Vande Bharat Express: Important Details Of India’s Fastest Train

The Vande Bharat Express, or ‘Train 18’ was manufactured under the ‘Make in India’ initiative flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is all set to make its maiden voyage on February 15^th. Touted as India’s fastest train, Train 18 will shuttle between New Delhi and Varanasi.

Design

The 16-coach air-conditioned Vande Bharat Express has been developed in a record time of 18 months by ICF Chennai, the cost totalling to Rs. 97 crore. The India Railways revealed that given its high-quality standards, cost, and engineless mechanism, Vande Bharat Express has already managed to generate export interest from several countries.

Schedule and route

As per the proposed schedule, train 18 will depart New Delhi Railway station at 6.00 am, and reach Varanasi at 2.00 pm. The train will halt at Kanpur station at 10.20 am, and at Pragyaraj at 12.25 pm. The train will depart on its return journey from Varanasi at 3.00 pm and arrive back in Delhi at 11.00 pm. En route, it will stop at Pragyaraj at 4.35 pm, and at Kanpur at 6.30 pm. The train will run 5 days a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and is scheduled to undergo maintenance work on Mondays and Thursday.

Fares

The train has two classes of tickets, i.e. executive class and chair car. The cost for an executive class ticket for a return journey will be Rs 3,470, whereas the chair car return journey ticket is priced at Rs. 1,795. The fares are 1.5 times that of the Shatabdi Express, and will run at semi-high speed. The complete list of fares, as mentioned on Zeenews, are as follows –

New Delhi-Varanasi Route

Rs 1,850 for chair car

Rs 3,520 for executive class

Varanasi-New Delhi Route

Rs 1,795 for chair car

Rs 3,470 for executive class

Delhi and Kanpur

Rs 1,150 for chair car

Rs 2,245 for executive class

Delhi-Prayagraj

Rs 1,480 for chair car

Rs 2,935 for executive class

Kanpur-Prayagraj

Rs 630 for chair car

Rs 1,245 for executive class

Kanpur-Varanasi

Rs 1,065 for chair car

Rs 1,925 for executive class

Meals

Sources revealed that each class of tickets have differently priced meals. Passengers travelling in the executive class from New Delhi to Varanasi will be charged Rs. 399, which includes morning tea, breakfast, and lunch. Chair car travellers will be charged Rs.344 for the same. From Varanasi to New Delhi, the meals are priced at Rs. 349 and Rs. 248 in the executive class and chair car respectively. Passengers do not have the option of opting out of the catering services. However, passengers travelling on its last leg from Pragyaraj to Varanasi will have that option.