PM Modi to inaugurate 9 Vande Bharat trains on Sunday
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reportedly flag off nine Vande Bharat Express trains on Sunday, including two services on the South Central Railway (SCR), two in West Bengal, and one each in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, and other states. He will launch the Kacheguda-Yesvantpur and Vijayawada-MGR Chennai Central routes via video conferencing, and Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will also participate in the inauguration ceremony.
Why does this story matter?
The Indian Railways announced the country's first independently manufactured engine-less Vande Bharat train in February 2019 to strengthen its Make in India initiative. A Vande Bharat train can reach high speeds due to faster acceleration and deceleration, cutting travel time by 25% to 45%, according to the government. Its aim is to provide passengers with a completely new travel experience, with speed, safety, and service as the train's defining characteristics.
Details on Vande Bharat Express running between Kacheguda-Yesvantpur, Vijayawada-MGR
The Vande Bharat train service between Kacheguda-Yesvantpur will be the quickest train between the two cities, compared with other trains on the route. Similarly, the one set to be operational between Vijayawada-MGR Chennai Central will also be the quickest and first on this route. Quoting an official release, ANI reported that the trains will have a seating capacity of 530 passengers.
West Bengal to get 2 additional Vande Bharat trains
On the other hand, West Bengal will be getting two additional Vande Bharat trains between the Ranchi-Howrah and Patna-Howrah routes. It is also learned that the train will have 25 additional features and cover a distance of 535km in approximately six hours and 30 minutes, making it the quickest direct rail service between Kolkata and Patna.
What are the 9 routes
The nine routes are: Ranchi-Howrah, Patna-Howrah, Vijayawada-Chennai, Tirunelveli-Chennai, Rourkela-Puri, Udaipur-Jaipur, Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram, Jamnagar-Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad-Bengaluru. Earlier this month, Vaishnaw had also stated that Madhya Pradesh's Neemuch would soon receive a Vande Bharat Express. "It is time for Vande Bharat to run on this route. Your Member of Parliament (MP) Sudhir Gupta has already requested for the same. Vande Bharat Express will run on your route soon," he said.
1.22 lakh people used Vande Express in Central Railway region
According to the news outlet Money Control, the Central Railway recently revealed that the total number of people who traveled on Vande Bharat Express trains between August 15 and September 8 in the Central Railway region alone was 1.22 lakh. Furthermore, the total revenue earned by the Railways via these services during this period was around Rs. 10.72 crore.
