Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Sambalpur begins today. Route, time details here

NEW DELHI: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha gave a green signal to the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express which will run via Sambalpur. The passenger train will run once a week with effect from Saturday. 

Flagging off the new route via video conference on Saturday, Pradhan said: "The new route will benefit the people of western Odisha and will bring ease of connectivity for them."

The train will run as 20817/20818 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express via Sambalpur City and Jharsuguda. It will have stoppages at Cuttack, Sambalpur City, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Chakradharpur, Anara, Gomoh, Koderma, Gaya, Mughalsarai and Kanpur Central between Bhubaneswar and New Delhi from both the directions.

MoS Rly @manojsinhabjp & Shri @dpradhanbjp Flagging off of Bhubaneswar -NewDelhi Rajdhani Ex Via Sambalpur City- Jha https://t.co/FTDjvexSf3 — Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) February 10, 2018

The train is scheduled for departure from Bhubaneswar at 7.10 am every Saturday and is supposed to reach New Delhi at 10.40 am the next day. Sambalpur City station will have a two-minute stoppage at 11:58 am.

The announcement to start operations on the route were made by the Railway Ministry in September last year.