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Vande Bharat chugs off with 50% occupancy from Chandigarh to Delhi during its debut run
Almost a week after it was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Himachal Pradesh’s Una, India’s fourth Vande Bharat express train from Amb Andaura to New Delhi completed its first public run on Wednesday
Almost a week after it was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Himachal Pradesh’s Una, India’s fourth Vande Bharat express train from Amb Andaura to New Delhi completed its first public run on Wednesday.
As scheduled, it started around 5:50am from New Delhi railway station to reach its destination at 11:05pm via Ambala Cantonment and Chandigarh at 8am and 8:40am, respectively.
On return journey, the train began its journey at 1pm to reach the national capital around 6:30 pm via Chandigarh and Ambala Cantonment at 3:25pm and 4:06pm, respectively. Not much delay was reported in both trips.
As per the data provided by the department of reservation and ticketing of Ambala Railway Division, nearly 50% tickets were booked in the train from Chandigarh to New Delhi.
As many as 64 reservations were registered in the executive class and 474 tickets were booked in chair car, out of total 1,126 seats available seats, an official said.
At least 70 passengers boarded the train from Ambala Cantonment for New Delhi.
Passengers impressed with hygiene, punctuality
Daljit Singh, a Gurugram-based businessman, who was travelling from Anandpur Sahib to New Delhi said his journey was comfortable and the train reached on time.
Another passenger, Pooja, who was travelling from Una to New Delhi with her husband, said, “The catering service is world-class and hygienic. It has been my best train journey so far.”
Few takers for train to Chandigarh
However, as per rough estimates, the reservations from New Delhi to Chandigarh remained below 25% on the first day.
People familiar with the operations believe that the departure timings from New Delhi are too early and the passengers from national or international overnight flights will not be able to board the train.
Officials said the train is an advanced version compared to the earlier ones, being much lighter and capable of reaching higher speeds in a shorter duration.
