The Vande Bharat Express train will run on the Kasaragod-Trivandrum route.
Kerala is set to receive its second Vande Bharat Express train on September 24, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate nine Vande Bharat trains. The first orange-coloured Vande Bharat Express will run on the Kasaragod-Trivandrum route. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted a video on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, with the caption 'Vande Bharat in new shades, coming soon to Kerala.'
Last month, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai unveiled the first Orange-gray Vande Bharat Express train. According to Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, the new colour of the 28th rake of the indigenous train is 'inspired by the Indian Tricolour'.
In July, the minister inspected the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and reviewed safety measures in Southern Railways. Mr Vaishnaw also assessed improvements in the Vande Bharat Express.
The new trains that will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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
These nine trains will enhance connectivity across eleven states: Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gujarat. They will be the fastest on their respective routes, significantly reducing travel time for passengers.
The Vande Bharat Express services will save significant time compared to the current fastest trains on their respective routes:
- Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Puri Vande Bharat Express and Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express will be approximately three hours faster.
- Hyderabad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will reduce travel time by over two and a half hours.
- Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai Vande Bharat Express will shorten the journey by more than two hours.
- Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express, and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express will save about one hour.
- Udaipur-Jaipur Vande Bharat Express will reduce travel time by about half an hour.