Garib Rath to continue, Railways denies reports of train ending its run

Sources had told Zee Media that Garib Rath trains, touted to be the poor man's no frills AC train, will be replaced by 3-AC express trains.

New Delhi: The Railway Ministry on Friday denied the news on discontinuation of Garib Rath following reports in Zee Media that the government is mulling phasing out the train with express trains

Sources had told Zee Media that Garib Rath touted to be the poor man's no frills AC train will soon become a thing of the past.

In an official response the Ministry said that no plans are under consideration as of now. “But if any change or anything comes up in future will let you know,” the Ministry said.

Sources had on Thursday told Zee Media that the Railway Ministry has already asked to stop making of new coaches for  Garib Rath Express. The Garib Rath trains will either be completely phased out or be converted into mail or express trains, sources said.

Notably, Railways has already replaced services of Garib Rath in Kathgodam-Jammu and Kathgodam-Kanpur route by Mail or Express trains. Clarifying on this, the Railways said the services were temporarily halted in these two routes, but from August Garib Rath train services will fully resume in these two routes.

It may be recalled that the-then Railway Minister Lalu Yadav, started the AC three-tier Garib Rath targetting the middle and lower income classes in 2006. The first 'Garib Rath' was flagged off from Bihar's Saharsa to Amritsar in Punjab.

Currently 26 pair of Garib Rath trains are run by the Railways.