Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off the Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express train. This will be the first Vande Bharat train to operate in Uttarakhand. In a tweet, PM Modi announced, “Delighted to flag off the Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express. This will ensure ‘ease of travel’ as well as greater comfort for citizens.” He also announced Indian Railways’ achievement of 100% electrification of railway tracks in Uttarakhand. Travel time between Delhi and Dehradun by train It is expected to reduce by at least 1 hour as compared to Shatabdi Express.
Happy to flag off the Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express. This will ensure ‘ease of travel’ as well as greater convenience for the citizens. https://t.co/NLpcRCHvQW
Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 25, 2023
Train 22458 will depart from Dehradun at 07:00 AM and reach Delhi’s Anand Vihar Terminal at 11:45 AM. The express train will cover a total distance of 302 km in four hours forty five minutes during the journey. Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Train (22457) will start its journey from Delhi at 5:50 PM and reach Dehradun at 11:35 PM on 29th May.
Pricing, Times and Stations
Passengers wanting to deboard the express will have to pay Rs 1,065 for an AC chair car ticket for the entire journey from Delhi to Dehradun, while an executive chair car ticket on the same route will cost Rs 1,890. Ticket prices are slightly higher than that of the Dehradun Shatabdi Express, which was the fastest train on the route prior to the Vande Bharat Express.
The new 22457/22458 Express train will cover a distance of 302 km in just 4 hours 45 minutes in both directions passing through Haridwar, Roorkee, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut City stations.
While commercial operations will begin from May 29, Vande Bharat trains will operate on every day of the week except Wednesday. The train with eight coaches will leave Delhi at 5:50 pm and reach Dehradun at 10:35 am, while 22458 Dehradun to Delhi Vande Bharat will leave at 7:00 am and reach Delhi at 11:45 am. The inaugural run will leave Dehradun on Thursday at 11 am.
With the inauguration of the new train, the total number of Vande Bharat Express trains in the country will increase to 17. While this will be the first such train for the northern state of Uttarakhand, Delhi already has six other Vande Bharat Express trains. , The national capital is connected through express trains to stations like Ajmer, Varanasi, Katra, Bhopal and Amb Andaura.
Odisha also got its first Vande Bharat Express trains last week, along the route connecting Puri to Howrah, Bengal. Apart from Delhi, Chennai is also home to two of these express trains, while Mumbai plays host to three such trains.