The first trial run of the Vande Bharat Express running between Patna and Ranchi and Ranchi and Patna started on Monday. 

After the trial run started at 6:55 am this morning from Patna Junction, it reached Ranchi at 12.30 pm, nearly half an hour before it was scheduled to arrive in the capital city of Jharkhand.

It had reportedly run at a speed of 160 km per hour on most tracks. During the trial run, the train was used only by loco pilots and technical staff of railways who were posted at the Danapur rail division.

The trial run was conducted on a new Patna- Gaya-Barkakana-Koderma- Hazaribagh-BIT Mesra- Tatisilwai- Ranchi route. The train covered a distance of 378 km in 5.40 hours.

Then, it departed from Ranchi for Patna at 2.20 pm and is slated to end its day-long journey in Patna at 8.25 pm.

This is the first of three trial runs Vande Bharat has to undergo before it is launched by PM Narendra Modi. The schedule of its first trial run was to take place on June 11. But due to a bandh called by students in Jharkhand, it was shifted to today.

Nobody knows when the second and third trial runs of this high-speed train will take place on Patna- Ranchi and Ranchi- Patna routes. But one thing is clear this train has only six halts in as many stations between the two capital cities of Bihar and Jharkhand.

The train will pass through tunnels and railway bridges between Sidhwar (Ramgarh) and Sanki (Ranchi). It will halt at Gaya and Barkakana stations. The 27-km stretch between Sidhwar and Sanki has four tunnels, the longest being 1.7-km-long, while three others are around 600 meters each.

Details gathered from railway authorities indicate that after departing from Patna at 6.55 am, it reached Gaya at 8.20 am. Then it departed from there at 8.30 am and reached Ranchi at 1 pm.

For the return journey from Ranchi to Patna, this train left Ranchi at 2:20 pm and is slated to reach Gaya at 7 pm, and will reach Patna at 8:25 pm.

The trial run of Vande Bharat is being done mainly for operational/experimental purposes, for safety checks, etc. before regular operations start. During the trial run of Vande Bharat proposed between Patna and Ranchi and Ranchi- Patna on Monday, general passengers were not allowed on the train.

When asked what problem the trial run of the Vande Bharat faced on Patna- Ranchi route, a senior railway official said,” No problem.”