Jaipur-Agra Shatabdi to be discontinued by North Western Railways

The Golden Triangle of India, i.e., Delhi-Jaipur-Agra, will suffer a setback as Jaipur to Agra tourists and domestic travelers will now be unable to board the Jaipur-Agra Shatabdi Express. North Western Railways (NWR) has decided to terminate the Jaipur-Agra Shatabdi Express after a massive dip in passenger bookings.
“From May, 1 onwards the train services would be terminated,” said Tarun Jain, chief public relations officer, NWR on Thursday.

Sources close to NWR has said that the number of passengers has been steadily going down since a long time and, thus, the Jaipur-Agra and Agra-Jaipur Shatabdi services had to be terminated.
The train was quite popular among foreign tourists, as told by a Jaipur based travel agent, “Usually many tourists after landing in Delhi from their country used to visit Jaipur first. After a two-day halt in Jaipur, they used to go to Agra by Shatabadi Express. This is a major setback. There are other trains too for Agra, but the timing of train was suitable for everyone as it starts in the morning and took the passengers back to Jaipur after visiting Agra in the evening.”

A senior officer of NWR also said that the train could be re-started as Jan Shatabdi, which will have subsidized fares. The catering service could be removed from the train, and the fare will be reduced in order to run as Jan Shatabdi. The train is expected to have the same schedule as the Shatabdi.