Title - Delhi-Jaipur double-decker air-conditioned train flagged off

Union Railway Minister Mukul Roy flagged off the much-awaited double-decker air-conditioned train to Jaipur from Sarai Rohilla station here on Friday.Congratulating railway officers and the Kapurthala-based Rail Coach Factory (RCF) staff for their ingenuity in designing the double-decker coach, he announced a group award of Rs.5 lakh for the RCF.The 12986 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jaipur train will depart from here at 5.35 p.m. daily and reach Jaipur at 10.05 p.m. the same day. In its return direction, the 12985 Jaipur-Delhi Sarai Rohilla train will depart from Jaipur at 6 a.m. and reach Delhi at 10.30 a.m. the same day. Its regular services will commence from Saturday.Comprising eight AC chair car coaches and two power cars, the double-decker AC trains will stop for two minutes each at Delhi Cantonment, Gurgaon and Gandhi Nagar (Jaipur) stations on the way in both directions.The Railways started the double-decker train services in 1975. Despite their passenger-carrying capacity, double-decker trains were not enhanced. In 2009, former Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee revived double-decker services with air-conditioned coaches while introducing the Rail Budget.Designing the double-decker coaches was a mighty challenge as the entire rail network and coaches were designed to meet precise standard dimensions in length, breadth and height of the railway structures like bridges and tunnels.

Double-decker coaches can accommodate 120 passengers against the carrying capacity of 78 passengers in the existing chair cars of Shatabdi trains.