Vande Bharat Express will reach Katra from New Delhi in 8 hours

The New Delhi- Katra Vande Bharat Express, which was inaugurated on Thursday is expected to bring down the travel time from New Delhi to Katra to eight hours from 12 hours.

"This is a train set without a separate engine. Half the coaches have traction motors in it. Due to this, the speeds will be very high. Its highest speed potential is 160 km/hour but it will be running at 130 km/hour due to track limitations on the route," Vinod Kumar, Chairman of the Railway Board said.

In other trains, the journey from New Delhi to Katra takes 12 hours.

"There are 16 coaches in this train, of which 14 are chair cars and two are of executive class. Each chair car coach has 78 chairs. The train can carry 1100 passengers, whose booking has been started. From October 5, this train will run daily from New Delhi to Katra and from Katra to New Delhi except for Tuesday," Shyama Prasad, ADG PR, Indian Railways said.

Fares for Vande Bharat train from New Delhi to Katra will be Rs 1,630 in chair car class and it will be Rs 3,015 in executive chair car.

"Security is an important issue and it has been strengthened after Article 370 was withdrawn," RPF DG Arun Kumar said.

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off the inaugural run of Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) between New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra.

Shah was accompanied by Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Harsh Vardhan, Jitendra Singh and officials from the Indian Railways at the New Delhi junction for the flagging off event.

The train will start its commercial run between New Delhi and Katra on October 5.

The train will ply throughout the week except for Tuesday. It will comprise of two Executive AC Chair Car and 12 Chair Car coaches, with stops at Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana, and Jammu Tawi railway stations.

The fare for the journey between New Delhi to Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra will cost Rs 1,630 in Chair Car coaches and Rs 3,015 in Executive AC Chair Car coaches.

The indigenously developed train Vande Bharat train can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph, one of the fastest in India.

Among the many features of the train include plush interiors, wi-fi service, bio vacuum toilets, GPS-based infotainment system and CCTV surveillance among other features.