Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express trial run begins

BHUBANESWAR: The state government requested the Centre to run two more Vande Bharat trains in the state a day before the railways conducted a trial run of the train on the Howrah-Puri route on Friday.
In a letter to railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, state transport minister Tukuni Sahu on Thursday urged the running of Vande Bharat trains on two more routes - Puri-Rourkela and Bhubaneswar-Hyderabad - apart from Puri-Howrah.
She said the Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat connecting Sambalpur will facilitate faster passenger movement from western Odisha to Bhubaneswar. It will boost intra-state economic activity and connect the airports in Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, she added.
She also said that a large number of Odia people are staying in Hyderabad, Telangana. The Bhubaneswar-Hyderabad Vande Bharat train will facilitate faster movement of passengers between the two cities.
Sahu said that Odisha has been witnessing rapid economic growth in the last two decades and has attracted the highest investment during the last couple of years. We have been demanding rapid expansion of the rail network in the state, time and again, as the state can contribute immensely to the country's economy, read the letter.
Sahu stated that Vande Bharat Express trains have been introduced across the country for faster connectivity, except Odisha.
On Friday, railways conducted a trial run of the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express. The train departed Howrah at 6.10 am and reached Puri at 12.35 pm. The train returned to Howrah on the same day. The train was running as per schedule, said East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources.
It halted at six stations - Kharagpur, Bhadrak, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Khurda - between Howrah and Puri. It halted at the stations for two minutes only.
The second trial run will be held on April 30 from Howrah to Bhadrak and back. Similarly, the third trial run will be decided on May 1 after getting an update from the Railway Board regarding inauguration of the Vande Bharat rake, official sources said.
Sources said the train is likely to start operations in early May.