Tejas Express travellers to get partial refund if train is delayed

In a first-of-its kind move, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has announced it will partially refund money to passengers if the Tejas Express gets delayed.

Besides, the company is offering a complimentary travel insurance coverage worth Rs 25 lakh to lure passengers. The insurance will also include a coverage of Rs 1,00,000 against household theft and robbery during the travel period. 

Touted as a trial run for ‘private train operations’ in India, the Tejas will start running between New Delhi and Lucknow from October 4. Passengers will be getting compensation of Rs 100 if the train gets delayed by one hour and Rs 250 if the delay is more than two hours. Punctuality level of the Indian Railways was at 73 per cent during the first half of this financial year.

Though this is an improvement from 66 per cent in 2018-19, it happened after data loggers were introduced at 362 locations last year.

The refund may either happen through the IRCTC e-wallet or as a reduction on the next train ticket booking. Tejas Express is considered as a step towards running private trains in India with improved facilities for passengers. 

According to the the railways, the Tejas trains are capable of clocking 200 kilometres per hour (kmph), though none of the trains are allowed to touch the maximum speed on the existing tracks. The additional features include automatic entrance plug type door and chairs with imported fabric. The passengers will also be having a personalised infotainment system, GPS-based LED destination board and luggage racks with reading lights aligned with seating.

For passenger safety, the train will also be providing close circuit cameras, fire and smoke detection system and a fire suppression system in power cars. The train will also have vinyl wrapped exterior and energy efficient LED lights, among others.

The railways had asked IRCTC, its commercial tourism and catering arm, to operate two premium Tejas passenger trains as part of its effort to further professionalise services. 

The second Tejas train will be running in the Ahmedabad- Mumbai-Ahmedabad route for six days a week and will primarily cater to business travellers traveling frequently between these cities.

The Lucknow Tejas Express will take six hours and 15 minutes to reach its destination. This train will have one executive class air conditioned chair car having 56 seats and nine air conditioned chair cars with 78 seats each. Total capacity of the train will be 758 passengers. The trains fare would range from Rs  1,125 to Rs 2,450.