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Cheer and chants as Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat Exp completes inaugural run
The semi-high-speed train, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Gorakhpur junction in the presence of UP governor Anandiben Patel and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, is Uttar Pradesh’s second Vande Bharat train
LUCKNOW Heavy showers failed to dampen the spirit of people who turned up in droves to catch a glimpse of the Vande Bharat Express train on Friday during its inaugural run from Gorakhpur to Lucknow. Onlookers at the station, track side, rail barriers, some on the railway foot over bridge and rooftops chanted ‘Vande Mataram’ as the train set off on its journey around 4:47pm.
The semi-high-speed train, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Gorakhpur junction in the presence of UP governor Anandiben Patel and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, is Uttar Pradesh’s second Vande Bharat train. The first between Varanasi and Delhi was flagged off in February 2019.
As many as 100 youtubers from U.P and other states such as Maharashtra, Bihar and Delhi, among others, undertook their first journey in this train. The travellers also included school children from Gorakhpur and Lucknow. Many students were seen carrying sketches and paintings of the Vande Bharat train.
Folk artistes from Mumbai danced to the beats of dhol at Gorakhpur station before the inaugural run.
Slogans like ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’, ‘Chak de India and ‘social media zindabad’ rent the air. “We are very happy to have this first opportunity to travel in our indigenous semi-high speed train. I feel proud,” said Utkarsh Agarwal, a young youtuber.
“I’ve covered 14-15 Vande Bharat trains in different states, but this is a great feeling as this train connects to my city,” said Lucknow-based youtuber Gaurav Mishra, who runs a channel ‘backpacker’.
Another Mumbai-based youtuber Rupesh Kanojiya, who runs a channel ‘BBR Vlogs’, said: “We make sure that such moments are captured on camera and made unforgettable.”
“There is a huge demand for Vande Bharat train, hence, I’m making a vlog explaining each and every detail of it,” said Harsh Kumar, who runs his channel titled ‘Travel with Harsh’, which has 43k followers.
As the train reached the next station (Sahjanwa), the enthusiasm of the people gathered outside at the station was no less than it was in Gorakhpur. Similar fervour was seen at Khalilabad, Basti, Babhnan and Mankapur stations.
As soon as the train reached Ayodhya Juntion, travellers chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Jai Hanuman’, among other slogans. People at the platform greeted the travellers with folded hands.
The train reached Lucknow Junction post 9pm, and was given a grand welcome amid beats of dhol, music and sprinkling of flower petals.
The train will run twice every day between Gorakhpur and Lucknow barring Saturday. The commercial service will begin from Sunday. The tickets for chaircar and executive class are priced at ₹1005 and ₹1775, respectively from Gorakhpur to Lucknow. The return ticket fare is a bit higher as dinner is served on the train.
A never-before experience for us: Loco pilots
“It was a never-before experience for us,” said loco pilot of the train, RK Bharati and his team, including co-pilot J K Sharma, train manager SK Singh and loco inspector KM Tripathi.
“We had undergone over six months of training. Operating the Vande Bharat Express is very different from driving a normal train. It is very high-tech, computerised and technology-driven unlike traditional trains, which have a lot of manual things,” said Bharati, who has 32 years of experience as a loco pilot.
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