West Bengal has got the gift of Vande Bharat earlier. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri in Kolkata through video conferencing. Apart from this, he also inaugurated the Joka-Taratla section of the Purple Line of Kolkata Metro. West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and other leaders are present in the program held in Howrah.
This Vande Bharat train received by West Bengal will run 6 days a week. The train will depart from Howrah station at 6.00 am and reach New Jalpaiguri station at 1.30 pm and leave North Bengal station at 2.30 pm after an hour and reach Howrah station at 10.00 pm.
Eastern India’s first Vande Bharat Express train (Vadde) has been boarded by passengers. All its tickets were booked within a few hours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday digitally flagged off the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express.
Its Executive Class (EC) tickets were booked within hours of opening of bookings. The condition is that the train ticket for January 1 has already come in the waiting list. Similarly, only 37 EC tickets are available for January 2, while only 46 seats are available for the next day i.e. January 3. This is the seventh train of the country and the first of Eastern India.
According to the IRCTC website, out of total 903 AC chair car seats, 367 seats are available for January 1. There are a total of 69 seats in the Executive Chair Car, while 903 seats are available for general booking in the AC Chair Car. , AC Chair Car (CC) fare between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri in this train is Rs.1,565. The fare for an executive chair car ticket is Rs 2,825. The train will halt at three stations including Barsoi, Malda and Bolpur. IRCTC CMD Rajni Hasija said, ‘The train has already been successful. Tickets are selling out and we are very happy about it.
IRCTC has prepared a special menu keeping in mind the taste of Bengal. It includes puri (luchi) and chana, kosha mutton (dry mutton or chicken), fish, sandesh, rasgulla and mishti doi (sweet curd) etc. The first Vande Bharat train in the country ran from New Delhi to Varanasi in July 2019. The Ministry of Railways has set a target of running 75 Vande Bharat trains on the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav of the country’s independence.