New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off four new Vande Bharat Express trains from Varanasi, taking India’s semi-high-speed rail network to over 160 services.
Of these, the Ferozepur-Delhi route is the most notable, providing a direct, fast connection to the border district of Punjab with New Delhi in just 6 hours and 40 minutes. The route is the fastest on the 486-km corridor.
The Ferozepur Cantt-Delhi Vande Bharat will depart from Ferozepur Cantt at 7:55 am six days a week (except Wednesday) and reach New Delhi by 2:35 pm, stopping at Bathinda, Dhuri, Patiala, Ambala Cantt, Kurukshetra, and Panipat.
The return journey will start from New Delhi at 4:00 PM and end at Ferozepur Cantt at 10:35 PM. Built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, the eight-coach train comprises seven AC chair cars and one executive class, with features like automatic doors, Wi-Fi and bio-toilets. It supports speeds of up to 160 kmph.
The service appears to meet the long-standing demands of the farming and industrial communities of Punjab. The introduction of this service has reduced the travel time by more than two hours and is expected to reduce congestion on routes like the Shatabdi Express.
The train is expected to give a boost to economic ties, giving Patiala and Bathinda better access to Delhi markets for textile and dairy exports.
The Banaras-Khajuraho Vande Bharat connects the spiritual centres of Varanasi with the temple heritage sites of Madhya Pradesh, covering a distance of 443 km in 7 hours 40 minutes.
The Lucknow-Saharanpur Vande Bharat in Uttar Pradesh will cover a distance of 518 km in 7 hours 45 minutes, departing from Lucknow Junction at 5:00 am (six days, except Sunday) and reaching Saharanpur by 12:45 pm, stopping at Sitapur, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad, Najibabad and Roorkee.
The return journey from Saharanpur will start at 3:00 pm, ending at Lucknow at 11:00 pm.
In the south, the Ernakulam-Bangalore Vande Bharat connects the port city of Kerala with the IT capital of Karnataka, a distance of 608 km, in 8 hours 40 minutes, departing from KSR Bengaluru at 5:10 am (six days, except Wednesday), and stopping at Krishnarajapuram, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palakkad and Thrissur, reaching Ernakulam by 1:50 pm.
On the return journey, the train will depart from Ernakulam at 2:20 pm and reach Bengaluru at 11:00 pm.