Travellers elated as Shatabdi comes to Habibganj

BHOPAL: When Shatabdi Express did pull into platform number 1 at Habibganj station on Monday for the first time, passengers went ecstatic. For those who were waiting for it to happen, it signaled an end of a long and excruciating wait.
Anjul Tiwari was the first passenger of Shatabdi, who booked his ticket from Habibganj station.
Talking to TOI, he said, "I am a contractor from Jhansi and often comes to Bhopal for work.It is indeed a boon that Shatabdi would now come to Habibganj since my work area is mostly in new Bhopal."
As the clock struck 3 pm as many as nine BJP leaders jostled for space to flag off the train from Habibganj. They were accompanied by a large number of BJP supporters causing inconvenience to passengers boarding Shatabdi.
All nine- home minister Babulal Gaur, MP Alok Sanjar, MLAs Surendranath Singh, Vishwas Sarang, Rameshwar Sharma and Vishnu Khatri, former MP Kailash Joshi, state BJP president Nand Kumar Singh Chouhan and district party president Alok Sharma - carried green flags and elbowed each other as they flagged off the train from platform number 1 of Habibganj.
Reservation for the train began at a separate counter at the station two hours prior to its departure.
On the maiden day of launching of Shatabdi Express from Habibganj, more than 200 seats were empty in chair car (CC) and executive class (EC). While there were 186 empty seats in chair car (CC), 32 seats went empty in executive class (EC). There are 1,126 seats on the train with 1,104 seats in 13 CC coaches and 112 seats in 2 EC coaches, respectively.
Slight fare difference between Habibganj and Bhopal
According to new fares determined by the railways, there would no change in fares from Mathura and New Delhi to Habibganj and Bhopal railway stations. However, if a passenger were to travel to any of the other stations he would have to shell out Rs 5-15 in the chair car (CC) and Rs 10-20 more if he or she books ticket from Habibganj instead of Bhopal station. Habibganj, Bhopal to New Delhi fare would be Rs 1,125 for CC and Rs 2,305 for EC.
6 coaches outside shed, four-wheeler parking full
Even while passengers of Shatabdi Express were rejoicing arrival of the train, there were six coaches, C7 onwards that were outside the shed at platform number 1. Fortunately, rain gods were merciful on Monday and it did not pour like the previous day. However, passengers were apprehensive about coming days. According to officials, most of Habibganj quota is likely to be for coaches at tail end, which would also mean they would be exposed to vagaries of nature.
Morena, Lalitpur and Dhaulpur to go from Oct 1
Railway officials confirmed on Monday that three stoppages - Morena, Lalitpur and Dhaulpur would be deleted from list of Shatabdi from October 1. Out of these, last two were included at behest of former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia last year. Meanwhile, protests have started in Morena for deletion of the stop. BSP state president and Ambah MLA Satya Prakash Sakhwar led a protest rally on Monday morning and submitted a memorandum to Morena station master.