Overview
- Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the inaugural service later this month, with operations expected in 15–20 days and the exact date to be announced soon.
- The first train will run between Howrah and Guwahati at 120–130 km/h despite a 180 km/h design speed, using a 16-coach formation with 823 berths across 11 3-AC, four 2-AC and one 1-AC coaches.
- Indicative fares are about ₹2,300 for 3-AC, ₹3,000 for 2-AC and ₹3,600 for 1-AC including food, with per‑km rates of ₹2.4 (3-AC), ₹3.1 (2-AC) and ₹3.8 (1-AC), positioned below typical airfares on the corridor.
- Features include KAVACH automatic train protection, improved suspension, automatic doors, CCTV, an emergency talk-back system and disinfectant technology claimed to kill 99.9% of germs, following CRS-supervised trials that reached 180 km/h on the Kota–Nagda section.
- Production will scale with eight additional trains targeted within six months and about 12 by year-end, while talk of early routes such as Secunderabad–New Delhi remains unconfirmed by rail authorities.