The Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. This will be the second Vande Bharat Express in the state of Uttar Pradesh, as the first one runs on the New Delhi-Varanasi route and was inaugurated by PM Modi himself. Also, this is a mini version of the Vande Bharat Express with only 8 coaches and not 16 coaches. The Vande Bharat Express will connect Ayodhya to the Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh and Gorakhpur, the former constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, from where he was elected an MP for a record 5 time.
The Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express will run six days a week, barring Saturdays, with a little over 550 passengers, officials have said. It wil run on Monday to Friday and Sunday. As per the IRCTC schedule, the Vande Bharat Express will start from Gorakhpur at 06:05 and reach Lucknow station at 10:20. During the return journey, the Vande Bharat Express starting from Lucknow will depart at 19:15 and reach Gorakhpur Jn at 23:25.
The semi-high speed train will begin its journey from Gorakhpur following the inauguration and reach Lucknow Junction via halts at Sahjanwa, Khalilabad, Basti, Babhnan, Mankapur, Ayodhya and Barabanki, they said. However, from July 9, when the train begins regular services, it will only halt at Basti and Ayodhya. The train will also stop at the Mankapur level crossing for an operational halt. On Saturdays, the train will be repaired at a new facility in Gorakhpur.
The Indian Railways has already started accepting bookings for the train, to be run by North Eastern Railway. The train will include seven chair cars and one executive-class coach and will accommodate 556 people. The base fare for the chair car is Rs 724 while a seat on the executive class will cost Rs 1,470 per passenger for the journey from Gorakhpur to Lucknow. The passengers will be provided with meals, snacks and tea by the IRCTC.
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