Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off nine Vande Bharat trains on 24th September 2023 via video conferencing. These new Vande Bharat trains are a step towards realising the Prime Minister’s vision of improving connectivity across the country and providing world-class facilities to rail passengers. These nine trains will boost connectivity across eleven states. These are Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat. The new trains that will be flagged off include Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express, Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Hyderabad -Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express.
These Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest trains along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time for the passengers. As compared to the current fastest train along the route, the Rourkela- Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express and Kasaragod – Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express will be faster by about three hours. Hyderabad – Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will be faster than the current fastest train by more than 2.5 hours and Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express by more than two hours.
In line with the Prime Minister’s vision to improve the connectivity of important religious places across the country, Rourkela – Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express and Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express will connect important religious towns of Puri and Madurai. The Vijayawada – Chennai Vande Bharat Express will operate via the Renigunta route and will provide connectivity to the Tirupati Pilgrimage centre.
