Uttar Pradesh’s Deoband has been added to the list of stoppages for the Dehradun-Delhi Vande Bharat train from Friday, officials aware of the development told News18.
Deoband is a town in Saharanpur and houses Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the largest Islamic institutions and seminaries in India.
The stoppage at Deoband was included on the list, days after Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw visited Saharanpur and announced that a new Vande Bharat train will be started for Prayagraj from the district.
The Vande Bharat between the national capital and Uttarakhand’s capital was inaugurated on May 25. The train, which commenced its commercial journey from May 29, had stoppages at Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Roorkee and Haridwar. This was the first Vande Bharat for Uttarakhand and sixth for the national capital.
Speaking to News18, a Ministry official said that the Dehradun-Anand Vihar Vande Bharat first stopped at Deoband on Friday. “The stoppage was introduced on a trial basis. We will monitor the passenger movement from Deoband. The decision to make it a permanent stop will be taken if the Ministry feels there is sufficient demand,” the official said, demanding anonymity.
Last week, Vaishnaw visited Saharanpur and inaugurated a number of projects. He also said that a new rail line from Saharanpur to Dehradun via Shakumbhari Devi will be constructed.
Vaishnaw also announced a new Vande Bharat train from Saharanpur to Prayagraj. This will be the second dedicated Vande Bharat for Uttar Pradesh after the one running for Varanasi. While two more Vande Bharats – Bhopal -Delhi and Dehradun-Delhi – have stoppages in Uttar Pradesh, these are not dedicated trains for the state.
The official also informed that an empty rake of Vande Bharat has been provided to the Northern Railways, but the Ministry is yet to decide where this rake will be used.
“The Saharanpur-Prayagraj Vande Bharat may take some time as we need to figure out a number of things, including feasibility. It will be taken on priority, but there are other routes as well where the demand has been raised for the Vande Bharat trains. As of now, I cannot say that this empty rake will be used on this route,” they added.
Currently, there are 23 Vande Bharat trains – 46 services – running across the country and a total of 24 states and union territories have been connected with the semi-high speed train. The Railway Ministry has claimed that the Vande Bharat express is the fastest passenger train on the route it is running.
As per the official statements, all states with electrified rail networks have Vande Bharat express services. The remaining few states across India will soon have Vande Bharat connectivity after electrification and the ever-growing rail network expansion.
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