NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday flag off nine Vande Bharat trains connecting religious and tourist destinations across 11 states.
The nine trains will provide faster connectivity across 11 states -- Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
The Prime Minister will flag off the trains through video conferencing.
The new Vande Bharat trains will run between Udaipur - Jaipur; Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai; Hyderabad -Bengaluru; Vijayawada - Chennai (via Renigunta); Patna - Howrah; Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram; Rourkela - Bhubaneswar - Puri; Ranchi - Howrah; and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad.
These trains are a step towards realising the Prime Minister's vision of improving connectivity across the country and providing world-class facilities to rail passengers, an official statement said.
"The Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest train along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time for the passengers," it said.
As compared to the current fastest train along the route, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar - Puri and Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram, the Vande Bharat trains will cut travel time between respective destinations by about three hours; Hyderabad - Bengaluru by more than 2.5 hours; Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai by more than 2 hours.
The travel time between Ranchi - Howrah and Patna - Howrah and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad will be reduced by about one hour when compared with the fastest trains currently available between these destinations.
The travel time between Udaipur - Jaipur will be reduced by about half an hour.
The Rourkela- Bhubaneswar - Puri and Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai trains will connect the 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 the Tirupati pilgrimage centre.
The introduction of these Vande Bharat trains will herald a new standard of rail service in the country, the statement said.
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, it added.