PM Modi to flag off Northeast's 1st Vande Bharat Express tomorrow. Check route, timings

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to flag off Northeast India's first Vande Bharat Express train on May 29.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to flag off Northeast India's first Vande Bharat Express train on May 29 at 12 pm via video-conferencing. This is the 17th Vande Bharat train in the country which will connect from Assam's Guwahati to West Bengal's New Jalpaiguri.

Vande Bharat Express train (File Photo)

Here are all the details about Northeast's 1st Vande Bharat train:

1. Connecting Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri, the train will cover the journey in 5 hours, 30 minutes as compared to the current fastest train on the same route which takes about 6 hours, 30 minutes.
2. According to a government release, the state-of-the-art Vande Bharat Express will provide people of the region the means to travel with speed and comfort and also boost tourism in the region.
3. It will operate six days a week and will be the third Vande Bharat in West Bengal after the NJP- Howrah and Howrah-Puri trains.
4. On May 21, the Northeast Railways tweeted: “Vande Bharat Express the symbol of rail travel with Speed and latest amenities reached Guwahati railway station, the Gateway of the Northeast for the first time during a trial run conducted today from New Jalpaiguri.”
5. This will be the 17 Vande Bharat train in India.

Apart from Vande Bharat Express' launch, PM Modi will also dedicate a 182 km route of the newly electrified section which will help provide pollution-free transportation with trains running at higher speeds and reduced running time of trains. He will also inaugurate a newly constructed DEMU/MEMU shed at Lumding in Assam which will be helpful for maintaining DEMU rakes operating in this region, leading to better operational feasibility, the government release said.