Amit Shah flags off Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday flagged off Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express at New Delhi Railway Station.

This is the second Vande Bharat Express launched by the Indian Railways. The first Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Varanasi, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi were present during the event.

The high-speed train will bring down the travel time between Delhi and Katra, the last station on way to the Vaishno Devi temple, to eight hours from the current 12 hours.

The first commercial run of the Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express will be on October 5 and booking of tickets is now open on the IRCTC website.

The minimum fare for travelling between New Delhi (NDLS) to Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) will be Rs 1,630 and the maximum will be Rs 3,015. The train will run on all days of the week except Tuesdays.

Train number 22439 New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express will depart from the New Delhi railway station at 6 am to reach Katra at 2 pm.

En route, the train will halt at Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana and Jammu Tawi for two minutes each.

On the return journey the same day, train number 22440 Katra-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express will leave from the Katra railway station at 3 pm to reach the New Delhi railway station at 11 pm.

The train also has windows with a special provision to protect against stone-pelting and a cattle guard in the front to prevent damage to the train or derailment in case of cattle run.