Lagatar24 Desk
Bhopal, June 27: Five Vande Bharat Express trains were flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday from the Rani Kamalapati Railway Station in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh.
The Prime Minister interacted with Vande Bharat train crew members and a few of the young passengers at the Rani Kamlapati train station before the flagging-off ceremony.
Five Vande Bharat Express trains which were flagged off by the PM include — Rani Kamalapati-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express; Khajuraho-Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express; Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express; Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express; and Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mangubhai C. Patel, Ashwini Vaishaw, the minister of railways for the Union and Jyotiraditya Schindia were all present.
The routes on which the semi-high speed trains would operate are- Rani Kamalapati (Bhopal)-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express; Khajuraho-Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express; Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express; Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express; and Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express.
The Madhya Pradesh Mahakaushal region (Jabalpur) will be linked to the Central region (Bhopal) via the Rani Kamalapati (Bhopal)-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express. The second semi-high-speed line in Madhya Pradesh will operate between the two cities at a 130 kph speed. Comparing the new train to the current fastest one on the route, a time savings of roughly 30 minutes is anticipated.
The third semi-high-speed railway in Madhya Pradesh will run between the Malwa (Indore), Bundelkhand (Khajuraho), and Central (Bhopal) regions of the state. Tourist destinations including Mahakaleshwar, Mandu, Maheshwar, Khajuraho, and Panna are anticipated to gain from the train. The anticipated time savings over the route’s current fastest train is around two hours and thirty minutes.
The first semi-high-speed train to run between Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Goa’s Madgaon station is the Mumbai-Madgaon (Goa) Vande Bharat Express. Except for Friday, the train will run on all other days of the week. Compared to the current trains on the route, the train is anticipated to reduce travel time by around an hour. After the disaster in Odisha, the railway ministry decided to postpone the launch of the Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat train.
In Karnataka, the Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express would link the state capital Bengaluru with important cities like Dharwad, Hubballi, and Davangere. Compared to the current quickest train on the route, the anticipated speed increase for the train is around thirty minutes. As the first Vande Bharat train operates between Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mysuru, this will be the second one for Karnataka.
The Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express will be Jharkhand and Bihar’s first Vande Bharat.
“Enhancing connectivity between Patna and Ranchi, the train will be a boon for tourists, students and businessmen. It will help save about one hour and twenty five minutes journey time, when compared with the current fastest train connecting the two places,” a statement said.
PM on Twitter wrote, “I will be in Bhopal tomorrow, 27th June to take part in two programmes. First, 5 Vande Bharat trains would be flagged off at a programme in Rani Kamalapati Railway Station. These trains will improve connectivity in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar and Jharkhand.”
Pramod Sawant, the Chief Minister of Goa, stated on Tuesday that the first Vande Bharat Express, which was launched in Goa today, will strengthen the state’s ability to connect with Mumbai more quickly and will increase trade and tourism.
“I am very grateful to PM Modi and Ashwini Vaishnaw for running the Vande Bharat train in the state. The PM will flag this virtually. This (Vande Bharat train) will definitely help in the faster connectivity of Goa with Mumbai which will boost tourism and trade,” Pramod Sawant said.
