Gearing up for the production and delivery of Vande Bharats, the Indian Railways has decided to run at least five pairs of these semi-high speed trains by the end of June with one between Puri and Howrah all set to be launched next week.
An official told News18 that the ministry had streamlined the production of the Vande Bharat rakes, and it was all set for the back-to-back inauguration of new trains. “While we do have a number of routes in the pipeline, we also have to see if running a Vande Bharat train on a selected route will be feasible,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official did not share all the routes, but said there were at least five Vande Bharat Express trains in the pipeline and these will be operational by the end of June.
First among these will be the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat followed by the New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati train. Another Vande Bharat train is expected to run between Patna and Ranchi as well.
The Vande Bharat train for Guwahati will be the first for Assam as well as the northeast. But it will be the second for the Northeast Frontier Railway. In December last year, a Vande Bharat between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri was launched.
First Vande Bharat for Odisha
After being launched in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kerala in April, Vande Bharat is all set to be launched in Odisha this month. The railways official News18 spoke to said the train will be inaugurated from Puri on May 15. It will run between West Bengal’s Howrah and Odisha’s Puri.
The coastal state received the empty rakes of the Vande Bharat trains last month and the trials were underway. “The trial run of this train was successful. Now, it is all set for launch,” the official said, adding that the ministry was yet to announce the timing and routes.
While this will be the first Vande Bharat train for Odisha, it will be the second for West Bengal. Also, this will be the first Vande Bharat train for the South Eastern Railway. Last month, News18 had reported the train will be launched in May.
The demand for Vande Bharat services in Odisha has been long pending. In November last year, rail minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced that the Vande Bharat Express train will be introduced in Odisha in 2023.
The train is expected to cover the 500-km distance in around six hours. Also, unlike other Vande Bharat trains, it is not expected to run six days a week. At present, the Puri-Howrah route is serviced by a Shatabdi train. With six stops, the train takes eight hours from Puri and 7 hours and 35 minutes from Howrah to complete the journey.
First Vande Bharat for northeast, Bihar and Jharkhand
The northeastern part of India will get its first Vande Bharat train, most likely by the end of May with the train running between Guwahati and New Jalpaiguri, the official said.
While this will be the first Vande Bharat train for Assam, it will be the third for West Bengal and also the second for the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat is also under this zone.
Also, another Vande Bharat train is expected to run between Bihar’s Patna and Jharkhand’s Ranchi by the end of this month or in June. This will be the first Vande Bharat for these states. The details of these trains are yet to be finalised.
“The trains have to undergo trials first, then we will see how and when they can start commercial operations,” the official added.
Fast-tracking Vande Bharat delivery
Even as the rail ministry missed the targets for the last financial year, it has now geared up for the production and delivery of Vande Bharat trains. In April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated five pairs of these trains across the country, including two from Delhi for Bhopal and Ajmer. Further, Secunderabad-Tirupati, Chennai-Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Vande Bharat trains were also launched last month.
A total of 15 Vande Bharat trains are running across India, with five of these from Delhi – to Ajmer, Varanasi, Vaishno Devi in Katra, Bhopal and Amb Andaura. Three Vande Bharats are operational from Mumbai to Gandhinagar, Shirdi and Solapur and two from Chennai to Mysuru and Coimbatore.
Vande Bharat trains are also operational on Bilaspur-Nagpur, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri, Secunderabad-Tirupati, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod routes.
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