According to a South Eastern Railway official, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would virtually open the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express on Thursday.
He said on Wednesday that the function at Puri station, where the train would start its debut voyage, will be attended by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The Prime Minister would flag off the Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express from Puri at roughly 1 pm on Thursday, according to a SER official.
After the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express, West Bengal will now get this Vande Bharat Express.
The 500 kilometer journey from Howrah to Puri will take the railway around six and a half hours.
The semi-high speed train is anticipated to be an immediate popularity with visitors given that Puri, the home of Lord Jagannath, is a highly popular destination for tourists from Bengal, notably Kolkata and its surrounds, as both a pilgrimage and a beach resort town.
The official said that the regular service of the 22895/22896 Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express would start on May 20.
Except on Thursdays, the train will operate six days a week.
The train will leave Howrah at 6:10 in the morning and arrive in Puri at 12:35; in the other way, it will leave Puri at 1:50 and return to Howrah at 8:30.
According to the official, the 16-coach train would make stops at Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and Khurda Road.
