Howrah to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) Vande Bharat Express train will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, December 29. The train will be the very first Vande Bharat Express of West Bengal and the second premium train service after Shatabdi Express to run on the 560-Kilometre Howrah NJP route.
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Howrah to NJP route: Vande Bharat Express Vs Shatabdi Express
According to a senior railway official, the train will depart from Howrah station at 6 am in the morning to reach New Jalpaiguri at 1.30 pm. After a halt of 1 hour at the New Jalpaiguri station, the Vande Bharat Express train will depart at 2.30 pm for Howrah and reach the station by 10 pm same day. It will take 8 hours to complete the journey.
Shatabdi Express on the other hand leaves Howrah in the afternoon and reaches NJP at night.
Vande Bharat Express will have fewer halts than Shatabdi, which stops at Bolpur Shantiniketan, New Farraka Jn, Malda Town, Barsoi Junction, Kishanganj before terminating at NJP. The Howrah to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) Vande Bharat will stop only at Bolpur and Malda.
Fare comparison: Shatabdi Vs Vande Bharat Express
The fare of chair car class in the Howrah-NJP Shatabdi Express is Rs 1,650, while that of the Executive Class is Rs 2,500, as per IRCTC website. While, the Indian Railways has not officially announce the fare of Vande Bharat Express on the same route, the ticket is expected to be costlier than that of Shatabdi Express.
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Vande Bharat safety features
The Vande Bharat line of trains has modern amenities and superior comfort to other similar trains. The train has reclining seats, automatic fire sensors, CCTV cameras, on-demand content and wifi facility, three-hour power backup and GPS systems for the comfort of passengers.
The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri is a busy route and is serviced by super-fast express trains. The New Jalpaiguri station is the hub station used by tourists to reach Darjeeling and neighbouring Bhutan. The Vande Bharat Express is expected to cut the travel time one the route 25 per cent.
An earlier report said that the Vande Bharat Express train will be launched on the Howrah-Ranchi, connecting Bengal and Jharkhand. In the current Budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that 400 Vande Bharat trains with better energy efficiency will be developed and manufactured in the next three years
