Vande Bharat Express is nothing but an old train which has been refurbished with new engine, said West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee at Sagar Island recently. The West Bengal CM’s statement comes amid incidents of stone pelting on the Vande Bharat train on the recently inaugurated Howrah-New Jalpaiguri route. While the first incident took place near Malda, the second also took place in West Bengal. However, dismissing the claims, Banerjee said the incidents took place in Bihar and not West Bengal and added that action would be taken against those spreading rumours.
PM Narendra Modi had earlier flagged off the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express on December 30. This is the seventh Vande Bharat Express train to run in India and the semi high speed train will connect Howrah and New Jalpaiguri, the gateway to the Northeast. Officials said the blue-and-white train, which covers the distance of 564 km in 7.45 hours, will save three hours in travel time as compared to other trains on the route.
Vande Bharat is the fastest train in India with a maximum speed of 180 kmph and has many modern facilities including armor protection system. Here is a look at all operational Vande Bharat Express routes in India:
Vande Bharat Routes
Route 1: New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
Route 2: New Delhi – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (J&K) Vande Bharat Express
Route 3: Gandhinagar and Mumbai Vande Bharat Express
Route 4: New Delhi to Amb Andaura in Himachal Pradesh Vande Bharat Express
Route 5: Chennai-Mysore Vande Bharat Express
Route 6: Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express
Route 7: Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express
Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Train
The train will have three stoppages at Barsoi, Malda and Bolpur. With modern passenger amenities, the Vande Bharat Express is likely to be liked by both regular commuters, tea industry executives and tourists traveling to the Himalayas in North Bengal and Sikkim. The state-of-the-art train has 16 coaches including two for the drivers. Train tickets will be available from January 1, 2023. The ticket will cost Rs 2,825 for EC class and Rs 1,565 for CC class.
About Vande Bharat 2.0
The Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, is a semi-high-speed, intercity, electric multiple-unit train operated by the Indian Railways. It is an improved version of Vande Bharat compared to the earlier one, which is much lighter and capable of reaching higher speed in shorter duration. It catches the speed of 100 kmph in just 52 seconds.