PM Modi to flag off 9 Vande Bharat Express trains today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off nine Vande Bharat trains on September 24, via video conferencing from Delhi. 

Routes of the nine Vande Bharat are as follows : Hyderabad ( Kachiguda)- Bengaluru ( Yeswanthpur), Chennai-Tirunelveli, Vijayawada-Chennai, Patna-Howrah, Rourkela-Puri, Kasaragod-Alappuzha-Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur-Udaipur, Ranchi-Tatanagar-Kolkata and Jamnagar-Rajkot-Ahmedabad.

The new trains are being launched after nearly two months since flagging off the Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express and Jodhpur-Sabarmati Vande Bharat Express on July 7.

"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," said the Ministry of Railways in a statement. 

"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," said the statement. 

"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 statement said. 

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, students and tourists, said the statement.