PM Modi launches Odisha's 1st Vande Bharat today. Fares, timings, more details here

PM Modi said, “India has manufactured Vande Bharat trains on its own. Today, our country is making 5G on its own and delivering it to far areas.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Odisha's first and West Bengal's second Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat train from Puri at around 1 pm on Thursday via video conferencing. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was also present at the event.

PM Modi (File Photo)

Flagging off the train, PM Modi said, “India has manufactured Vande Bharat trains on its own. Today, our country is making 5G on its own and delivering it to far areas.”

Here is all you need to know about the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express:

1. The Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat train will cover 500 kilometers in around 6 hours and 30 minutes - cutting the time short by over an hour as compared to the current Shatabdi Express taking 7 hours and 35 minutes to cover the same distance.
2. The train with 16 coaches will halt at stations including Kharagpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and Khurda, reported PTI.
3. The Vande Bharat Express will run six days a week except Thursdays. It will depart Howrah at 6.10 am and reach Puri at 12.35 pm. In the return direction, it will leave Puri at 1.50 pm and arrive at Howrah at 8.30 pm.
4. According to reports, the fare will be ₹1,590 (including ₹308 for catering) for Chair Car and ₹2,815 (including ₹369 for catering) for executive class.
5. The train is likely to be an instant hit among travelers as Puri is a very popular destination for tourists from West Bengal and its surroundings as it is both a pilgrimage and a beach resort town.

Meanwhile, PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone for redeveloping Puri and Cuttack railway stations, including several railway projects valued at more than ₹8,000 crores in Odisha. He will also dedicate 100 percent electrification of the rail network in Odisha - which will help reduce the operating and maintenance cost and reduce reliance on imported crude oil, reported PTI.

Along with this, PM Modi is also scheduled to dedicate the doubling of the Sambalpur-Titlagarh rail line, a new broad gauge rail line between Angul and Sukinda, the third line connecting Manoharpur-Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Jamga and a new broad-gauge line between Bichhupali and Jhartarbha.

(With inputs from PTI)