Modi Flags Off India's First Howrah-Guwahati Vande Bharat Sleeper Train
Modi Flags Off India's First Howrah-Guwahati Vande Bharat Sleeper Train
Prime Minister Modi inaugurates the inaugural Howrah-Guwahati Vande Bharat sleeper service, with new Amrit Bharat Express routes and rail projects expanding regional connectivity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to West Bengal's Malda on Saturday, January 17, 2026, to inaugurate India's first Vande Bharat sleeper train between Howrah and Guwahati (Kamakhya). The flag-off from Malda town railway station marked a landmark in the government’s push for affordable, comfortable long-distance rail travel. The train, equipped with modern LHB coaches, is expected to provide a faster, safer option for passengers making the journey across the northeast and the eastern corridor.
Alongside the Howrah-Guwahati service, Modi is slated to virtually flag off four Amrit Bharat Express trains — New Jalpaiguri-Nagercoil, New Jalpaiguri-Tiruchirappalli, Alipurduar-SMVT Bengaluru, and Alipurduar-Mumbai (Panvel) — to widen connectivity within the region and beyond.
At Malda, around 1:45 p.m., the prime minister will lay the foundation stone for multiple rail and road projects worth over ₹3,250 crore, part of a broader development push ahead of elections in Bengal and Assam. The program is described as a public function, underscoring the government’s emphasis on improving mobility and economic linkages for common citizens, students, migrant workers and traders.
On Sunday, in Singur in Hooghly district, Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for additional projects worth around ₹830 crore, while notching another step in expanding the national rail grid. In addition to passenger services, the government is flagging off two new trains with LHB coaches — the Radhikapur-SMVT Bengaluru Express and the Balurghat-SMVT Bengaluru Express — aimed at giving the region's youth and IT professionals safer, direct travel to major southern hubs.
Beyond rail, the initiative aims to strengthen inter-state economic ties and social linkages, endorsing a more connected northeast as the region gears up for electoral campaigns later this year.
