Gorakhpur–Prayagraj (Allahabad) Vande Bharat Express

The 22549/22550 Gorakhpur - Prayagraj (Allahabad) Vande Bharat Express is India's 25th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the city of Gorakhpur City via Ayodhya and terminating at the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. This express train is a former of another service which terminated at state capital city Lucknow which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 July 2023.

This extension was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing from Ahmedabad on March 12 2024.

Overview
This train is operated by Indian Railways, connecting Gorakhpur Jn, Basti, Ayodhya Jn, Lucknow Charbagh, Rae Bareli Jn and Prayagraj (Allahabad) Jn. It is operated with train numbers 22549/22550 on 6 days a week basis.

Rakes
It is the twenty-third 2nd Generation and eleventh Mini Vande Bharat 2.0 Express train which was designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur, Chennai under the Make in India Initiative.

Service
The 22549/22550 Gorakhpur - Prayagraj (Allahabad) Vande Bharat Express operates 6 days a week, covering a distance of 500 km in a travel time of 07 hrs 30 mins with an average speed of 71 km/h. The Maximum Permissible Speed is 110 km/h.

Incidents
After the inauguration ceremony of the newly launched Vande Bharat Express train between Gorakhpur and Lucknow, it met with a goat incident. This incident took place on 11 July 2023 when crossing Sohawal, about 15 km away from Ayodhya Cantt. Jn railway station, leading to damage of window panes at coaches C1, C3, C5 (Chair Car) and E1 (Executive Chair Car). No casualties were reported during that incident.