Uttarakhand's 1st Vande Bharat from Dehradun to Delhi Flagged off by PM; to Cover Route in 4.45 Hrs

Uttarakhand’s first Vande Bharat train connecting Dehradun and Delhi was flagged off on Thursday (May 25). The express train will cover the distance between the two cities in just four hours and forty-five minutes.

The train, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually, will commence its commercial journey on May 29. The inaugural run was held from Dehradun on Thursday, departing at 11 am.

“India is being watched with great hope. The world wants to come to our country to see it; and to understand the essence of India. In such a situation, there are excellent opportunities for states like Uttarakhand. Vande Bharat train is also going to help Uttarakhand in taking full advantage of this opportunity,” PM Modi said during the launch.

He added that the Vande Bharat train will connect Uttarakhand’s capital to the capital of the country at a faster pace.

“…regular service of the 20458/20457 Dehradun-Anand Vihar Terminal-Dehradun Vande Bharat express will commence from May 29…The 20458 /20457 will run six days in a week except Wednesday,” Deepak Kumar, chief public relations officer (CPRO), Northern Railways, said in a statement.

This eight-coach express will pass through Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Roorkee and Haridwar, an official statement announced on Tuesday.

Once the regular services are started, the train will depart from Dehradun at 7 am and will arrive at Anand Vihar Terminal at 11.45 am. The return journey will start from Anand Vihar at 5.50 pm and the train will reach Dehradun at 10.35 pm.

The 22457/22458 will halt at Haridwar, Roorkee, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut City stations en route in both directions.

So far, Dehradun Jan Shatabdi Express was the fastest train on the route, covering the distance between New Delhi railway station and Dehradun in five hours and fifty minutes. The chair car costs Rs 535 from Delhi. The Shatabdi, on the other hand, takes six hours and ten minutes, and costs Rs 805 for a chair car ticket and Rs 1,405 for an executive class ticket from Delhi.

With this, the total number of Vande Bharat trains in India will reach 17. While this train will be the first Vande Bharat for Uttarakhand, it will be the sixth for Delhi. The national capital is already connected with these semi-high-speed trains with Ajmer, Varanasi, Katra, Bhopal, and Amb Andaura. Last week, Odisha got its first Vande Bharat. It runs between Puri and Howrah.

As of date, 16 pairs of Vande Bharat trains are running across the country. These include two pairs of Vande Bharats operating from Chennai for Mysuru and Coimbatore, and three from Mumbai for Gandhinagar, Shirdi, and Solapur.

These semi-high-speed trains are also operational on the Bilaspur-Nagpur, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri, Secunderabad-Tirupati, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod routes.

In the new financial year, the Railway Ministry has increased the production and delivery of these trains to improve connectivity across India. Since April 1, six pairs of Vande Bharats have been inaugurated.