Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah flagged off the New Delhi-Katra ‘Vande Bharat’ Express, in New Delhi on October 3, 2019. This is the second ‘Vande Bharat’ express after the New Delhi – Varanasi semi-high speed train flagged off by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in February this year.
- The coaches of this train are indigenously manufactured at the Chennai Rail coach factory.
- The train will bring down the travel time between Delhi and Katra by 8 to 12 years.
- The train will operate six days from New Delhi except on Tuesday and is numbered 22439.
- The train will also operate six days from Katra except on Tuesday and is numbered 22440.
- Train number 22439 New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express will depart from the New Delhi railway station at 6 am to reach Katra at 2 pm. The train will run on all days of the week except Tuesdays.
About Vande Bharat Express
- Since the launch of Rajdhani trains, Vande Bharat Express is the next major leap for Indian Railways in terms of speed and convenience. It is India’s first semi-high speed train equipped with world class passenger amenities.
- Vande Bharat Express is the new name of Train 18.
- It can achieve high speeds (max speed of 160 kmph) due to faster acceleration & deceleration and will reduced journey time by 25% to 45%.
- It has been provided with ‘State of the Art’ passenger amenities like On-board wifi entertainment, GPS based passenger information system, CCTVs, bio-vacuum toilets, rotating chairs in executive class, etc. at par with global standards. It also has provision of Divyang-friendly facilities. It will have 16 coaches with Chair Car type configuration with 2 Executive Class Chair Cars and 14 Chair Cars.
- Further, it has intelligent braking system with power regeneration for better energy efficiency thereby making it cost, energy and environment efficient.
