Guwahati-NJP Vande Bharat Express from Monday: Route, timings, stoppages, other details

Indian Railways will begin operating the eighteenth Vande Bharat Express on Monday, 29 May. This will be the first Vande Bharat Express to operate in Assam and also in India's Northeast part. The train will operate from Guwahati in Assam to New Jalpaiguri(NJP) in West Bengal. This will be the third Vande Bharat for West Bengal after the Howrah-NJP Vande Bharat Express and the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express. The train will operate six days a week except on Tuesday.

The Guwahati- NJP Vande Bharat Express will cover the journey from Guwahati to New Jalpaiguri in 5 hours 30 minutes, while the current fastest train( Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express) takes 6 hours 30 minutes to cover the same journey.

The state-of-the-art Vande Bharat Express will provide people of the region the means to travel with speed and comfort. It will also boost tourism in the region. Connecting Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri, the train will help save about an hour of journey time, when compared with the current fastest train connecting the two places. Vande Bharat will cover the journey in 5 hrs 30 mins, while the current fastest train takes 6 hrs 30 mins to cover the same journey.  The fare chart is still not available in the IRCTC site at the time of publishing the copy 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Assam's first Vande Bharat Express at 12 noon on Monday via video-conferencing, according to a statement issued by the the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Timings of Guwahati-NJP Vande Bharat Express:

The Guwahati-NJP Vande Bharat Express(Train No-22228) will start at 16:30 from Guwahati and will reach NJP at 22.00 after covering a distance of 409 kilometres. The train will stop at Kamakhya, New Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, New Alipurduar, New Coochbehar and culminate at NJP. The train will arrive in Kamakhya at 16.40 and depart at 16.42, arrive in New Bongaigaon at 18.35, depart at 18.36, arrive in Kokrajhar at 18.56, depart at 18.57, arrive in New Alipurduar at 19.48, depart at 19.49, arrive in New Cooch Behar at 20.02, depart at 20.03 and reach NJP at 22.00.

Meanwhile, the NJP-Guwahati Vande Bharat Express(Train No-22227) will start at 06:10 from NJP and will reach Guwahati at 11.40 after covering a distance of 409 kilometres. The train will stop in New Coochbehar, New Alipurduar, Kokrajhar, New Bongaigaon, Kamakhya and culminate at Guwahati.

The train will arrive in New Cooch Behar at 07.35 and depart at 07.36, arrive in New Alipurduar at 07.50, depart at 07.51, arrive at Kokrajhar at 08.40 and depart at 08.41, arrive in New Bongaigaon at 09.13 and depart at 09.14, arrive at Kamakhya at 11.18 and depart at 11.20 and reach Guwahati at 11.40.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also dedicate 182 Route Kms of newly electrified sections. This will help provide pollution-free transportation with trains running at higher speed and reduced running time of trains. It will also open the doors for trains running on electric traction to enter Meghalaya.

Prime Minister will also inaugurate a newly constructed DEMU/MEMU shed at Lumding in Assam. This new facility will be helpful for maintaining DEMU rakes operating in this region, leading to better operational feasibility.

The Indian Railways is currently running 34 services of the train, covering 21 states. It has set a target of running at least one service in seven more states by June.