PM Modi flags off Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express; Odisha gets railway projects worth over Rs 8000 crores

Biswajeet Swain Published On : May 18, 2023 at 1:18 PM

Puri: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express at the Puri Railway Station in virtual mode through videoconferencing. It is the first Vande Bharat Express to run in Odisha.

Governer Prof. Ganeshi Lal, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan graced the occasion. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also joined the event via videoconferencing.

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Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister remarked that the people of Odisha and West Bengal are being presented the Vande Bharat Express today which is a symbol of modern and aspirational India. “India’s speed and progress can be seen whenever a Vande Bharat Train runs from one place to another”, the Prime Minister said as he noted that this pace can now be witnessed in the states of Odisha and West Bengal.

Be it traveling from Kolkata to Puri for darshan or the other way round, the Prime Minister informed that the travel time will now be reduced to only six and half hours, thereby saving time, giving rise to business opportunities and providing new opportunities for the youth.

The semi high speed train having 16 coaches will run six days a week (except Thursday). It will have stoppages at Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Khurda Road between Howrah and Puri. The train will have a halt of two minutes at these stations.

As per schedule, the train will leave Howrah at 6.10 AM and reach Puri at 12.35 PM. In return direction, it will depart from Puri at 1.50 PM and arrive at Howrah at 8.30 PM.

Tickets are available for booking on IRCTC’s website www.irctc.co.in for May 20 onwards.

Ticket Price

Howrah to Puri (AC Chair Car): Rs 1265 including catering charge of Rs 162.
Howrah to Puri (Executive Chair Car): Rs 2420 including catering charge of Rs 195.

If a passenger opts for ‘No Food’ option, the catering charge will not be added to the fare.

The ticket price for travelling from Bhubaneswar to Puri in the Vande Bharat Express train has been fixed at Rs 455 (including catering charge of Rs 55) for AC Chair Car and Rs 840 (including catering charge of Rs 55) for Executive Chair Car.

The Prime Minister also laid foundation stone of/ inaugurated several railway projects worth more than Rs 8000 crores in Odisha.

Modi laid the foundation stone of redevelopment of Puri and Cuttack railway stations. The redeveloped stations will have all modern amenities providing world class experience to the rail passengers.

He dedicated to the nation 100% electrification of the rail network in Odisha. This will reduce the operating and maintenance cost and lessen reliance on imported crude oil.

The PM also dedicated the doubling of the Sambalpur-Titlagarh rail line; a new broad gauge rail line between Angul-Sukinda; the third line connecting Manoharpur-Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Jamga and new broad-gauge line between Bichhupali-Jhartarbha. These will cater to the increased traffic demands as a result of rapid industrial development in steel, power and mining sectors in Odisha, and will also help ease the pressure on passenger traffic in these rail sections.