A full-fledged trial run of Vande Bharat Express will be carried out from Howrah to Puri and back on April 28 (Friday).
As per the Indian Railways, the train will start from Howrah at 6:10am and will be back to Howrah at 8:30pm with a two-minute stoppage at Kharagpur from 7:38am to 7:40 am in the up direction.
The train will arrive in Puri at 12:35pm and will start from Puri at 1:50pm towards Howrah.
The second trial run will be organized on April 30 (Sunday) from Howrah to Bhadrak and back. The decision on the third trial run will be taken on May 1 after getting updates from the Railway Board regarding the inauguration of Vande Bharat Express rake, informed Railway authorities.
The brand new Vande Bharat coaches left the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai for Kolkata on Wednesday. After primary maintenance in Kolkata, the coaches will come to Odisha, where the service is likely to be inaugurated after secondary maintenance.
Sources said a primary maintenance unit for the express train will be built in Kolkata.
A secondary maintenance unit is likely to be set up either in Puri or Bhubaneswar.