Overview
- Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inspected the new rake at New Delhi and said two trainsets are ready, with the Prime Minister set to inaugurate the service in mid-to-late January after the exact date is announced.
- Operations are expected to begin within 15–20 days, with the minister indicating a likely window around January 18–19 for the Guwahati (Kamakhya)–Howrah debut.
- The fully air-conditioned 16-coach train provides 823 berths across 11 three-tier, four two-tier and one first-class AC coach, with regular speeds on the corridor expected around 120–130 km/h.
- Indicative one-way fares are about ₹2,300 (3AC), ₹3,000 (2AC) and ₹3,600 (1AC) including meals, with region-specific catering offering Assamese dishes from Guwahati departures and Bengali cuisine from Kolkata.
- Safety and comfort features include KAVACH automatic train protection, CCTV in all coaches, emergency talk-back, enhanced suspension, noise reduction and disinfectant technology, while production is planned to scale to roughly 12 sleeper rakes by year-end.