The Indian Railways is to replace the Delhi-Allahabad Duronto Express with Humsafar Express, which is to start its operations from 13th September, 2019. The new train is set to run 4 days a week, replacing the Duronto Express that runs triweekly.
The Delhi-Allahabad Duronto Express is to run on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Sunday while the returning train would run on every Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.
The Duronto Express was among the fastest trains in India till date, and was among the first set of non-stop trains that were introduced in 2009-2010 railway budget by the then railway minister Mamata Banerjee. Over the past years, several of the Duronto Expresses have been replaced by other trains due to low occupancy.
The replacement of this Duronto Express is also believed to improve the occupancy and help passengers to commute between the cities in a hassle-free manner. The other trains that have been replaced include the Howrah-Puri Duronto Express, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram Duronto Express, Chandigarh-Amritsar Duronto Express and Ajmer-Nizamuddin Duronto Express.
The Humsafar Express trains are to improve the travel experience with the help of the modern features in the trains that are ideal for overnight journeys. These trains are an upgraded version of the Rajdhani trains, with amenities that include CCTV cameras, mobile charging points, GPS-aided information systems, modular bio toilets and coffee vending machines.
