Running in loss, Ludhiana Shatabdi to chug into history after eight-year journey

LUDHIANA: Suffering losses due to low occupancy, the New Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi will be discontinued from October 4, Northern Railway has said.
At present, Shatabdi Express runs five days a week (from Tuesday to Sunday) and primarily caters to passengers heading towards Dhuri, Rohtak, Jind and New Delhi. The train was introduced eight years back in view of demand from local industrialists who had to travel daily to Delhi.

To meet the demand of business community, the authorities now have planned to introduce high-speed Vande Bharat Express, running between New Delhi-Ludhiana- Katra on Ludhiana-Ambala-Delhi route to cater to the heavy rush of passengers. The authorities have already begun the trial run of the high-speed train and have asked the northern railway board to commence the service at the earliest.
Ludhiana railway station director Tarun Kumar said, “A decision has been taken to discontinue Ludhiana Shatabdi from October 4 due to its low occupancy. Now, the focus is on starting high-speed Vande Bharat Express in the next few days, so that passengers don’t face problems travelling to the national capital.”
A railway official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The train has been running with 70% occupancy. The train has nine AC coaches out of which only six to seven used to get filled.”
Officials in the railway board admitted that due to odd timing and “slow” speed, Shatabdi Express could not evoke desired response and passengers preferred to travel with Swarn Shatabdi, running between New Delhi-Amritsar.
Sources said Indian Railways is planning to use the bogies of Shatabdi Express for an intercity express for Moga or Ferozepur, for which the route is yet to be finalized.