Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express May be Flagged Off on May 15

Bhubaneswar: The Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express is likely to be inaugurated from Puri on May 15. South Eastern Railway has notified that the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express from Puri to Howrah is tentatively scheduled on May 15.

The notification for detailed timing, stoppage and composition of the said train is yet to be issued from CPTM/SER, said the notification.

“It has been decided that the Ticket checking staff of Howrah base will man Vande Bharat Express Train between Howrah-Puri-Howrah on end-to-end basis,” the notification stated.

The semi-high-speed train will cover a distance of 500 km between Puri and Howrah in around 5 hours and 30 minutes. With 14 AC chair car coaches and two executive AC chair car coaches, the Vande Bharat Express train can accommodate 1,128 passengers.

The Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express is expected to have nine halts-Howrah, Haldia, Balasore, Bhadrak,  Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Khurda Road Junction, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri.

The BJP leaders in Odisha expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Odisha for flagging off the Vande Bharat Express in Puri. But sources say the PM may inaugurate the train through video conferencing.

The first trial run of Vande Bharat Express was undertaken from Howrah-Puri on April 28.