New Delhi: India Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Northeast India's first Vande Bharat Express train today,  May 29, at 12 noon hours through video-conferencing.

The Vande Bharat departs from New Jalpaiguri Station in West Bengal for Guwahati in Assam. On Sunday, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, "This state-of-art train embodies our commitment to providing speed, comfort, and enhanced connectivity. It will also increase tourism and improve socioeconomic growth.

Six stops, including New Alipurduar, Kokrajhar, New Bongaigaon, Kamakhya, as well as junctions in New Jalpaiguri and Guwahati, will be served by the railway, which would run six days a week.

At 6.10 AM, the train departd from New Jalpaiguri, and at 12 PM, it will arrive in Guwahati. At 4.30 PM, the Vande Bharat Express will leave from Guwahati and arrive in New Jalpaiguri at about 10.20 PM.

It is expected that the train, which runs between Guwahati and New Jalpaiguri, will reduce travel time between the two cities by around an hour. It will take five and a half hours to complete the 410-kilometer trek. Today (Monday), the 18th Vande Bharat Express service will begin operating.

The Guwahati- NJP Vande Bharat Express will cover the voyege from Guwahati to New Jalpaiguri in 5 hours 30 minutes, whereas  the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express takes 6 hours 30 minutes to cover the same journey.

Prime Minster will also inaugurate 182 kilometres of newly electrified sections, which will help provide pollution-free transportation with trains running at higher speeds and reduced running time of trains, as per government statement.

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