PM Modi to flag off Mahamana Express: 10 things to know about the train

The Mahamana Express, with plush interiors, currently runs on the Varanasi-New Delhi and Bhopal-Khajuraho routes.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off of the Mahamana Express train, which will connect Varanasi with Surat and Vadodara in Gujarat.
The flag-off of the third Mahamana Express would be done via videoconferencing at 3.30 pm on Friday. Modi would be undertaking the flag-off during his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
Here are top 10 things you want to know about the Mahamana Express train
1. Mahamana Express is named after freedom fighter and educationist Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya, also addressed as ‘Mahamana’.
2. The Mahamana Express, with plush interiors, currently runs on the Varanasi-New Delhi and Bhopal-Khajuraho routes.
3. The coaches for the train had been designed by Vadodara-based firm Hindustan Fibre Glass.
4. The new weekly train will start from Varanasi every Friday and from Vadodara every Wednesday.
5. The 1,531-km journey between the two cities will take 27 hours and 30 minutes.
6. The train will stop at Bharuch and Surat in Gujarat; Amalner and Bhusawal in Maharashtra; Itarsi, Jabalpur, Katni and Satna in Madhya Pradesh and Chheoki in Uttar Pradesh.
7. The Mahanama Express will have one AC Ist Class coach, two Second AC, eight sleeper and four general coaches, one pantry car and two guard brake vans.
8. There is no AC-3 tier coach in the train.
9. The features in the Mahamana Express include ergonomically designed ladders for climbing to upper berths, snack tables for side berths, windows with powered venetian blinds and roller blinds, LED lights as berth indicators, LED reading lights, fire extinguishers in all coaches and an electrically operated chimney in the pantry car.
10. The train’s toilets have platform washbasins, bigger mirrors, an odour control system, exhaust fans and dustbins.