Good News for UP, MP and Maharashtra; Affordable and Comfortable Travel Set to Expand with Two New Weekly Trains

New Delhi. : Indian Railways is set to enhance regional connectivity with the introduction of two new weekly Amrit Bharat Express trains linking Uttar Pradesh with Maharashtra via Madhya Pradesh. Traversing key cultural and economic corridors, these trains will strengthen ties between major population centres while also facilitating smoother movement of pilgrims and working class alike. Designed for the common man, the Amrit Bharat Express offers a blend of comfort, convenience, and affordability, marking another step towards inclusive and accessible rail travel in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off two new Amrit Bharat Express trains: Banaras-Hadapsar (Pune)  and Ayodhya-Mumbai (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) on 28 April 2026.

Introduced for low- and middle-income families, Amrit Bharat trains are fully non-AC, modern services designed with a strong focus on safety and passenger convenience. With a composition of General and Sleeper class coaches, along with pantry and Divyangjan-friendly facilities, these trains incorporate several upgraded features. Passengers benefit from improved aesthetics of seats and berths inspired by Vande Bharat Sleeper, enhanced ride quality through jerk-free semi-automatic couplers, and higher safety standards with crashworthy coach design.

The trains are equipped with CCTV surveillance, emergency talk-back systems, aerosol-based fire suppression, and fully sealed gangways. Additional passenger-centric amenities include improved toilets, better lighting, mobile charging points with USB Type-A and Type-C ports, ergonomic ladders, and a non-AC pantry with enhanced heating capacity, ensuring a safer, smoother, and more convenient travel experience. Both trains use push-pull technology with locomotives on both ends for improved speed and performance.

The Banaras-Hadapsar (Pune) service will facilitate easier access to Kashi Vishwanath Dham, while the Ayodhya-Mumbai service will improve connectivity to the Shri Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra, strengthening links between key religious destinations. The trains are expected to particularly benefit daily passengers, migrant workers, and pilgrims travelling between Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, providing direct connectivity and eliminating the need to change trains.

Banaras-Hadapsar (Pune) Amrit Bharat Express

Banaras, the starting point of this route, stands among the world’s oldest living cities, a timeless centre of faith, culture, and tradition. Revered as Kashi, it draws millions of pilgrims to the sacred Kashi Vishwanath Dham and the serene Ganga Ghats, where spirituality flows as deeply as the river itself. Beyond its religious significance, the city is also the vibrant heart of the Banarasi silk industry, sustaining the livelihoods of countless weavers and artisans.

Often regarded as the spiritual and cultural capital of India, and situated in the country’s most populous state, Kashi is not just a destination but a gateway where aspirations of both spiritual fulfilment and economic opportunity converge. With enhanced rail connectivity, Indian Railways is set to play a pivotal role in this journey, bringing people, faith, and prosperity closer together. A direct, affordable link to Pune opens new markets for local traders while easing the commute for the large migrant workforce.

Hadapsar, the terminus of this route, lies within Pune, a city known as the education hub, cultural capital, and arts capital. Nestled along the scenic stretches of the Western Ghats, Pune blends natural beauty with a rich historical legacy. From its pivotal role in India’s freedom movement to its legacy as a stronghold of resistance during periods of Mughal expansion, the city has long stood at the forefront of resilience and cultural pride. It is also home to premier defence establishments, including the renowned Khadakwasla, giving it the stature of a key defence hub.

Today, this heritage-rich city has evolved into a thriving economic powerhouse. It hosts major IT parks and SEZs, making it a natural destination for aspirational youth and job-seeking migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, seamlessly connecting tradition with opportunity.

As the train pulls out of Banaras and begins its westward journey, one of its early stops is Prayagraj, home to the Triveni Sangam and the Kumbh Mela, and also a leading education hub with institutions like the University of Allahabad. The link to Pune, a major IT and manufacturing destination, directly benefits the city’s student and professional population seeking opportunities in Maharashtra.

Maneuvering ahead into the Bundelkhand heartland, the train arrives at Jhansi, the gateway to one of India’s most storied tourism circuits, encompassing Orchha and Khajuraho. Better connectivity supports local tourism and eases the movement of the region’s agricultural and stone products to markets further south.

Crossing into Madhya Pradesh, the journey continues to Bhopal (Rani Kamlapati), the state’s administrative capital with a growing IT and pharma presence, particularly around the Mandideep industrial corridor. A daily direct service to Pune benefits businesses, students, and government employees travelling between the two cities.

The train then passes through Itarsi and Narmadapuram, which together form one of MP’s most productive agricultural belts, yielding wheat, soybean, and pulses. Their inclusion on the route gives farmers and traders faster, cheaper access to Maharashtra’s wholesale markets, reducing logistics costs significantly.

Further along, as the landscape shifts and the train descends towards the Deccan plateau, Jalgaon, known as the Banana Capital of India and one of the country’s largest producers of banana and cotton, comes into the picture. A direct route to Pune gives its agricultural traders more efficient market access, while Bhusaval, a major railway junction and home to a large thermal power plant, gains improved passenger connectivity for its sizable workforce.

The journey then brings travellers to Manmad and Kopargaon, which together serve as the primary rail gateway to Shirdi, the shrine of Sai Baba that draws lakhs of devotees from across North India every year. This train offers pilgrims from UP and MP a far more direct and affordable path to Shirdi, giving a tangible boost to the local religious tourism economy.

And as the train makes its final approach into Maharashtra’s cultural and economic heartland, Hadapsar, the terminus, is Pune’s fastest-growing suburb, housing major IT parks and SEZs, making it the natural end-point for job-seeking migrants from UP and MP.

The inaugural run of Banaras–Hadapsar (Pune) Amrit Bharat Express will start from Banaras in the evening and will terminate at Hadapsar (Pune) late at night on the following day, completing the journey in approximately 30 hours. The train will make 18 stops, including Gyanpur Road, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Govindpuri, Orai, Virangana Lakshmibai Jhansi, Bina, Rani Kamlapati, Narmadapuram, Itarsi, Harda, Khandwa, Bhusaval, Jalgaon, Manmad, Kopargaon, Ahilyanagar, Daund, and Hadapsar.

Ayodhya-Mumbai (LTT) Amrit Bharat Express

Ayodhya has transformed itself into one of the country’s fastest-growing pilgrimage and tourism destinations, drawing tens of millions of devotees annually from every corner of the nation. The city sits at the heart of a massive infrastructure push, with new airports, expressways, and hotels reshaping its landscape almost overnight. Yet for the vast majority of its visitors, the faithful who travel not in aeroplanes but in sleeper coaches, not to five-star hotels but to dharamshalas, this new Amrit Bharat service offers an affordable, direct train connection to the city of dreams, Mumbai.

Mumbai, India’s financial capital, and home to many migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar across the country. For this community, the connection to home is not sentimental alone, it is economic. Remittances flow back to villages in Ayodhya, Sultanpur, and Pratapgarh every month, sustaining families and funding futures. Yet the journey back for festivals, weddings, emergencies, or simply the pull of belonging has long been expensive, exhausting, and uncertain. A direct, affordable Amrit Bharat Express to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai’s busiest long-distance terminal and the arrival point for millions of North Indian travellers, changes that equation meaningfully. It does not just connect two cities, it reconnects people to their roots, reduces the cost of staying in touch with home, and gives one of India’s hardest-working migrant communities something they have quietly deserved for a long time.

As the train departs Ayodhya Cantt in the evening and begins its long southward journey, Sultanpur and Pratapgarh are among the first stops it makes. These cities lie in the heartland of eastern Uttar Pradesh, a region that is largely agrarian and densely populated, and has long been home to a large migrant workforce that travels to Mumbai for work. Earlier, this journey often meant long hours in overcrowded and difficult conditions. The introduction of a dedicated Amrit Bharat service now offers these communities a more comfortable, reliable, and dignified travel option.

The train then halts at Prayagraj, one of India’s most sacred confluences and a city whose student and professional population, much like Sultanpur and Pratapgarh, has long looked towards Mumbai for opportunity. From here, the journey crosses into the Vindhya belt, where Manikpur and Satna, straddling the Uttar Pradesh–Madhya Pradesh border, provide access to a region known for its cement industry, mineral resources, and stone quarrying, while strengthening passenger connectivity across central India and beyond.

Moving deeper into Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur, an important administrative, judicial, and educational hub, and home to the iconic Bhedaghat marble rocks on the Narmada, comes into the fold. Students and professionals here now gain improved and affordable rail connectivity to Mumbai’s major employment destinations.

From Jabalpur, the train moves south through Itarsi, an important railway junction and agricultural hub, then Bhusaval and Jalgaon, key stops in Maharashtra’s farming and industrial regions. From there, the landscape gradually changes as the train enters the Deccan plateau.

Nasik Road brings the journey into the Nashik region of Maharashtra, known both for its thriving wine industry and its significance in the Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga pilgrimage circuit. As the train edges closer to its final destination, Kalyan and Thane, the penultimate stops, form part of Mumbai’s vast suburban belt, home to millions of working-class families, many of whom have roots in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

From here, the train gradually enters the final stretch of its journey before pulling into Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai’s key gateway for long-distance travellers from the north and east. For many passengers, this is not just a train journey coming to an end, but a deeply personal passage, often a return home after long periods away.

The inaugural run of Ayodhya-Mumbai (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) Amrit Bharat Express will start from Ayodhya Cantt in the evening and will terminate at Mumbai LTT late in the evening on the following day, completing the journey in approximately 28 hours. The train will make 12 stops, including Ayodhya Cantt, Sultanpur, M B D Pratapgarh, Prayagraj Jn, Manikpur Jn, Satna, Jabalpur, Itarsi Jn, Bhusaval Jn, Jalgaon Jn, Nasik Road, Kalyan Jn, Thane, and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.

With the launch of these two new services, the total number of operational Amrit Bharat Express train services will rise to 64.

Taken together, the two new Amrit Bharat Express services reflect a broader vision of integrating religious, economic, and social connectivity. By bringing world-class transport links to some of India’s most historically and spiritually significant cities, while also serving the everyday needs of students, workers, and families, the projects underscore the role of railways as the backbone of inclusive national development.

Just as Vande Bharat trains have redefined premium rail travel with their speed and modern comforts, Amrit Bharat Express trains are steadily carving out their own identity, emerging as Indian Railways’ answer to affordable, comfortable overnight travel for the hundreds of millions of ordinary Indians who keep this vast nation moving.