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ShareMumbai: In India, long-distance trains seldom reach their destination on time, much less ahead of time. So, passengers on the brand-new Duronto Express between Mumbai and Nagpur were in for a pleasant surprise on Friday when the train reached its destination a good hour and a half early.
The express reached Nagpur terminus at 6:15am instead of the scheduled arrival time of 7:45am.
Snigdha Pawar, a Mantralaya employee who was going to Nagpur to prepare for the forthcoming winter session, said, "The train has curtains and it was pretty cold. All the passengers had set alarms for 7:30am and were fast asleep. But at 6:15am, the commotion outside woke us up. It was then that we realised we had already reached Nagpur. It was such a welcome change."
According to the Central Railway authorities, Duronto is the fastest tri-weekly train plying between Nagpur and Mumbai, covering the distance in eleven-and-a-half hours. The 837km distance, covered by other trains in 14 to 15 hours, was covered by the Duronto in just 10 hours last Friday.
"In case of long-distance trains, we keep a margin of over an hour in case of technical problems during the journey," said AK Singh, Central Railway's public relations officer.
"But Duronto does not halt at a single station. Also, since it is a new train, it may not have stopped at all and made it before time."
