New Delhi, October 3: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday flagged off the Vande Bharat Express train from New Delhi to Katra in Jammu & Kashmir. The second Vande Bharat train was flagged off at the New Delhi Railway Station. Union Ministers Dr Jitendra Singh and Dr Harsh Vardhan were also present at the ceremony. The train will ply between Delhi and Katra for its inaugural run at 9 am today at New Delhi Railway Station. In his address at the flag-off ceremony, Shah expressed happiness and said he is proud that the 'Made in India' train has been flagged-off, adding that the railways is working towards achieving its targets keeping in mind principles of speed, scale and service.

Katra is the last station on the way to famous Hindu pilgrimage Vaishno Devi.  It must be noted that the first commercial run of the Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express will begin on October 4. The Vande Bharat Express train will cut the travel time between Delhi and Katra, Vaishno Devi, to just eight hours. Previously, it took 12 to14 hours to cover the distance of 655 km to reach Katra from the national capital. According to reports, during its journey, the train will halt at three stations- Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana and Jammu Tawi for two minutes each.

The Vande Bharat Express will run on all days of the week except for Tuesday. Passengers should note that the train will depart from the New Delhi Railway Station at 6 am and will reach Katra at 2 pm. The return journey will commence on the same day from Katra at 3 pm and reach the national capital at 11 pm. Much to the happiness of passengers, the luxurious train has facilities such as CCTV surveillance, Bio vacuum toilet, GPS Based information system and onboard Wi-Fi internet. Vande Bharat Express to be Guarded by Camera-Equipped RPF Squad to Prevent Stone-Pelting Incidents.

The Vande Bharat Express is a luxurious fully air-conditioned train having chair car service with 16 coaches. The train has been indigenously built. It has been designed by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai under central government's Make in India initiative over a span of 18 months.

On September 29, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had announced the full schedule of Vande Bharat saying the Vande Bharat Express will be flagged off on the auspicious occasion of Navratri and Durga Puja. In a tweet, Goyal said 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. On 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.

Here's the tweet:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express on Delhi-Varanasi route. The Indian Railways' subsidiary IRCTC has already started the ticket booking process for the passengers. The minimum fare for travelling between New Delhi to Katra in the chair car has been pegged Rs 1,630 while the fare for the executive chair car is Rs 2,965.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 03, 2019 10:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).