KOLKATA: Bengal is getting three more Vande Bharat trains — Howrah-Puri, Howrah-Ranchi and Howrah-Patna. Talks are on for a fourth — Howrah-Varanasi, too.
The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30 last year, will be followed by at least three more, Eastern Railway general manager Arun Arora while speaking on ER’s “superlative performance in the last fiscal” told reporters on Monday.
Bengal’s first Vande Bharat, running at 100-130kmph, taking only six-and-a-half hours to cover Howrah and NJP stations, is already a major hit. Arora said, more such semi-high speed trains are coming Bengal’s way as part of the railway ministry’s “Mission Raftaar”. The routes, Arora said, are Howrah-Puri, Howrah-Patna and Howrah-Ranchi. “Howrah-Ranchi may go to South-Eastern Railway’s Shalimar station if it doesn’t come to Howrah,” he added.
Officials said, the feasibility of running a Vande Bharat Express on the Howrah-Varanasi section is also being studied.
Arora said, work for utilizing Vande Bharat’s optimum speed of 160kmph is currently underway. “We need the state government’s cooperation to fence the two sides of the track,” he said. Officials said unless encroachment is removed throughout the tracks, the train can’t run at 160kmph.
The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30 last year, will be followed by at least three more, Eastern Railway general manager Arun Arora while speaking on ER’s “superlative performance in the last fiscal” told reporters on Monday.
Bengal’s first Vande Bharat, running at 100-130kmph, taking only six-and-a-half hours to cover Howrah and NJP stations, is already a major hit. Arora said, more such semi-high speed trains are coming Bengal’s way as part of the railway ministry’s “Mission Raftaar”. The routes, Arora said, are Howrah-Puri, Howrah-Patna and Howrah-Ranchi. “Howrah-Ranchi may go to South-Eastern Railway’s Shalimar station if it doesn’t come to Howrah,” he added.
Officials said, the feasibility of running a Vande Bharat Express on the Howrah-Varanasi section is also being studied.
Arora said, work for utilizing Vande Bharat’s optimum speed of 160kmph is currently underway. “We need the state government’s cooperation to fence the two sides of the track,” he said. Officials said unless encroachment is removed throughout the tracks, the train can’t run at 160kmph.
