Maligaon, Sept 24: The Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains today via video conferencing. These new Vande Bharat trains are a step towards realising Prime Minister’s vision of improving connectivity across the country and providing world class facilities to rail passengers.
These nine trains will boost connectivity across eleven states namely Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
Addressing the gathering the Prime Minister said that, the Vande Bharat Express trains being launched today will significantly improve connectivity as well as boost tourism across India. He said the government is focussing on multi-modal connectivity and ease of travel to ensure that time in commuting is minimised.
The new Vande Bharat trains that were flagged off today are Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express, Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Hyderabad –Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express, Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Kasaragod – Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express, Rourkela – Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express, Ranchi – Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express.
These Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest train along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time of the passengers. As compared to the current fastest train along the route, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express and Kasaragod – Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express will be faster by about 3 hours.
Hyderabad – Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express by more than 2.5 hours; Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express by more than 2 hours; Ranchi – Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express by about 1 hour; and Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express by about half an hour.
In line with the Prime Minister’s vision to improve connectivity of important religious places across the country, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express and Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express will connect important religious towns of Puri and Madurai. Also, the Vijayawada – Chennai Vande Bharat Express will operate via the Renigunta route and will provide connectivity to Tirupati Pilgrimage centre.
The introduction of these Vande Bharat trains will herald a new standard of rail service in the country. These trains, equipped with world class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, will be a key step towards providing modern, speedy and comfortable means of travel to common people, professionals, businessmen, student community and tourists.
