Eastern India’s first Vande Bharat train reaches Kolkata, likely to be flag-off by PM Modi on Dec 30

The New Year is expected to bring faster and easier journeys for the people of West Bengal as Eastern India’s first Vande Bharat Express reached Kolkata on Sunday.

The train, to be run from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri, is likely to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30. The PM is to visit Kolkata for a meeting of the National Ganga Council that day.

PM Modi is also likely to inaugurate the Joka-Taratala stretch of the Joka-BBD Bagh metro corridor virtually from Howrah station.

On Sunday, top railway officials, including Divisional Railway Manager



(DRM) Manish Jain, visited the rake after its arrival at Liluah rail yard. Though this train is the first in the state, it is the sixth Vande Bharat Express in the country. The semi-high-speed train was launched in 2019 in India.

Facilities for parking and maintenance are being given the finishing touches at Howrah, the railway station with the highest number of platforms in India.

The Vande Bharat express will run from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) six days a week. Other express trains usually take 12 hours to reach NJP from Kolkata. Vande Bharat Express will cover the same distance in eight hours.