On April 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first of two Vande Bharat trains sanctioned for Kerala, starting from Thiruvananthapuram.
Prior to this, on April 24, Modi will be in Kochi to participate in a youth-oriented program named “YuVAM,” where he will interact with around 1 lakh young people.
The state BJP is conducting an extensive campaign to make it a significant success.
With 16 modern coaches, the Vande Bharat train will offer uninterrupted services on its route.
A trial run of the train on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kannur stretch is scheduled for April 22, and according to railway sources, the track is being rapidly modernized and the signaling system is being upgraded.
First visuals of #VandeBharatExpress entering Kerala@PMOIndia@narendramodi @AshwiniVaishnaw @raosahebdanve @DarshanaJardosh @RailMinIndia @GMSRailway @MIB_India @PIB_India#VandeBharat pic.twitter.com/1FDVxt786j
— PIB in KERALA (@PIBTvpm) April 14, 2023
Due to the nature of the tracks in Kerala, the Vande Bharat train’s speed is restricted to 110 km per hour instead of its maximum speed of 180 km per hour.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government’s ambitious semi-high speed rail project, K-Rail, has been scrapped, and the BJP hopes to gain political leverage against the Left Front, led by the CPI-M, in this regard.
In an interview with IANS, P.K. Krishnadas, a BJP national executive member and Chairman of the Railway Passenger Amenities Committee, referred to the Vande Bharat trains as a Vishu gift to the people of Kerala from the Narendra Modi government.
The Vande Bharat Express trains have quickly become popular across the nation, with passengers showing great appreciation for each route.
The significance of the Vande Bharat trains is such that each route is inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, either in person or virtually.
The Indian Railways is placing a significant bet on the Vande Bharat Express trains and plans to add 300 more trains in the coming years.
The Railways is also rapidly introducing new routes, with 14 routes across India currently served by the Vande Bharat Express, up from just one route when the service was launched in 2018.
In fact, as of April 2023, four new routes have been inaugurated in a single month.
Recently, the 14th Vande Bharat Express train in India was flagged off by Prime Minister Modi on the Ajmer-Jaipur-Delhi Cantt route, marking the first time that Rajasthan has been served by the train.
This train is also the world’s first semi-high-speed passenger train to operate on high-rise overhead electric (OHE) territory.
While PM Modi inaugurated the train virtually, it successfully completed its inaugural run from Delhi Cantt to Jaipur, and it now runs daily between Ajmer and Delhi.
