PM to flag off Vande Bharat Express in Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off eastern India's first Vande Bharat Express during his visit to West Bengal on December 30. The Vande Bharat Express is likely to travel from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) in North Bengal.

The PM will also attend the National Ganga Council meeting where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also be present. Modi will also participate in the programme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways at Netaji Subhas Dock. "The Prime Minister is coming to Bengal on December 30. I was informed about it by the Ports, Shipping, and Waterways ministry. They (ministry) have invited me to the programme and the minister also rang me up. I confirmed that I will also join the meeting," Banerjee said at the state secretariat. Vande Bharat Express, a semi high-speed train, which was launched in 2019, is the first of its kind in eastern India. Modi had inaugurated the Chennai-Mysuru Vande Bharat Express train on November 11. The train is expected to take eight hours for the 550-odd km run to North Bengal, sources said. The exact fare is yet to be decided. Vande Bharat Express is the first such indigenously built semi high-speed train in India.

Currently the train runs on the following routes: Delhi and Varanasi (UP), Ambuna (Himachal Pradesh), and Katra (Jammu and Kashmir), Chennai-Mysuru, Mumbai-Gandhinagar and Bilaspur-Nagpur routes. The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express is likely to depart from Howrah in the early morning and reach NJP in the afternoon, sources said. The Vande Bharat Express was also known as Train 18.