PM Narendra Modi flags off Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express

PM Narendra Modi has flagged off Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express today (December 30) virtually from Ahemdabad. Prime Minister Modi on virtually flagged off the seventh Vande Bharat Express train in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Also present on the occasion were Governor C V Ananda Bose and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The Vande Bharat Express will connect Howrah and New Jalpaiguri, the gateway to the northeast. The blue-and-white train, which covers a distance of 564 km in 7.45 hours, will save three hours of travel time compared to other trains on the route, officials said.

It will have three stoppages at Barsoi, Malda and Bolpur. The Vande Bharat express with modern passenger amenities is likely to be preferred both by regular passengers, tea industry executives and tourists travelling to the Himalayas in North Bengal and Sikkim. The state-of-the-art train has 16 coaches, including two for drivers. The tickets for the train will be avaialble from January 1, 2023. The ticket for the charges for EC category will be Rs 2,825 and for CC category will be Rs 1,565.

माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी आज वीडियो कॉन्फ्रेंसिंग के माध्यम से प. बंगाल में हावड़ा-न्यू जलपाईगुड़ी #VandeBharat ट्रेन को हरी झंडी दिखाएंगे और कई रेल परियोजनाओं का लोकार्पण व शिलान्यास करेंगे।

लाइव देखें: https://t.co/lDSYucXmEa#Purvodaya#RailInfra4WestBengal pic.twitter.com/D30luRUfH1 — Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) December 30, 2022

Vande Bharat 2.0

The Vande Bharat 2.0 trains have the KAVACH (Train Collision Avoidance System) for enhanced safety in operations. There will be improved security with four emergency windows added in every coach. There will be four platform side cameras including rearview cameras outside the coach instead of two earlier.

The Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, is a semi-high-speed, intercity, electric multiple-unit train operated by the Indian Railways. It is an advanced version of Vande Bharat compared to the earlier ones, being much lighter and capable of reaching higher speed in shorter duration. It accelerates to 100 km per hour in just 52 seconds.

Vande Bharat routes

PM Narendra Modi has flagged off all the seven Vande Bharat trains in India. The first Vande Bharat trains run between New Delhi - Varanasi, second between New Delhi - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (J&K), third between Gandhinagar and Mumbai, fourth between New Delhi to Amb Andaura in Himachal Pradesh, fifth between Chennai-Mysuru and sixth, being the latest, runs between Nagpur-Bilaspur.

With PTI inputs