Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off nine Vande Bharat trains across 11 states on Sunday. The trains connect religious and tourist destinations in these states.
The nine trains are being operated in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
The new Vande Bharat trains will run between: Udaipur Jaipur; Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai; Hyderabad Bengaluru; Vijayawada Chennai (via Renigunta); Patna Howrah; Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram; Rourkela - Bhubaneswar Puri; Ranchi Howrah; and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad.
An official statement from the Prime Minister's Office said the trains are being allotted 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 the 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 the Tirupati Pilgrimage Centre,” the PMO statement added.
"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," the PMO statement added.
The trains will save passengers a lot of time as they will be the fastest services along the routes. As compared to the current fastest train along the route, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar Puri and Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat trains will cut travel time between respective destinations by about three hours; Hyderabad Bengaluru by more than 2.5 hours; Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai by more than 2 hours.
The travel time between Ranchi Howrah and Patna Howrah and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad will be reduced by about one hour when compared with the fastest trains currently available between these destinations. The travel time between Udaipur - Jaipur will be reduced by about half an hour.
The Centre had earlier hinted about the plan to expand the fleet. The Karnataka state BJP leadership had recently claimed that the Railway Ministry informed them of the plans to launch a Vande Bharat Express from Mangaluru to Goa by October end.
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has also promised a high-speed train will start plying between Ahmedabad and Sanand in the next six months.
