PM Modi to flag off Northeast’s first Vande Bharat Express today

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, May 29, 2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to flag off Assam’s first Vande Bharat Express on Monday at noon via video conferencing.

This will also be the first Vande Bharat service in the Northeast.

 

The train will connect Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri and is expected to save about an hour of journey time when compared with the current fastest train connecting the two places. It will cover the 410-kilometre-long journey in five-and-a-half hours. This will be the 18th Vande Bharat Express service, which will go operational today (Monday).

It will run six days a week and stop at six stations -- New Alipurduar, Kokrajhar, New Bongaigaon and Kamakhya, including New Jalpaiguri and Guwahati junctions.

The train will depart from New Jalpaiguri at 6:10 am and reach Guwahati at mid-day. From Guwahati, the Vande Bharat Express will depart at 4.30 pm and reach New Jalpaiguri around 10:20 pm.

PM Modi will also inaugurate 182 kilometres of newly electrified sections. This will help provide pollution-free transportation with trains running at higher speeds and reduced running time of trains, according to a government statement.

It will also open the doors for trains running on electric traction to enter Meghalaya.

PM Modi will inaugurate a newly constructed DEMU/MEMU shed at Lumding in Assam. This new facility will be helpful for maintaining DEMU rakes operating in the region, leading to better operational feasibility.

Courtesy: India Today