When Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi flages off Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat among nine Vande Bharat trains on September 24, 2023 at 12:30 PM via video conferencing, the Indian Railways pen a new record.

These new Vande Bharat trains are a step towards realising the vision of improving connectivity across the country and providing world class facilities to rail passengers. 

The new trains that will be flagged off are:

Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express
Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express
Hyderabad –Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express
Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express 
Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express
Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express
Rourkela - Bhubaneswar – Puri  Vande Bharat Express
Ranchi – Howrah  Vande Bharat Express
Jamnagar-Ahmedabad  Vande Bharat Express
 

Expectedly, these nine trains are bound to boost connectivity across eleven states namely Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

These Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest train along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time of the passengers. 

As compared to the current fastest train along the route, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar – Puri  Vande Bharat Express and Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express will be faster by about 3 hours; Hyderabad – Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express by more than 2.5 hours; Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express by more than 2 hours; Ranchi – Howrah  Vande Bharat Express,  Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express by about 1 hour; and Udaipur - Jaipur Vande Bharat Express by about half an hour. 

In line with the Prime Minister Modi’s vision to improve connectivity of important religious places across the country, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar – Puri  Vande Bharat Express and Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express will connect important religious towns of Puri and Madurai. Also, the Vijayawada – Chennai Vande Bharat Express will operate via the Renigunta route and will provide connectivity to Tirupati Pilgrimage centre. 

Many passengers who have travelled by Vande Bharat Express in other parts of the country where the semi high speed trains were inaugurated earlier,the introduction of these new Vande Bharat trains are set to herald a new standard of rail service in the country. 

These trains, equipped with world class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, will be a key step towards providing modern, speedy and comfortable means of travel to common people, professionals, businessmen, student community and tourists.