New Delhi, September 17: The second Vande Bharat Express, which is all set to run on Delhi-Katra route, will begin operations before the festival season this year, the Indian Railways informed. Vinod Kumar Yadav, Indian Railway Board chairman said that the Railways also plans to roll out 40 Vande Bharat Express trains by 2022. According to a tweet by ANI, Kumar informed that while the trails for Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat train have been finished, the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah will be ready by December 2021. "There would be transparency, it will be a 'Make in India' project. The Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat train will be a gift to pilgrims and it will ply in Navratras", Yadav said. Vande Bharat Express to be Guarded by Camera-Equipped RPF Squad to Prevent Stone-Pelting Incidents.

Reports inform that the Delhi-Katra route was chosen by the Railway Board in a bid to capitalise on the high traffic volume owing to the Vaishno Devi temple pilgrimage. According to reports, the high-speed train will bring down the travel time between Delhi and Katra, the last station on the way to Vaishno Devi temple. With the new service in place, the travel time from Delhi to Katra to eight hours from the current 12 hours. Train 18: Visuals From The Inside of 'Vande Bharat Express'; Watch Video.

Here are the tweets:

The Indian Railway Board chairman added that the Railways is trying to upgrade the busy routes. Earlier this year, there were reports that the  production of these engine-less train were stopped over allegations lack of transparency. However, after the intervention of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, the Railway Board had started the new tendering process for resuming the production of Vande Bharat Express trains. The first Vande Bharat Express or Train 18 was launched on the Delhi-Varanasi route.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 17, 2019 04:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).