The Indian Railway successfully completed the trial run of the Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express train. The semi-high speed train completed the Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur run in 7 hours 20 minutes on Monday. The trial run started from the Thiruvananthapuram railway station at 5:10 am and reached Kannur at 12:30 pm. The first rake of the Vande Bharat Express recently reached Kerala for its trial run ahead of the beginning of operations, which is expected to start from April 25, 2023, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi will most likely flag off the train.
Once flagged off, this will be the 15th Vande Bharat Express train in India, and the 5th one to be inaugurated in April alone. Earlier, PM Narendra Modi flagged off the semi-high speed train on various routes this month, including Bhopal-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express, Ajmer-Delhi Cantt Vande Bharat Express, Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express and Secunderabad-Tirupati Vande Bharat Express. A total of 14 Vande Bharat trains are currently running across India.
The trial run of #VandeBharat Express begins in Kerala.
Keep an eye out for more! pic.twitter.com/BTTxhdoRWI— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) April 17, 2023
Meanwhile, top officials of the Thiruvananthapuram division and engineering department authorities joined the journey to Kannur. On April 14, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Vishukaineettam" (gift) this year is the Vande Bharat train service for Kerala, reported ANI.
"The demand for a high-speed train for Kerala has now been fulfilled. Prime Minister takes special care of Kerala. Under PM Narendra Modi`s leadership, the Centre is taking all efforts for the development of Kerala," he said.
Muraleedharan said, though the Centre had earlier indicated that Kerala will get the Vande Bharat train, a campaign was unleashed that the state had been denied the train. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off the Vande Bharat train service during his visit to Kerala later this month.
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.
