Trial Run Of Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express Train Begins

Bhubaneswar: The trial run of the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express began this morning.

As per schedule, the high-speed train left Howrah at 6.10 am and is slated to reach Puri at 12.35 pm. Thereafter, the train will stop at Kharagpur, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Cuttack for two minutes each.

According to sources, the superfast high-end express train is likely to start regular service between Puri and Howrah via Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar in May.

The state-of-the-art train will also stop for two minutes each at Bhubaneswar and Khurda before reaching Puri at 12.35 pm. The train is slated to start its return journey from the seaside pilgrim town at 1.50 pm and reach Howrah at 8.30 pm.

There would be two Vande Bharat Express trains operating in West Bengal if the train does travel the Puri-Howrah route. The other is the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri service, which began operations on December 30 of the previous year.

With 14 AC chair car coaches and two executive AC chair car coaches, the Vande Bharat Express train can accommodate 1,128 passengers. 400 Vande Bharat trains will be operated nationwide during the next three years, according to the government.