PM Modi to flag off West Bengal's first Vande Bharat Express on Dec 30

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off West Bengal's first Vande Bharat Express on the busy Howrah-New Jalpaiguri route on December 30, a senior Eastern Railway official said on Sunday.

The superfast train with modern passenger amenities will take around 7.5 hours on its run in both directions, Eastern Railway spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the Vande Bharat Express service from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri on December 30," he told PTI.

The first Vande Bharat Express service in the state will be run six days a week, he added.

It will bring down travel time between Kolkata and Siliguri, the gateway to the Northeast considerably.

The train will leave the Howrah station at 6 am to reach the New Jalpaiguri station at 1.30 pm, and after a one-hour stopover, it will leave the north Bengal station at 2.30 pm and reach Howrah at 10 pm, Chakraborty said.

The blue and white 16-coach new rake has already arrived at the Liluah loco shed of Eastern Railway.