Guwahati: Monday is going to be a historical day for the people of Assam and Northeast as a whole, as the maiden journey of the first Vande Bharat Express train from Assam, will be virtually flagged off from Guwahati by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
With the arrival of the state of the art Vande Bharat Express in Assam, people of the region will be able to experience travelling by express train with speed and comfort. It will also boost tourism in the region.
The express train, which will connect Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri, will help save about an hour of the journey time, as compared to the fastest train the Railways provide, connecting both the places.
Vande Bharat Express will cover the journey in about five-and-a-half hours, while the current fastest train takes around six-and-a-half hours to cover the same distance.
As the Semi high Speed train comprises all latest amenities, the difference can be well experienced by the people of northeast during travel.
This train will pass through Kamrup Metropolitan, Kamrup Rural, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Kokrajhar districts of Assam and Alipurduar, New Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri district of North Bengal.
People of this vast area will be able to reap the benefit of modern rail travel comfortably.
The composition of the train will be of eight coaches with seating capacity of 530. There will be one Executive Class, five Chair Car and two Driver Trail Coaches.
The Prime Minister will also dedicate a 182 kilometers of newly-electrified section in the route.
The newly-electrified section will help provide pollution-free transportation with trains running at a higher speed and reduced running time.
It will also open the avenues for trains running on electric traction to enter Meghalaya.
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate a newly-constructed Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) and Mainline-Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) shed at Lumding in Assam’s Hojai district.
This new facility will be helpful for maintaining the DEMU rakes operating in the region, leading to better operational feasibility.
Lumding is the gateway to the hilly northeastern Indian states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and parts of Assam.
This new facility will be helpful for maintaining DEMU rakes operating in this region leading to better operational feasibility and passenger amenity.
The Indian Railways is currently running 34 services of the train, covering 21 states.
It has set a target of running at least one service in seven more states by June.