Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express train between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station.
The train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously manufactured, semi-high speed and self-propelled train set. The train is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities, providing passengers with a faster, more comfortable and more convenient travel experience.
Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various projects worth more than Rs 3,200 crore later today.
He will inaugurate the Kochi Water Metro, one of its kind project that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.
Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by the Prime Minister.
During the event, PM Modi also laid the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.
Initially, the train was planned to run between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur. However, the route was later extended till Kasaragod following a request from Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan, highlighted Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
“Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express has been extended to Kasaragod,” Vaishnaw had said while addressing reporters from Kerala.
The minister had also said the Railways is going to upgrade the tracks in Kerala in two phases.
Under Phase I, Rs 381 crore has been sanctioned for converting the entire track from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram to a speed potential of 110 kmph. This will be done within one-and-a-half years, he had said.
The second phase, which will involve straightening the turns and other necessary adjustments, will take two to three-and-a-half years to be completed, and after this, the speed potential of the track will be increased to 130 kmph, he added.
Thiruvananthapuram is an important urban area which has a lot of small sub-cities around it. There were discussions with the state government over improving the connectivity of the region, Vaishnaw had said.
Efforts are also being made to decongest the Thiruvananthapuram station.
The minister also claimed that many more Vande Bharat Express trains will be introduced in Kerala in the future.
