Indian Railways clone trains to run from today: Check timings, routes, benefits, other details

Providing a major relief to passengers, the Indian Railways will run clone trains starting Monday on specific routes. The national transporter has announced 20 pairs of clone trains which will allow waitlisted passengers on high traffic routes to reach their destination. This initiative was first announced by then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in 2016, but it failed to take off primarily because of congestion on the rail network.  

While the 19 pairs of Humsafar Express trains will be of 18 coaches, the Lucknow-Delhi train will have 22 coaches.

Indian Railways clone trains timings 

The clone trains will come with fewer halts, higher speeds, and departure time before the parent train. This means that waitlisted passengers can reach the destination before those traveling on the main train. It will help those who made last minute plans. Their stoppages will be limited to operational halts or the Divisional Headquarters en-route (if any), thereby reducing their journey time, the official said. 

"These trains will reach their destinations two to three hours in advance. That's how they have been planned," a senior official told PTI. 

Indian Railways clone trains route 

According to the list of trains being run by the Railways, 10 trains (5 pairs) will operate between Bihar and Delhi under the East Central Railways. These trains will originate and terminate at Bihar's Saharsa, Rajendra Nagar, Rajgir, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. 

The two trains operating under the Northeast Frontier Railway are also from Bihar: Katihar to Delhi and back. 

The Northern Railway will also run 10 trains (5 pairs) which will operate between Delhi and Bihar and back, West Bengal to Delhi, Punjab to West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh to Delhi among others. 

The South Central Railway will operate two trains between Danapur (Bihar) to Secunderabad and back. The South Western Railway will operate 6 trains (3 pairs) between Goa and Delhi, Karnataka-Bihar and Karnataka-Delhi. 

The Western Railway will run 10 trains (5 pairs) between Bihar (Darbhanga)-Gujarat(Ahmedabad), Delhi-Gujarat, Bihar (Chhapra) to Gujarat (Surat), Mumbai-Punjab, Gujarat(Ahmedabad)-Bihar (Patna).