Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off nine Vande Bharat Express trains on Sunday, September 24, 2023. Among these 9 trains will be two more Vande Bharat trains for the state of West Bengal. PM Modi will inaugurate the Vande Bharat train service between the Patna-Howrah and Ranchi-Howrah routes through video conferencing on September 24, said Railways officials. The new rakes for the Patna-Howrah and Ranchi-Howrah routes will have 25 added features.
Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
The Indian Railways have already begun preparations for the semi high-speed train operations on the Patna-Howrah route with strengthening of tracks on Patna-Jhajha-Asansol- Burdwan -Howrah main line. The train will cover a distance of 535 km in approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes, making it the fastest direct rail connection between Patna and Kolkata.
About Vande Bharat Express
The first Vande Bharat Express was flagged off on February 15, 2019, by the Prime Minister, running between New Delhi and Varanasi. Manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, the train set symbolizes the 'Make-In-India' initiative and showcases India's engineering prowess. The project to manufacture indigenous semi-high-speed train sets began in mid-2017, and within 18 months, the ICF Chennai completed Train-18.
India's first semi-high-speed train was renamed Vande Bharat Express in January 2019 to emphasize its made-in-India status. The train achieved a maximum speed of 180 kmph on the Kota-Sawai Madhopur section.
Vande Bharat Express: Routes
As of now, 25 Vande Bharat Express trains are running across India, covering 50 routes, 25 each up and down. Four of these are in the Northern Zone, 3 in Southern and Central Zones, 2 in Western, West Central and North Western Railway Zones and 1 in South East Central, Eastern, East Coast, South Central, South Eastern, Northeast Frontier, East Central, South Western and North Eastern Railway.
