India's 7th Vande Bharat Express launched on Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Railway Route

Howrah, India (Urban Transport News): The Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 7th Vande Bharat Express, connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri at the Howrah Railway Station through video confrencing. The ultra-modern Semi High-Speed Train is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities. The train will stop at Malda Town, Barsoi and Kishanganj stations en route in both directions.

Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister said that India had taken a resolution to start 475 Vande Bharat trains during the celebrations of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and the train being flagged off today from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri is one of them. Mentioning the multiple projects whose foundation stones are being laid and inaugurated today, the Prime Minister said that the government is spending approximately 5000 crores for the completion of these projects.

The Prime Minister linked reforms and development of Indian Railways with the development of the country. That is why, he said, the central government is making record investments in the modern railway infrastructure. A nationwide campaign is going on to transform the Indian Railway, he said. He listed modern trains like Vande Bharat, Tejas Hum Safar and VistaDome coaches and the modernisation of Railway Stations including New Jalpaiguri, doubling and electrification of Railway lines as examples of this modernization.

He also mentioned eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors as projects that will bring revolutionary changes in the logistics sector. The Prime Minister highlighted strides made in the fields of Railway safety, cleanliness, coordination, capability, punctuality and facilities. The Prime Minister emphasised that in the last 8 years, Indian Railways worked on the foundation of modernity and the coming years will see Indian Railway embarking on a new journey of modernization. The Prime Minister informed that while 20 thousand route kilometre rail lines were electrified in the first 70 years of Independence, more than 32 thousand route kilometres have been electrified since 2014.

The Prime Minister said that the Metro Rail system is an example of India’s speed and scale today. “Metro network which was less than 250 km before 2014 had the highest share in Delhi-NCR. In the last 7-8 years Metro has expanded to more than 2 dozen cities. Today Metro is running on an approximately 800 km long Metro track in different cities of the country. Work is going on Metro routes of more than 1000 km”, he informed.

The Prime Minister said that India is working toward boosting its Jal Shakti today. He informed that more than 100 waterways are being developed today and work is taking place to introduce advanced cruise ships in the rivers while boosting business and tourism. He also highlighted the Ganga-Brahmaputra project that is being carried out between India and Bangladesh to establish waterway links between the two rivers. Referring to the cruise that is going to set sail on 13th January 2023 from Kashi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh, the Prime Minister informed that the 3,200 km long journey is the first-of-its-kind in the entire world and it will be a reflection of the growing cruise tourism in the country.

The Semi High Speed Self Propelled Vande Bharat Express trains have been manufactured by Integral Coach Factory/Chennai with indigenous efforts and turned out as Vande Bharat Express.

These trains have ultra modern features like quick acceleration, substantial reduction in travel time, maximum speed of 160 kmph, on-board infotainment and GPS based passenger information system, automatic sliding doors, retractable footsteps and Zero discharge vacuum bio toilets, CCTV cameras etc. and other contemporary features as per global standards.

So far, Seven Vande Bharat trains are presently running in service over Indian Railways. Two Vande Bharat trains are running between New Delhi – Varanasi & New Delhi- Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra since 2019.

Three new and improved version of Vande Bharat trains with enhanced safety features and passenger amenities have been introduced recently between Mumbai Central- Gandhi Nagar Capital, New Delhi-Amb Andaura & Chennai-Mysore, Nagpur-Bilaspur and Howrah - New Jalpaiguri.