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 15th. 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.
