Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off eastern India’s first Vande Bharat Express from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri during his visit to Kolkata next week. 

He is also expected to inaugurate this city’s third metro line and three other key rail projects. Modi will be in Kolkata on 30 December to chair the National Ganga Council meeting. 

The semi high-speed Vande Bharat Express will run between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal six days a week.

This will be eastern India’s first such train service. The rakes of this train are now being brought from the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai to Kolkata. 

Kolkata’s third metro line from Joka to Taratala in the city’s southwestern part was scheduled to have been inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah when he was in Kolkata last week. But a last-minute hitch led to postponement of the inauguration. 

Prime Minister Modi will also inaugurate the redevelopment of the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station, and work on doubling the railway tracks between Dankuni and Chandanpur and Malda and Sagardighi. 

The Union government has earmarked nearly Rs 335 crore for the massive redevelopment of the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station which is the largest and the busiest station under the Northeast Frontier Railways. Work on the project has already started and is expected to be completed by 2025. 

Prime Minister Modi will also attend an event at the Indian Navy base at Netaji Subhas Dock. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also attend the function.

This will be the second time Banerjee will meet Modi this month: the first was on the sidelines of the G20 preparatory meeting in New Delhi on 6 December.