Bhubaneswar, Aug 19 (PTI) Rajdhani Express with Tejas coaches providing upgraded amenities started its regular services from Odisha's state capital on Saturday.

The first Tejas rake has been introduced via the Sambalpur route. Other rakes will be introduced soon, officials said.

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Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had flagged off this train recently on its inaugural run from Bhubaneswar.

"The regular service of this train has commenced from today via Sambalpur City and Rourkela," an official said, adding that Khurda Road Division led by additional divisional railway manager Kalyan Patnaik inspected the train before its departure towards New Delhi.

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In a related development, the railways has decided that Puri-Patna-Puri and Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Special trains will be extended to the last week of October.

The decision was taken after reviewing the passenger profile management and also from demands of the public, an official release said, adding that services of 08439 Puri-Patna Special leaving from Puri on Saturdays has been extended to October 28.

In the return direction, the train leaving from Patna on Sundays will run up to October 29.

Similarly, 02832 Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad Special will run up to October 31 and 02831 Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Special will run up to November 1.

The scheduled timings and stoppages for the above train will remain unchanged, the release said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)