Overview
- The Prime Minister inaugurated five routes: Kamakhya–Rohtak, Dibrugarh–Lucknow (Gomti Nagar), Howrah–Anand Vihar Terminal, Sealdah–Banaras, and Santragachi–Tambaram.
- The flag-offs complete a two-day rollout of nine new Amrit Bharat services, following four launches on January 17 linking the Northeast and Bengal with Mumbai, Bengaluru, Nagercoil and Tiruchirappalli.
- Railway Board rules dated January 15 for Amrit Bharat II set minimum chargeable distances at 200 km for Sleeper and 50 km for Second class, keep basic fares unchanged, price Sleeper at about ₹500 per 1,000 km, and prohibit dynamic pricing; refunds for reserved tickets are initiated within 24 hours when paid digitally.
- Sleeper class on new services no longer offers RAC, only Ladies, PwD and Senior Citizen quotas apply, and all berths are available from the start of the Advance Reservation Period.
- In the same set of events, India’s first Vande Bharat Sleeper on the Kamakhya–Howrah route was flagged off, a service expected to cut travel time by roughly 2.5 hours.