India’s fleet of Vande Bharat Express trains is growing with the launch of a new semi-high-speed service on the Chennai-Coimbatore route.
The inauguration of the train on April 8 is done by PM Narendra Modi. It marked the country’s 12th Vande Bharat Express and the second in South India.
The Chennai Station will be the starting point of this new route.
Back in 2019, PM Modi had launched the Mysore-Chennai Vande Bharat Express, which was the country’s first semi-high-speed train.
Earlier, the Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express underwent trial runs, during which it arrived at its destination 22 minutes before its scheduled time of 11:40 am.
The train commenced its journey from Chennai station at 5:40 am and reached Coimbatore at 11:18 am, completing the distance in just five hours and 38 minutes.
Officials have confirmed that the train successfully completed its return journey as well.
The Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express will have stops in Tiruppur, Erode, and Salem, covering a distance of 495.28 km in 6 hours and 10 minutes.
The train will operate 6 days a week, similar to other trains.
According to the latest schedule, the Vande Bharat Express is set to depart from Coimbatore at 6:00 am and reach Chennai Central by 12:10 pm.
For the return journey, the train will leave Chennai Central at 2:20 pm and reach Coimbatore at 8:30 pm.
The Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express will consist of eight coaches, including one executive coach, with a total of 530 seats.
Additionally, the train will be equipped with advanced features such as wifi connectivity, sliding doors, reclining chairs, and other amenities to provide a comfortable travel experience to passengers.
Vande Bharat Express is currently serving on 11 different routes across India, which are Bhopal-New Delhi, Mumbai Central – Ahmedabad – Gandhinagar Capital, Mumbai – Sainagar Shirdi, Mumbai – Solapur, New Delhi-Varanasi, New Delhi – Shri Vaishno Devi Mata Katra, Amb Andaura – New Delhi, Mysuru – Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Chennai Central, Nagpur – Bilaspur, Howrah – New Jalpaiguri, and Secunderabad – Visakhapatnam.
