Next time Tejas train delays you, you will get a refund

Those travelling by India’s first private train Tejas Express will get refund of as much as ₹250 in case the train is delayed, state-owned Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd (IRCTC) said on Tuesday. As much as ₹100 will be paid in case of delay of more an hour and ₹250 for delay of over two hours to every passenger as compensation.

A train running late is not an uncommon phenomenon due to traffic congestion and maintenance work. This is the first time that passengers will be compensated if the train is delayed is an indication of the government’s intention to improve its service standard.

In sync with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s 100-day agenda of its second term in office, India’s state-of-art high speed train Tejas Express will make its first run from Lucknow-New Delhi at the beginning of the festival season on October 4. The service performance will also help railways prepare the blue print for more such offerings across its nearly 1,20,000 km network, the largest in the world.

In a first, the company is offering a complimentary travel insurance coverage of ₹25 lakh. The travel insurance will include coverage of ₹1 lakh against any theft or robbery during travel period of the passengers.

IRCTC said that the claim has to be filed with the insurance company and can be lodged at the insurance co toll free no or through a registered post that has to be sent to the company.

“On the submission of the required documents, the insurance co will settle the claim within 2-3 days. After integration of details like name, policy number, bank details, among others, (the passenger)… claims be dealt online,” the company said.

The Lucknow-Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will have one executive class air-conditioned chair car, with 56 seats and nine air conditioned chair cars having capacity of 78 seats each. The total carrying capacity of the train will be 758 passengers. The train will start its journey in the morning at 06:10 hours and will reach New Delhi at 12:25 hours. The train will run 6 days a week except Tuesday.

Another Tejas train will run on Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Ahmedabad route in the next few months. It will also run 6 days a week, except Thursday.

Train fare will be ‘dynamic’, in consideration the prevailing bus, taxi, rail and airfares. Fares will be different for lean, busy and festive seasons. February, March and August months of the calendar year will form the lean season, railway ministry had earlier said.

There will be tea, coffee vending machines and water will be provided through RO machines for passengers on demand. Similar to what flight has to offer, meals will be served by the staff onboard via trolleys.