The Indian Railways has announced the extension of the Meerut City-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express till Varanasi Junction via Ayodhya Dham Junction. The Meerut City–Lucknow Vande Bharat Express (Train No. 22490/22489) will now run up to Varanasi Junction starting from 27 August
As per the revised schedule, Train No. 22490 Meerut City–Varanasi Vande Bharat Express will depart from Meerut City at 06:35 am and reach Varanasi Junction at 6:25 pm, stopping at Moradabad (08:35 am/08:40 am), Bareilly (10:04 am/10:06 am), Lucknow Charbagh (01:45 am/01:55 am) and Ayodhya Dham Junction (03:53 pm/03:55pm).
Train No. 22489 Varanasi–Meerut City Vande Bharat Express will leave Varanasi Junction at 09:10 am and arrive at Meerut City at 09:05pm, with halts at Ayodhya Dham Junction (11:40am /11:42 am), Lucknow Charbagh (01:40 pm/01:50 pm), Bareilly (05:13 pm/05:15 pm), and Moradabad (06:50 pm/ 06:55 pm).
The extension of the service is aimed at improving direct connectivity between western Uttar Pradesh and eastern Uttar Pradesh, providing faster travel between Meerut, Lucknow, Ayodhya, and Varanasi.
This train is expected to significantly boost religious tourism in the region by offering a faster and more efficient travel option to various pilgrimage sites, including the Digambar Jain Temple, Mansa Devi Mandir, Surajkund Temple, Augharnath Temple, and Hanuman Chowk Mandir in Meerut, as well as Chandrika Devi Temple, Bhoothnath Mandir, and Buddheshwar Mahadev Temple in Lucknow. Additionally, the Vande Bharat Express will provide a major boost to industries in the Meerut region- such as sports goods, musical instruments, sugar, and electronics- by improving swift connectivity to Uttar Pradesh's capital.
The Vande Bharat 2.0 trains have the KAVACH (Train Collision Avoidance System) for enhanced safety in operations. There will be improved security with four emergency windows added in every coach. There will be four platform side cameras including rear view cameras outside the coach instead of two earlier. The new coaches have Level-II safety integration certification for better train control.
The Vande Bharat 2.0 will also have better fire safety measures with aerosol-based fire detection and suppression system in all electrical cubicles and toilets. There will be superior floodproofing for under-slung electrical equipment to withstand floods up to 650 mm height as compared to 400 mm earlier. The train will also have four emergency lighting in every coach in case of electric failure.
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