Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday hailed the Centre's announcement of a Vande Bharat train for Kerala and said that he is looking forward to attending the flagging off of the same by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to flag off the Vande Bharat Express in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram on April 25.
Reacting to the Centre's move, the Congress leader cited his earlier tweet on February 1 last year in which he had suggested running a Vande Bharat train in Kerala.
"Bringing #VandeBharat trains to Kerala could address @vijayanpinarayi's concern for speedy train travel to promote development, &alleviate @INCKerala's concerns about land acquisition& environmental impact. GOI&GOK shld discuss a win-win outcome in the interests of the state," Mr Tharoor had tweeted earlier last year.
Recalling his tweet, the Congress MP said that he is "delighted" that the Vande Bharat will run in Kerala and added that progress must be beyond politics.
"Recalling my tweets of fourteen months ago suggesting #VandeBharat trains for Kerala. Delighted that @AshwiniVaishnaw has done just that. Looking forward to attending @narendramodi's flagging off of the first train from Thiruvananthapuram on the 25th. Progress must be beyond politics," he tweeted.
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.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said people are thankful to PM Modi for announcing the semi-high-speed train in the state.
"The people of Kerala are thankful to PM Narendra Modi as well as the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for announcing this high-speed train for Kerala which will definitely improve the pace of development in Kerala. On 25 April, the PM is visiting Kerala and the flag-off will happen that day - that is the information we have", Mr Muraleedharan told ANI.
Giving further details on the train, Mr Muraleedharan added that the train will cover a distance of 600 km originating from Kasaragod and will run till the capital city of Trivandrum. The train will cover the distance in just 8 hours.
"The train will originate from Kasaragod which is the northernmost tipoff of Kerala to the capital city of Trivandrum at the southernmost tip. So the Vande Bharat will cover a distance of 600 km in 8 hours which means that people of Kerala will be able to travel across the state in 8 hours," he added.
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.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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