PM virtually flags off nine Vande Bharat trains, says 1.11 crore passengers travelled on high-speed trains

To provide speedier and safer travel to all sections of rail passengers, PM Narendra Modi virtually flagged off nine Vande Bharat trains today. These trains connect important religious and tourist destinations across 11 states in the country. Over 1.11 crore passengers have already travelled in these trains, PM Modi said.

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off nine Vande Bharat trains today connecting religious and tourist destinations across 11 states in the country. This is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to improve rail connectivity of important religious places across India. The nine trains will provide speedier connectivity across 11 states, which are Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

Speaking on the occasion, PM Modi said that nine more Vande Bharat trains were now added to the existing fleet of 25 and the day is not far when these high-speed trains will connect all parts of country. He said that over 1.11 crore passengers have already travelled in these trains and their popularity has been on the rise since the beginning.

PM said that after the success of Chandrayaan-3 and G20 Summit in Delhi, the common man's aspirations have risen further. The speed and scale at which infrastructure development is taken up is matching such aspirations of 140 crore Indians, he said. It was unfortunate that earlier much attention was not given to modernising the infrastructure.

PM Modi flagged off all the nine trains today through video conferencing. These new Vande Bharat trains will operate in the routes - Udaipur- Jaipur; Tirunelveli- Madurai- Chennai; Hyderabad-Bengaluru; Vijayawada- Renigunta- Chennai; Patna- Howrah; Kasaragod- Thiruvananthapuram; Rourkela- Bhubaneswar Puri; Ranchi- Howrah; and Jamnagar- Ahmedabad.

These train services will help provide world class facilities to rail passengers, an official statement earlier said. The Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest train along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time of the passengers, it said. Compared to the current fastest train along the route, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar Puri and Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram, the 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.

Also, travel time between Ranchi Howrah and Patna Howrah and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad will be reduced by about one hour. The travel time between Udaipur - Jaipur will be reduced by about half an hour. The Rourkela- Bhubaneswar Puri and Tirunelveli- Madurai- Chennai trains 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, the statement said.

The Vande Bharat trains will usher in a new standard of rail services and these trains are equipped with advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, in a move towards providing speedier and safer travel to public, traders, students and tourists.