A “state of the art” Vande Bharat Express train, the first such in the North East, will be inaugurated in Assam by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
Modi will flag off the train at 12 noon via video conferencing.
The express service will provide people of the North East the means to travel with speed and comfort, a press release stated today. “It will also boost tourism in the region.”
Connecting Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri, the train will help save about an hour of journey time, covering the journey in five and a half hours; the current fastest train takes six and a half hours to cover the same journey.
The PM will also dedicate 182 route kilometres of newly electrified sections. This will help provide “pollution-free transportation” with trains running at higher speed and reduced running time. “It will also open the doors for trains running on electric traction to enter Meghalaya,” the release added.
Modi will also inaugurate a newly constructed DEMU/MEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit/Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) shed at Lumding in Assam. This new facility will be helpful for maintaining DEMU rakes operating in this region.
