The trial run of the Patna-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express started from here on Monday, a senior official said. The train left Bihar capital Patna at 6:55 AM and is scheduled to reach Jharkhand capital Ranchi at 1:00 PM. On its return journey, it will leave Ranchi at 2:20 PM and arrive here at 8:25 PM, said Birendra Kumar, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of East Central Railway (ECR) zone, Hajipur. 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 metres each. Earlier, the trial run was slated for June 11, but it was rescheduled to Monday because of the two-day state bandh called by a student group in Jharkhand. More trial runs will be conducted between Barkakana and Ranchi. Vande Bharat Express will be the first passenger train to ply on this route. Only goods trains operated on this route, earlier.

The commissioner of railway safety (CRS) in Kolkata had conducted a safety inspection and speed trial on the 27-km stretch between Sidhwar and Sanki and had given the nod to operationalise the new route between Koderma and Ranchi via Barkakana in December last.

Vande Bharat Express will pass through hills and four tunnels between Sidhwar (Ramgarh) and Sanki (Ranchi), which is part of the 202-km-long new rail route between Koderma and Ranchi via Barkakana.

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Divisional Railway Manager of the Dhanbad division of ECR, Kamal Kishore Sinha, said all preparations have been made for the trial run. Multiple trial runs would be conducted before the final run of the train between Patna and Ranchi, he said.

Also, the trial run was earlier scheduled on June 11. It was, however, rescheduled to June 12 in the wake of a two-day bandh call given by a students’ body in Jharkhand, said Birendra Kumar, Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) of East Central Railway (ECR) in Hajipur zone.