City-Howrah Duronto train from January 3

The train’s maiden run from Bangalore will commence on January 3 at Yeshwantpur.
Announcing this to newspersons at the Rail Bhavan on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa said the train will leave Yeshwantpur at 11.15 am on Sunday.

Muniyappa also said the State government was drafting 20 railway projects for the State, to be implemented on  Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model. The Railway Board has to okay them before seeking the approval of Parliament, he added.

The projects will ensure the addition of 50,000 km of railway line to the State for meeting demand for trains.

Muniyappa also announced extension of two trains and inauguration of a new train early next year. “The Tirupati-Mysore Express will be extended to Chamrajanagar during the first week of January and the Mumbai-Karwar Express will be extended to Mangalore during the first or second week of February,” he said. The Bangalore-Kochuveli Superfast Express announced in the budget would be inaugurated by February, he added.

The Rae-Bareli-Lucknow-Bangalore Passenger was expected to be inaugurated by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi soon.

Muniyappa also said that 1,000 manned level crossings in the country will be converted to Railway-Over-Bridges during the next financial year to bring down the number of rail accidents.