Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off India’s 17th Vande Bharat Express on Puri-Howrah route through video conferencing. The inauguration ceremony of the train took place in the presence of Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and CM Naveen Patnaik. Odisha now has its first Vande Bharat train with this flag-off, while West Bengal has its second train. The semi-high-speed train on this route is expected to improve connectivity for pilgrims visiting the shrine of Lord Jagannath. Significantly, the train will start its services from May 20.
Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express: Stoppage
On this route, the train will cover a distance of about 500 kilometers between Puri and Howrah. During its journey, the train will have stoppages at Retail Road Junction, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur K Road, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur Junction.
Read also: Trial run of Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat Express train successfully completed, to be launched soon
Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express: Fare
The train will have 16 coaches with the option of AC chairs and executive chairs for the passengers of this route. Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express ticket price starts from Rs 1,430 for an AC chair car, which includes a catering charge of Rs 328. Similarly, passengers traveling in executive chair car will have to pay Rs 2,615, which includes Rs 389 as catering charges.
In the Howrah to Puri train, the cost of an AC chair is Rs 1265, including Rs 162 catering charges, while the cost of an executive chair car is Rs 2420, including Rs 155 catering charges. It is important to note that passengers can choose not to eat food on the train, in which case no additional payment will be made for catering.
Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express: Timings
The Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express will cover the distance between the two cities in about six and a half hours. The train will depart from Puri at 1:50 PM and reach Howrah at 8:30 PM. Similarly during the return journey the train will leave Howrah at 6:10 am and end its journey at Puri at 12:35 pm.
Along with flagging off ‘Vande Bharat Express’, the PM dedicated several rail projects in Odisha to the nation. He inaugurated the Sambalpur-Titlagarh rail line and dedicated 100 percent electrified rail network in Odisha.