Odisha Sees 2nd Trial Run Of Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express Till Bhadrak Today

Bhubaneswar: The second trial run of Vande Bharat Express is being conducted between Howrah to Odisha’s Bhadrak on Sunday.

People had gathered in hordes to catch a glimpse of the semi high speed train at Balasore this morning.

On Friday, the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express had departed Howrah at 6.10 am and reached Puri at 12.35 pm. The train again departed from Puri at 1.50 pm and returned to Howrah on the same day. It has stoppages at Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Khurda with two-minute halt at each station.

The third trial run will be decided on May 1 after getting an update from the Railway Board regarding inauguration of the Vande Bharat rake, official sources said.

This Vande Bharat Express between Howarh and Puri with limited stoppages between the two stations, is likely to be flagged off next month. The decision to introduce the train was taken after the entire stretch from Howrah to Khurda Road section was upgraded for a maximum permissible speed of 130 kmph. The train on Puri-Bhubaneswar-Howrah route will cater to huge number of pilgrims and tourists from West Bengal and across the country visiting Jagannath Temple in Puri, World Heritage Site at Konark and Chilika Lagoon.

An electric multiple-unit with automatic doors, a GPS-based audio-visual passenger information system, it will take five hours and 30 minutes to cover a distance of around 500 km.

Ahead of the first trail run of the train, Commerce & Transport Minister Tukusi Sahu on Thursday wrote to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking introduction of the semi-high speed train on three routes – Puri-Howrah, Puri-Rourkela and Bhubaneswar-Hyderabad  – for better passenger convenience and faster travel options to businessmen, tourists and aspiring people of Odisha.