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By Anirban Sinha Roy, Suryagni Roy: The Indian Railways will soon start operations of Bengal’s second Vande Bharat train that will run between Howrah and Puri. The semi-high speed train is likely to flag off next month and will have limited stoppages between the two stations.
The train will undergo a complete phase trial run from Howrah to Puri and back on Friday, according to sources. The rake will leave Howrah at 6.10am, and return at 8.30am, with a two-minute halt in Kharagpur from 7.38am to 7.40am in the upward direction. After the trial run, this train will arrive in Puri at 12.35pm and depart at 1.50pm.
The second trial run will take place on April 30, from Howrah to Bhadrak (BHC) and back. As per railway sources, the train will be operational for general passengers from the second or third week of May.
According to Kharagpur’s senior Divisional Commercial Manager Rajesh Kumar, after the successful trial run of the Vande Bharat Express, the train will be made operational for the full phase very soon.
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“As of now, no final date has been decided for the commercial operations of the train. All sections of the media and the public will be informed once the final dates are confirmed,” he said.
As per the railway authorities, the train will run on the Puri-Bhubaneswar-Howrah route to cater to the huge number of pilgrims and tourists from West Bengal and across the country who go to Puri to visit the famous Jagannath temple.
Railway sources also claimed that the train service requires support from the state government to remove encroachment on railway tracks and installation of fences on both sides.
Bengal’s second Vande Bharat train arrived at Howrah station from a factory in Chennai late Wednesday. It was parked at the Satraganchi coaching complex.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off Bengal’s first Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri on December 30.
(With inputs from Baidyanath Jha)
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