BHUBANESWAR : Three more Vande Bharat trains to be launched by the Indian Railways next week will connect Odisha.
The new routes on which the semi-high speed trains will run are Berhampur-Tatanagar, Rourkela-Howrah and Raipur-Visakhapatnam. With this, the number of Vande Bharat trains running through the state will go up to six.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off 10 new Vande Bharat trains, including the three, on virtual mode from Tatanagar on September 15.
According to East Coast Railway (ECoR), Berhampur-Tatanagar Vande Bharat will have stoppages at Banspani, Keonjhar, Harichandanpur, Jakhapura, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road and Balugaon in Odisha. The inaugural special train will leave Berhampur at 11 am and reach Tatanagar at 11.45 pm.
The Rourkela-Howrah Vande Bharat will have only three stoppages between the originating and destination stations and pass through Chakradharpur, Tatanagar and Kharagpur. The inaugural special will depart from Rourkela at 11 am and reach Howrah at 6.15 pm.
Similarly, Raipur-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat will have seven stations between the originating and destination stations and pass through Khariar Road, Kantabanji, Titilagarh, Kesinga and Rayagada stations in Odisha. The inaugural special will depart from Raipur at 11 am and reach Visakhapatnam at 9.30 pm.
ECoR general manager Parameswar Funkwal called on Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday and handed over Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s invitation to join the event. Vaishnaw requested Majhi to join the event at Berhampur railway station on this occasion. The chief minister thanked the Union minister for his invitation.
At present, three Vande Bharat trains are running through the state. The PM had flagged off the first Vande Bharat on Puri-Howrah route in May last year. The second train was launched on Puri-Rourkela route in September 2023 and the third is running between Bhubaneswar and Vizag since March this year.
Launched on February 15, 2019, the Vande Bharat fleet size has touched 54 and more than 280 districts across 24 states and Union territories have been covered.