Vande Bharat trial run on Howrah-Puri route; Odisha demands more services

Bhubaneswar/Kolkata: Amidst the successful trial run of the Vande Bharat express train on the Howrah-Puri route on Friday, the Odisha government demanded the introduction of more semi-high speed trains on Bhubaneswar-Hyderabad, Puri-Raipur and Puri-Howrah routes.

A Railway official said the trial run of the train commenced from Howrah station in West Bengal at 6.10 am and it reached Puri in a little over six hours.

The train will begin its return journey from Puri at 1.50 pm and reach Howrah at 8.30 pm.

During the trial run, it had stoppages at Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Khurda with a two-minute halt at each station.

In a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Odisha Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu said “I would like to request you to introduce Vande Bharat Express trains through Odisha to meet the growing aspirations of people.

“Request you to introduce the Vande Bharat express train between Puri and Howrah to offer faster travel options to passengers”.

Noting that there are very few faster trains that connect western Odisha and the state capital, Sahu said she would request the introduction of Vande Bharat Express train between Puri and Rourkela linking Sambalpur which will facilitate faster passenger movement from western Odisha districts to the state capital.

It will also boost intra-state economic activity and connect the airports in Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, she said.

Pointing out that a large number of people from Odisha are staying in Hyderabad, the Odisha minister made a request to the minister to introduce another Vande Bharat express train connecting Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad which will facilitate faster movement of passengers between the two state capitals.

“I, therefore, request you to consider the genuine demands of the state which will offer better passenger convenience and faster travel options to businessmen, and tourists ,” she mentioned in the letter.

The second trial run of the train is likely to be held on April 30 from Howrah to Bhadrak, the official said.