Rathwa also flagged off Mumbai-Aurangabad Janshatabdi Express at 1.50 pm from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, where Mayor Shubha Raul and MLA Annie Shekhar were also present along with MPs Eknath Gaikwad and Devidas Pingle and Central Railway (CR) General Manager Sowmya Raghavan.

Rathwa said that Bandra-Jaipur Garib Rath would not only ease the passenger traffic between the two cities but will also provide affordable AC accommodation to passengers on this route.

Rathwa said CR took various initiatives in 2007 to make the suburban travel more comfortable for passengers, including opening two new stations-Kopar and Rabada-model booking offices at Kalyan, Mulund, Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg and Ulhasnagar and additional foot overbridges at KanjurMarg, Kurla and Ghatkopar stations.

He said the number of suburban train services between Thane and Vashi were increased to 66 and ATVM-based smart card ticketing system was introduced at CST, Thane and Kalyan stations.

Rathwa said the CR had planned to install another 142 ATVMs in a phased manner. Also, to strengthen the safety and security measures on suburban stations, CR had also decided to install CCTV cameras and procure additional security equipment like hand-held metal detectors and doorframe detectors.

Rathwa said the railways had declared 2007-08 as ‘year of cleanliness’ and was making efforts to turn it into a modern and state-of-the-art railway system in the world.

CST-Aurangabad Jan Shatabdi Express
Train No. 2071 Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus-Aurangabad Jan Shatabdi Express: It will leave CST at 1.50 pm daily except Saturday and reach Aurangabad at 20.35 hrs the same day.