First Vande Bharat Express to flag off by PM Modi virtually today

Guwahati: Monday is going to be a historic day for the people of Assam and the Northeast as a whole, as the maiden journey of the first Vande Bharat Express train from Assam will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually from Guwahati.

With the arrival of the state-of-the-art Vande Bharat Express in Assam, the people of the region will be able to experience express train travel with speed and comfort. It will also boost tourism in the region.
The express train, which will connect Guwahati to New Jalpaiguri, will help save almost an hour of travel time compared to the fastest train provided by the railways connecting the two places.

The Vande Bharat Express will cover the journey in about five and a half hours, while the current fastest train takes about six and a half hours to cover the same distance.
As the semi-high speed train is equipped with all the modern facilities, the difference can be well felt by the people of North East during the journey.

The train will pass through Kamrup Metropolitan, Kamrup Rural, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Kokrajhar districts of Assam and Alipurduar, New Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri districts of North Bengal.
People of this vast area will be able to take advantage of modern rail travel in comfort.

The structure of the train will consist of eight coaches with a seating capacity of 530 people. It will have one executive class, five chair cars and two driver trail coaches.
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate a new electrified section of 182 km on this route.

The new electrified section will help provide pollution-free transportation with high-speed trains.

It will also open entry routes into Meghalaya for electric traction trains.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate a newly constructed Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) and Mainline-Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) shed at Lumding in Assam’s Hojai district.
This new facility will help maintain operational DEMU racks in the region, leading to better operational feasibility.

Lumding Hill is the gateway to North East Indian states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and parts of Assam.
This new facility will help to maintain DEMU rakes operating in the region resulting in better operational feasibility and passenger convenience.

Indian Railways currently operates 34 train services, covering 21 states.

It has set a target of running at least one service in seven more states by June.