Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Patalpani-Kalakund heritage train that had commenced operations in the monsoon season will be discontinued from the month of December. Initially, the train-- that passed via high mountains and the waterfalls of Kalakund, giving passengers an exotic experience of the picturesque view, had received a good response. However, later, the footfall began to drop significantly. The train may be completely stopped from December 15.
Although bookings for the train till December are visible on the IRCTC website, the closure of the train can be announced any time.
Ratlam Mandal DRM Rajneesh Kumar said, “The heritage train is not getting enough passengers, hence its operation will be stopped around the 15th of this month. Anyway, this time the train has been operated for a longer period.”
Patalpani |
The operation of the heritage train was started by Ratlam Division from Patalpani to Kalakund in Mhow tehsil, 40 km from Indore, from August 26. This year, instead of Mhow, the train was run on a 10 km stretch between Patalpani and Kalakund. Initially the train was operated two days a week, on Saturday and Sunday, but as the number of passengers increased, the train started operating on Fridays also.
Friday operations have already been stopped
Later, Friday operations were stopped and the train ran only two days a week. Now these operations will also be stopped as due to non availability of passengers in both the classes of the train, seats are vacant.
It is noteworthy that for gauge conversion between Mhow-Sanawad, the metre gauge line is being removed and converted into brand gauge. Therefore the metre gauge track between Mhow and Patalpani was uprooted due to which, this time, the heritage train was run on the metre gauge line between Patalpani and Kalakund. The train reaches Kalakund from Patalpani in two hours and 20 minutes. The train stops at Kalakund for two and a half hours, so that passengers can roam here and enjoy the scenic beauty comfortably.
Operations started in 2018
The operation of the heritage train was started in December 2018. Since then the train is being operated every year. Its normal fare is Rs 20 while that of Vistadome is Rs 265 one way.
