• West Bengal has got its first Vande Bharat Express train on the busy Howrah-New Jalpaiguri route today, Friday, December 30.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the train through video conference as he had to rush to Ahmedabad to attend the last rites of his mother Heeraben.
• He launched major projects and participated in the meeting of the National Ganga Council. Shri Modi digitally flagged off the Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri from Howrah Railway Station.
• The Prime Minister said that Bengal is the holy land from where the country’s freedom struggle began.
• He said that the land on which the word Vande Mataram was born is getting the gift of the Vande Bharat train.
• The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Joka-Taratla section of the Kolkata Metro’s JokaEsplanade Metro Project (Purple Line).

Vande Bharat Train:-

• In the Union Budget for the year 2022-2023, the Finance Minister has proposed the construction of 400 new Vande Bharat trains in the next three years.
• There is a possibility of investment of Rs 50,000 crore in the construction of these trains. It is an indigenously designed and manufactured, semi-high speed 160 kmph, a self-propelled train which is seen as the next step of Indian Railways after the introduction of Rajdhani trains in terms of speed and passenger comfort.
• The first Vande Bharat train was manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai at a cost of around Rs 100 crore as part of the ‘Make in India’ program.
• The aluminum body will make each train set about 40-80 tonnes lighter as compared to the present Vande Bharat trains, which means better speed efficiency along with lower energy consumption.
• Its coaches include passenger amenities including onboard WiFi, GPS-based Passenger Information System, CCTV, automatic doors in all coaches, swivel chairs, and bio vacuum-type toilets in the aircraft.