Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off the Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express. The train, Goa's first Vande Bharat Express, departed from Madgaon station in South Goa at around 11 am.
The new Vande Bharat Express train launched between the tourist destination Goa and country's financial capital Mumbai, will make the experience of natural views of the Sahyadri mountain range and beauty of the Western Ghats even more memorable, the Central Railway said.
Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other dignitaries attended the function at Madgaon railway station in the coastal state. The train departed from Madgaon at about 11 am and is expected to reach its final destination, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai, by around 8 pm.
It will help save about an hour as compared to the current fastest train connecting the two places, as per an official statement. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and other dignitaries will welcome the train in Mumbai. Before the launch of the five trains on Tuesday, 36 services of Vande Bharat trains are already operational on 18 routes.
Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express is the fifth Vande Bharat Express train in Maharashtra and fourth from Mumbai. From Mumbai, already three Vande Bharat trains are operational—Mumbai to Shirdi, Mumbai to Solapur and Mumbai to Gandhinagar.
The inauguration of the Madgaon-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express was earlier scheduled on June 3, but it was cancelled due to the Balasore train accident in Odisha.
Vande Bharat Express on Mumbai-Goa route will be operated with eight coaches, like Nagpur (Maharashtra)-Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) Vande Bharat Express that is also currently being run with eight coaches.