Udaipur : Train number 02993 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udaipur popularly known as Chetak express on Sunday became the first electric locomotive-hauled passenger train to reach Udaipur. The train left Delhi on Saturday at 7.35pm and reached Udaipur on Sunday morning at 7.30am. Railway sources said the train reached ahead of its schedule as the diesel engine train arrived here at 7.50am. The electric engine saved twenty minutes running time although no change in its running schedule had been made.
DRM Navin Kumar Parsuramka congratulated the railway staff as well as the passengers on the historical occasion and said that the electricity run rails would not only prove effective in environment conservation but also would be public friendly by helping them reach their destinations faster compared to the conventional locomotives. He said after the completion of the Ajmer-Udaipur rail route project, on 26 December, a goods train was first operated on the line which paved the way for passengers train. Now in the coming days, more long distance, mail, express, passengers and goods trains would be operated.
The railway officials also said that the train returning from Udaipur to Delhi on Monday too would be hauled by the electric engine. Similarly, train number 02992/02992 running between Jaipur-Udaipur-Jaipur special too would be run by electric engine Monday onwards.
The Ajmer-Udaipur electrified rail route project covers a distance of 294.50 kilometers and cost around 320.18 crore rupees to the railways. The commissioner of railway safety approved the route after an inspection on December 18. The electrification work between Ajmer-Palanpur section too is under progress.