Indian Railways to unveil its 'gold standard' Delhi-Kathgodam Shatabdi Express today

After receiving a slew of complaints from passengers regarding lack of punctuality, good food quality and unhygienic sanitation, government launched the Operation Swarn under which trains are to be given a complete overhaul. The project is to cover 30 trains - 15 Rajdhanis and 15 Shatabdis, with a cost of Rs 50 lakh for every train. The first of these trains to be unveiled is the swanky Shatabdi Express that runs to and from Delhi and Kathgodam.
 
The interiors of the new trains are receiving a complete transformation like vinyl wrapping and fluorescent strips with facilities like trolley service for catering, automatic doors, on-board entertainment systems, CCTV surveillance, Wi-Fi hotspots, HD streaming, extra police officials etc. There will be odour control systems installed in all the coaches as well. Passengers will be given disposable headrest covers and coaches will include Braille signage for the visually impaired. Along with this, the on-train menu and the uniforms of the staff have also undergone a makeover.
 
The exteriors of these trains will undergo a makeover as well and will be covered in anti-graffiti coating.
 
Making these trains run on time has also been one of the prime focuses under Operation Swarn.

The fifteen Rajdhanis that are going to be covered under Operation Swarn include the ones plying to Mumbai, Howrah, Bhubaneshwar, Patna and Ranchi. Shatabdi Expresses that run between Howrah-Puri, New Delhi-Kanpur, New Delhi-Chandigarh, Howrah-Ranchi and Anand Vihar-Kathgodam are the ones included amongst the 15 premium trains under the project.

The estimated cost of Operation Swarn is likely to be Rs 25 crore.