Patna–Ranchi Vande Bharat Express

The 22349/22350 Patna - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express is India's 20th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the city of Patna in Bihar with the city of Ranchi in Jharkhand. The train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 June 2023 via video conference from Rani Kamalapati (Habibganj) railway station.

Overview
The train is operated by Indian Railways, connecting Patna Jn, Jehanabad, Gaya Jn, Koderma Jn, Hazaribagh Town, Barkakana Jn, Mesra and Ranchi Jn. It will be operated with train numbers 22349/22350 on a 6 days a week basis.

Rakes
It is the eighteenth 2nd Generation and the sixth 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 22349/22350 Patna - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express train operates 6 days a week, covering a distance of 379 km in a travel time of 6 hrs with an average speed of 63 km/h. The Maximum Permissible Speed is 130 km/h.

Incidents
On 25 June 2023, before the inaugural run of this new Vande Bharat Express train, it met with a disruptive case after unidentified miscreants pelted stones near the Barkakana Jn under Dhanbad railway division of East Central Railway zone (ECR). This incident took place when it was performing the 3rd trial run while heading back to Patna Jn from Ranchi Jn. No casualties were reported during the incident.