BHUBANESWAR: The Railway Board has approved a new Vande Bharat Express between Puri and Visakhapatnam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the train virtually from Vizag on March 12.
It will be the third Vande Bharat to link the pilgrim city of Puri with other parts of Odisha and neighbouring states. Puri-Howrah and Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express trains are operational in the state at present.
The train that will run six days a week except on Saturdays. It will have halts at Khurda Road, Berhampur, Palasa, Srikakulam Road and Vizianagaram in between Puri and Vizag. Trial runs of the train have already been conducted. The total distance of 468 km between Puri and Visakhapatnam will be covered in six hours and 15 minutes.
The train will depart from Puri at 5.15 am and reach Visakhapatnam at 11:30 am the same day. In the return journey, the train will depart from Visakhapatnam at 3:40 pm and reach Puri at 9.55 pm the same day. It will halt for 10 minutes at Khurda Road during both its inward and onward journeys.
The train will not only reduce passenger load, but also provide a faster mobility option between the pilgrim city and port city. As a large number of people from Odisha are working and staying in Andhra Pradesh, the service will boost intra-state connectivity and economic activities.
“The inaugural train may be planned as a special service which should pick up its link subsequently,” read a communication from director (coaching) Railway Board Sanjay R Neelam to the general manager of East Coast Railway (ECoR).
This Vande Bharat Express will have eight coaches including one executive coach and seven chair car coaches. It will reduce the travel time between the two cities by one to three hours. After the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat was flagged off by the PM in May last year, the state government had demanded the train on Bhubaneswar-Hyderabad route. Railway sources said the train will be flagged off by the prime minister along with other Vande Bharat Express trains across the country.