Prime Minister Narendra Modi has virtually flagged off the Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express train. This will be the first Vande Bharat train to operate in Uttarakhand. In a tweet, PM Modi announced, “Delighted to flag off the Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express. It will ensure 'Ease of Travel' as well as greater comfort for the citizens." He also announced the feat of Indian Railways achieving 100% electrification of Uttarakhand’s rail tracks. The train is expected to cut the travel time between Delhi and Dehradun by at least 1 hour, as compared to the Shatabdi Express. 



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The 22458 train will leave Dehradun at 7 am and reach the Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi at 11:45 am. The express train will cover a total of 302 km in four hours and forty-five minutes during the journey. The Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat train (22457) will begin its journey at 5:50 pm from Delhi and reach Dehradun at 11:35 pm on May 29.


Pricing, timing, and stations 


Travellers looking to alight the express will have to pay Rs 1,065 for an AC chair car ticket for the entire journey from Delhi to Dehradun while the executive chair car ticket will cost Rs 1,890 on the same route. The ticket prices are only slightly higher than the Dehradun Shatabdi Express, which was the fastest train on the route before the Vande Bharat Express. 


The new 22457/22458 express train will cover a distance of 302 km in just 4 hours and 45 minutes, passing through Haridwar, Roorkee, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, and Meerut City stations in both directions. 


While commercial operations will begin on May 29, the Vande Bharat trains will operate every day of the week except Wednesdays. The eight-coach train will depart from Delhi at 5:50 PM and reach Dehradun at 10:35 PM, while the 22458 Dehradun to Delhi Vande Bharat will leave at 7:00 AM and reach Delhi by 11:45 AM. The inaugural run on Thursday will depart from Dehradun at 11:00 AM. 


With the inauguration of the new train, the total number of Vande Bharat Express trains in the country will rise to 17. While this would be the first such train for the northern state of Uttrakhand, Delhi is already home to six other Vande Bharat Express trains. The national capital has been connected with stations like Ajmer, Varanasi, Katra, Bhopal, and Amb Andaura through the express trains. 


Odisha also received its first Vande Bharat Express trains last week, with a route connecting Puri with Howrah, Bengal. Apart from Delhi, Chennai also plays home to two of these express trains while Mumbai hosts three such trains.