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Will Indian Railways put the brakes on Mamata Banerjee`s dream `Duronto`?

The Duronto trains, widely seen as one of the legacies of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her stint as railway minister, may be discontinued, a report said.

Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The Duronto trains, widely seen as one of the legacies of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her stint as railway minister, may be discontinued, a report said on Tuesday. Introduced by Banerjee despite opposition, the Railways have over 60 Duronto trains. However, in a bid to prevent financial situation from going out of hand, the Railways is mulling discontinuing non-stop Duronto trains. According to reports, two Duronto trains - from Chennai to Tiruvanantpuram and from Chennai to Coimbatore – will be discontinued from December 03 and 09 respectively. Some Durontos, which are designed to offer Rajdhani-like experience with food included and an air-conditioned Economy Class, are reportedly incurring heavy loss on the Railways. Since the colourful coaches ply from original station to the destination without any halt, 20 to 30 percent berths stayed empty, a report said. Notably, short-distance travels yield more revenue to the transporter. The Railway converted the Ajmer-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express as Jan Shatabdi Super Fast Express train with additional stoppages this month. Six Duronto trains have been converted into regular trains till now. The Railways have also reportedly decided to withdraw coaches from the regular trains, which run at less than their capacity, and attach with the ones which operate way above their capacity as a method of increasing internal generation of resources.