Indian Railways is spearheading the launch of a series of new Vande Bharat trains. On September 15, ten states across the country will welcome new Vande Bharat Express trains. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate these trains from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. This marks the first instance where ten Vande Bharat trains will start simultaneously.
States Receiving New Vande Bharat Trains
Previously, PM Modi had flagged off the Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat Express. The ten new Vande Bharat trains will operate from different railway stations across the country. Specifically, these trains will serve Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh.
Notably, the majority of these trains will pass through Bihar. It's pertinent to mention that assembly elections are forthcoming in Jharkhand, prompting PM Modi's visit to Jamshedpur on September 15. The East Coast Railway has announced that at least three more Vande Bharat Express trains will traverse through Odisha starting from September 15.
Three New Vande Bharat Trains for Odisha
The new trains passing through Odisha include the Tata-Brahmapur, Rourkela-Howrah, and Durg-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express. These three are part of the ten new trains that PM Modi will inaugurate. To bolster the railway infrastructure in Odisha, the central government has allocated a budget of INR 10,586 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25.
To note, the Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high-speed train with a top speed of 160 km/h. Currently, there are 54 pairs of Vande Bharat trains operating on various rail routes across the country, covering over 280 districts in 24 states and union territories.
