Hyderabad, May 20 (IANS): The South Central Railway's (SCR) first originating train left for New Delhi from Secunderabad Railway Station here on Wednesday with 1,003 passengers.

The Secunderabad-New Delhi AC superfast special train departed Secunderabad at 1.15 p.m. and is scheduled to reach New Delhi at 10.40 a.m. on Thursday, completing the journey in 21 hours, 25 minutes.

This is going to be a weekly service departing Secunderabad on Wednesdays while in the return, the train will start from New Delhi on Sundays.

With all the major AC class options of travel available (3AC, 2AC, 1AC), the first special train carried 1,003 passengers, SCR officials said.

Thermal screening of all the booked confirmed travellers, ticket checking and other formalities were completed on platform well before time, subsequent to which they were allowed to board the train duly adhering to social distance and mask wearing practices.

The passengers were also provided with sanitisers to maintain personal hygiene. Elderly passengers and those who required assistance, were shifted to the coaches with the help of wheel-chairs.

Prior to the commencement of the journey, due precautions were taken at Secunderabad station which was totally cleaned and disinfected to ensure health safety of the passengers.

Proper markings on the station premises and platform enabled the travellers to maintain required physical distance from each other before boarding the train.

Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway complimented the officials and staff of Secunderabad Division for making elaborate arrangements for safe handling of passengers and stressed that the same should be continuously maintained, so as to make each rail journey comfortable and safe for the travellers.