Railways’ Diwali gift: New superfast train between Ballia and Anand Vihar launched

New Delhi: Ahead of Diwali, Railways Friday launched a new weekly superfast train services between Ballia and Anand Vihar in view of the growing demand of the passengers from the region.

Terming the launch of the new train service a 'Diwali gift', Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said, "It was a long pending demand of the Ballia people to introduce a direct train between Ballia and Delhi which has now been fulfilled on the auspicious occasion of Diwali."

Prabhu flagged off the train through video-conferencing from here in the presence of Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha and senior railway officials.

The Ballia-Anand Vihar superfast express train will leave from Anand Vihar every Saturday, and from Ballia every Sunday. It will cover 887 km in about 16 hours.

Speaking on the occasion, Sinha said Indian Railways wants to bring every corner of the country on the railway map in true spirit and is working in that direction effortlessly.

Comprising 16 coaches-- AC-1, AC-2, AC-3, Sleeper and General Class-- the train will have stoppages at Khurja, Aligarh, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gyanpur Road, Manduadih, Ghazipur City and Karimuddinpur enroute both ways.