IRCTC shares hit record high of Rs 1,008 in intra-day ahead of Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express launch

Ahead of the launch of Tejas Express on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route on 19 January, the IRCTC shares hit a record high of Rs 1,008 in intra-day trade on the BSE on Thursday. The stock closed at Rs 1,003.30 per share, up 1.81 percent over previous close. The Indian Railways will ply Tejas Express, the second private train in the country, operated by the Indian Railway  Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) from 19 January. The railway will conduct an inaugural run of Tejas Express on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route on 17 January. In October last year, IRCTC had made a blockbuster stock market debut with its shares zoomed over 101 percent to Rs 680 per share against the issue price of Rs 320. In September last year, IRCTC, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, had launched the initial public offering (IPO) for raising about Rs 635-645 crore. [caption id=“attachment_4146965” align=“alignleft” width=“379”] File image of Tejas Express. News18[/caption] The timetable of several trains on the Western Railway will undergo some changes from 19 January to accommodate Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express, reported PTI. The timings of 12 Mumbai-bound and 16 Ahmedabad-bound trains, including four MEMU (Mainline EMU) will change by five to 10 minutes at intermediate stations, a Western Railway (WR) release stated. “Some Western Railway trains on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route have undergone minimal changes in their timings for the operational requirements and convenience of passengers,” chief public relations officer of Western Railway Ravinder Bhakar said. The WR further informed that Ahmedabad-MGR Chennai Central Navjeevan Express and Porbandar-Mumbai Central Saurashtra Express will run with a delay of 25 minutes and 55 minutes respectively from Ahmedabad, but will still reach on their present arrival time. “Despite minimal changes in timings at few specific intermediate stations, there has been an increase of just five minutes in the journeys of two Mail-Express trains and two MEMU trains,” Bhakar said. All the other affected trains will reach their destinations at their present arrival time, he added. The train will run six days a week, barring Thursday, and will depart from Ahmedabad at 6.40 am and arrive in Mumbai at 1.10 pm. From Mumbai Central, it will depart at 3.40 pm and reach Ahmedabad at 9.55 pm. According to railways, the fully air-conditioned train has features such as sliding doors, personalised reading lights, mobile charging points, attendant call buttons, bio-toilets, automatic entry and exit doors and CCTV cameras. The first private train Tejas Express is operational on the Delhi-Lucknow route. The Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express had made a profit of around Rs 70 lakh in 21 days from 5 to 28 October 2019 while earning revenue of nearly Rs 3.70 crore through sale of tickets signalling a steady start for the railway’s new venture. The train has run with an average occupancy of 80-85 percent since it began operations on 5 October. – With PTI inputs