is refilled with water. From 3rd Jan 2016, the technical halt at Vijayawada is converted into commercial halt.
Composition
The rake consists of 1 AC1 tier coach, 4 AC2 tier coach, 11 AC3 tier coach and 2 EOGs.