PM Modi to dedicate 5 Vande Bharat trains today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Vande Bharat trains on five new routes from Bhopal's Rani Kamalapati Railway Station on Tuesday. Two of the trains will be launched in Madhya Pradesh, one in Karnataka, one in Bihar, and the one will be Goa's first Vande Bharat Express.

The five new 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. With this, the total number of semi-high speed blue-white trains in India would reach 23. Rani Kamalapati (Bhopal)-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express will connect Madhya Pradesh Mahakaushal region (Jabalpur) to the Central region (Bhopal). Madhya Pradesh's second semi-high speed will operate between the two cities at the speed of 130 kmph. The train is expected to be faster by about 30 minutes as compared to the existing fastest train on the route.

Khajuraho-Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express will operate between the state's Malwa region (Indore), Bundelkhand region (Khajuraho) and Central Region (Bhopal).

The train is expected to benefit the tourist sites like Mahakaleshwar, Mandu, Maheshwar, Khajuraho, Panna. The train is expected be about about two hours and 30 minutes faster than the fastest existing train on the route.

Mumbai-Madgaon (Goa) Vande Bharat Express will operate between Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Goa’s Madgaon station. The train will operate six days a week excpet Friday. The train is expected to save the journey time by about an hour as compared to the existing trains on the route. The railway ministry had cancelled the launch of the Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat train after the Odisha tragedy. Dharwad–Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will connect key cities like Dharwad, Hubballi and Davangere - with state capital Bengaluru. The train is expected to be faster by about thirty minutes as compared to the existing fastest train in the route. This will be second Vande Bharat train for Karnataka as the first one runs between Chennai, Bengaluru and Mysuru.

Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express would be the first Vande Bharat for Jharkhand and Bihar. A senior officer of the South Eastern Railway at Ranchi had earlier said that though the route chart is not confirmed, but as per the discussion, the train is likely to run via Tatisilwai, Mersa, Shanki, Barkakana, Hazaribag, Koderma and Gaya. It is expected save about one hour and 25 minutes journey time, when compared with the current fastest train on the route. Currently, Vande Bharat Express trains are operational on 18 routes across the country though the Bilaspur Nagpur Vande Bharat train has been temporarily replaced by the Tejas Express. The Vande Bharat trains have been a huge hit among commuters. It is India's first semi-highspeed train equipped with world class passenger amenities.