What India's Fastest Train Would Mean for Kerala
- 05 Apr 2016
- FWD Admin
- Features
The Gatimaan Express, launched on 5 April 2016, is India's fastest train and covers 188km in 100 minutes.
The Gatimaan Express did its first service on April 5 and is the fastest train in the country. Starting from Nizammudin Station (Delhi) to Agra Cantonement station, the train bears the number 12049/50. It is fifteen minutes faster than its Shatabdi counterpart and will have upgraded coaches. So what would this train mean for Kerala?
1. The distance from northern most point to southern most in Kerala is approximately 623 km. The capital city of Kerala is at the southern most district, so we can assume that a lot of people would require to be in Thiruvananthapuram. That means one can travel from Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram in under four hours!
2. The Gatimaan will run six days a week, except Fridays in both directions. Well we would suggest it run all days in Kerala, since the IT industry here attracts a lot of people who work on international times. This also means that one would get to visit the Museum, Zoo, Parliament and Kovalam beach in Thirivanathapuram over the weekend and get back to Kasargod without a tiring journey.
3. Seats will come with wifi, bio toilets, automatic sliding doors, and built in entertainment systems, similar to the ones you have on the flight. Scoop Whoop says that these will later have live satellite feed as well. The 100 minute journey from Delhi to Agra means you cant watch a whole movie, but from Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram means you can watch a full Mollywood movie and one episode of Game of Thrones, with a nap inbetween!
4. According to ScoopWhoop, the twelve coaches costs 2.5 crores each, which is arguably the budget of the Mamootty starrer Pazhassi Raja.
5. The fastest train in India will be the first one to have hostesses taking care of housekeeping accoridng to India Today. Well Kerala is big on employment for women and this would definitely be on par with that. Imagine flight attendants in trains. They will definitley be busy serving filter coffee.
6. The Gatimaan will serve a new and delicious menu with veg and non veg options in South Indian, North Indian, Continental and healthy food according to IBN Live. Good food is really exciting for Malayalees and we will certainly make the menu wholesome with our own additions.
7. An executive seat on the Gatimaan is Rs. 1365 and the ac chair car is Rs.690 for the 100 minute journey. That is a good deal for air conditioned coaches to combat the blistering heat in Kerala this summer. Of course we would want a discount since the distance is longer.
8. Latest upgrades in security features including fire and emergency breaking is availabale in the Gatimaan. The coaches have been designed with the Research Development and Standards Organisation. The IT industry in Kerala is a newsmaker and having a high tech train would definitely fall in line with our outlook.
9. Why not? Being at the southern tip of the country, we depend a lot on trains to get across. So a jazzy new train with all features (just like my friend's new smart phone) would be welcome here.
Though these reasons are just the tip of the iceberg, we really hope we get a super fast train in Kerala, that just stops at Kasargode, Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvanathapuram. The tourists would love it too.
Words by: Maria John
The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of WtzupCity.com.
