New Delhi: The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has opened booking for Train 18 or the Vande Bharat Express. People have been eagerly waiting to travel in India’s fastest train, touted as the new Shatabdi Express. Tickets can be bought over the counter or on irctc.co.in. Train 18, which will run between Delhi and Varanasi, was flagged off by PM Narendra Modi today but its commercial run will begin from 17 February.
1. New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express will depart from the national capital at 6 am and reach Varanasi at 2 pm. On the same day it will depart from Varanasi at 3pm and reach Delhi at 11 pm.
2. The Vande Bharat Express will operate on five days in a week, except on Monday and Thursday.
3. From Delhi to Varanasi an air-conditioned chair car ticket will cost ₹1,760 and the executive class fare will be ₹3,310, while on the return journey a chair car ticket will cost ₹1,700 and that of a seat in the executive class ₹3,260. Both fares are inclusive of catering charges.
4. The Vande Bharat Express is An all air-conditioned luxury train and will take around eight hours to travel between Delhi and Varanasi, halting at only two stations - Kanpur and Allahabad.
5. The ticket fares between Delhi and Kanpur will be ₹1,090 in the chair car (CC) class and ₹2,105 in the executive class (EC) for a distance of 447 km.
6. Between Delhi and Allahabad (642 km), the ticket price for CC class will be ₹1,395 and ₹2,750 for the EC class, between Kanpur and Allahabad (195 km), the price for CC will be ₹595 and for EC ₹1,170, the order said.
7. The price of tickets between Kanpur and Varanasi (319 km) will be ₹1,020 and ₹1,815 for CC and EC classes, respectively.
8. Passengers travelling from New Delhi to Varanasi in the executive class will be charged ₹399 for morning tea, breakfast and lunch, and travellers in the chair car ₹344 for the same. Those travelling from New Delhi to Kanpur and Prayagraj will be charged ₹155 and ₹122 for executive and CC classes, respectively. From Varanasi to New Delhi, passengers will pay ₹349 in executive class and ₹288 in chair car, according to the order. Passengers cannot opt out of meals. But those travelling from Allahabad to Varanasi and on the return journey Varanasi to Allahabad can opt out of meals, saving ₹222 on CC tickets and ₹244 on EC tickets, as per a PTI report.
9. The Vande Bharat Express was manufactured under the 'Make in India' initiative at Indian Coach Factory in Chennai.
10. The new train is a 100 per cent ‘Make in India’ project and was built in 18 months.
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