THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vande Bharat Express covered the 488-km-long distance between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur in a record 7 hours and 10 minutes in the trial run held on Monday, making it the fastest train in the segment in Kerala. The trial run, held ahead of the high-profile inauguration of the service by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 25, began from Thiruvananthapuram Central at 5.10am. The train reached Kannur at 12.20pm.
It made six stops, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Thrissur, Tirur and Kozhikode.“Inputs from the trial will be sent to the railways’ zonal level. The railway board is expected to notify the stops and schedule soon,” said an official. The train began its return trip from Kannur at 2.30pm.
All senior officials of the operations wing from Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad railway divisions were involved in the trial. Officials from Palakkad boarded the train from Thrissur.
The train managed to hit speeds almost similar to Rajdhani Express till Thrissur. It then picked up pace and achieved a maximum speed of 110 kmph between Shoranur and Kannur.
The railways is planning to keep Vande Bharat’s trip duration under 7 hours and can achieve this only by limiting the number of stops. The curves and inclines pose a major challenge for the train to operate at maximum speed in Kerala.