In a significant milestone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains, spanning 11 states across India. The historic ceremony took place on a Sunday afternoon, marking a major advancement in the country's rail network.
While addressing the people virtually during the launch, PM Modi said, "25 Vande Bharat trains running, now nine more added; that day is not far when these trains will connect all parts of the country. "The popularity of Vande Bharat trains is constantly rising. Over 1,11,00,000 passengers have already travelled on them."
He also lauded the high-speed, indigenous trains and expressed joy in dedicating these high-end trains to the respective states where they will serve for travel.
"Speed, the scale of infrastructure development is matching aspirations of 140 crore Indians...Today people of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat will get the facility of Vande Bharat Express trains. These new Vande Bharat Express trains depict the new energy of the country," said PM Modi in his address.
Vande Bharat Express - 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.