Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (27 June) flagged off five Vande Bharat Express Trains at Rani Kamalapati railway station, creating a record in the rail sector for the simultaneous operation of five semi-high speed trains on the same day.
School children, local artistes and other enthusiasts were part of the occupants of the inaugural run of the eight-coach Vande Bharat trains.
Two of these trains are in Madhya Pradesh, one in Karnataka, one in Bihar, and the last one will be the Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express, which was held up due to the Odisha train tragedy.
The new routes of the semi-high speed services that were flagged off are Rani Kamalapati-Jabalpur; Bhopal-Indore; Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai; Dharwad-Bengaluru; and Hatia-Patna.
According to the Indian Railways, all these five Vande Bharat trains are eight-coach each and the number of coaches can be increased upto 16, depending of the traffic demand.
With the launch of these five services, the Railways has made a total of 23 Vande Bharat trains operational. While Goa, Bihar and Jharkhand are set to get Vande Bharat train connectivity for the first time, all electrified routes are now having Vande Bharat service.
Rani Kamalapati-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express will connect Mahakaushal Region (Jabalpur) to the Central Region (Bhopal) of Madhya Pradesh.
Tourist places like Bheraghat, Pachmarhi, Satpura etc are also expected to benefit by the improved connectivity. The train will be faster by about thirty minutes, as compared to the existing fastest train in the route.
Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express will improve the connectivity of Malwa Region (Indore) and Bundelkhand Region (Khajuraho) to Central Region (Bhopal).
This will benefit important tourist sites like Mahakaleshwar, Mandu, Maheshwar and Panna. The train will be about two hours and thirty minutes faster than the fastest existing train on the route.
Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express will be Goa’s first Vande Bharat Express. It will run between Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Goa’s Madgaon station. It will help save about one hour of journey time, when compared to the current fastest train connecting the two places.
Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will connect important cities in Karnataka — Dharwad, Hubballi and Davangere — with state capital Bengaluru.
It will immensely benefit tourists, students, industrialists etc in the region. The train will be faster by about thirty minutes as compared to the existing fastest train in the route.
Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express will be the first Vande Bharat for Jharkhand and Bihar. Enhancing connectivity between Patna and Ranchi, the train will be a boon for tourists, students and businessmen.
It will help save about one hour and twenty five minutes journey time, when compared to the current fastest train connecting the two places.