PM Modi flags off Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express train; Check timings, stoppages

Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off the much-awaited second Vande Bharat Express train for Odisha from Puri to Rourkela.

A total of nine Vande Bharat Express trains were flagged off on virtual mode by PM Modi at 12.30 pm today.  These semi-high-speed trains will boost connectivity across 11 states — Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

The 20836/20835 Puri-Rourkela-Puri Vande Bharat Express will run six days a week except Saturday.

As per the schedule released by East Coast Railway (ECoR), the train will depart from Puri at 5 am and reach Rourkela at 12:45 pm. In the return direction, the train will leave Rourkela at 2.10 pm and reach Puri at 9.40 pm.

The train will have stoppages at Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur City and Jharsuguda. The train will cover 505 km distance in just 7.45 hours at an average speed of 63.33 kmph.

Recently, the Indian Railways had successfully conducted the trial run of the train twice from Puri to Talcher and Puri to Rourkela.