Howrah–New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express

The 22301/22302 Howrah–New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express is India's 7th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the capital of West Bengal, Kolkata with Siliguri, the largest city in northern West Bengal via Shantiniketan, Malda Town.

Overview
This train is being operated by Indian Railways, connecting Kolkata and Siliguri, West Bengal's two most important cities. The train service officially started from 1 January 2023 on New Year's Day from Howrah. However the inaugural service ran on 30 December from Howrah. This is the first Vande Bharat train service in Eastern India.

Rakes
It is the fifth 2nd Generation Vande Bharat Express train and was designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) under the leadership of Sudhanshu Mani at Perambur, Chennai under the Make in India initiative.

Service
The 22301/22302 Howrah–New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express operates 6 days a week, covering a distance of 561 km (chargeable distance may be different) in a travel time of 7 hrs 30 mins with an average speed of 75 km/h, making it the fastest passenger train in Howrah - New Jalpaiguri section.

Incidents
Three days after the inauguration of Vande Bharat express bound towards Howrah Jn in Howrah-New Jalpaiguri route at 2 January 2023 at around 17:30, some unidentified persons pelted stones allegedly at Kumarganj in Malda near Bihar. No casualties were reported. After the brief inspection by police in Howrah, it was reported that the door glass of C13 coach was shattered.