Several hundreds gathered at the Kasaragod Railway Station, where the Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing.

A festive atmosphere prevailed at the railway station, with the beating of drums and showering of petals, as the orange-grey semi speed train slowly moved out of the platform. The train departed from the Kasaragod Railway Station for Thiruvananthapuram at 1305 hrs.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, BJP State leaders, people's representatives joined the invited guests in the train's maiden journey.

The train, which has a composition of eight coaches will commence regular service from Thiruvananthapuram at 1605 hrs  on the 26th of this month. It will reach Kasaragod at 2358 hrs the same day.  Regular service from Kasaragod will begin at 0700 hrs on the 27th   and will reach Thiruvananthapuram Central by 1505 hrs the same day.

The new train will run on all days except on Mondays from Thiruvananthapuram and on Tuesdays from Kasaragod.

The 586 km distance between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram via Alappuzha will be covered within eight hours.